Curves and Leaves

It's been an eventful couple of weeks since I last posted although I have been trying to slow down a bit after our trip to Cornwall.  I had a bit of a reaction to the hectic time away and thought I'd better heed the warning and put the brakes on a bit.  Consequently I decided that I wouldn't go up to Harrogate for the Knitting and Stitching Show this weekend.  I'm hoping there will be some blog posts around so that I can enjoy it vicariously.  Don't worry, I'm back to my usual state of health so there's no problem just need to pace myself and not take on the world!

Happily after my blip I was able to take a Friday Fun workshop at Stitchcraft yesterday.  'Take' as in 'Teach'.  The workshop was concerned with free form curved piecing using a flat seam.  I had 7 ladies which was just enough and not too many to get round in the time.  After a bit of a chat and demo from me they set to and produced some great pieces.

Christine made this beautiful panel above which will become the centrepiece of a cushion.  Christine was fairly new to quilting and stitching so she did really well.

Elaine had some beautiful fabrics that she incorporated into this lovely piece above.  She got a good variety in her curves.

I discovered that I already 'knew' Jackie, who used these gorgeous African fabrics , through a mutual friend who I have been having playdays with.  It's a small world!  Jackie intends to take her cutter to this piece and insert some cross sections.  Give it some attitude!

Joan, who comes to the Sit and Stitch days at Stitchcraft usually makes very traditional quilts and wanted to free herself up.  She's certainly done that with this fabulous little landscape.  Joan, you're a natural! Look at the variety of curves and the movement she's achieved.

Maureen is a member of Wing Quilters and worked so quickly she was able to layer and quilt her piece ready for binding.  She used some beautiful batiks and has got some lovely movement through this scene.  Maureen said as she left it was the best fun she'd had in two hours in a long time.  I was delighted and also blushing.

Nichola, above, was not familiar with this way of working but produced a lovely seascape with a good use of fussy cutting some of the fabrics.

Last but not least Sue made this lively landscape with a mountain range.  I thought she was quite brave to include the fairly deep peaks and between us we decided one or two judicious clips would help the fabrics come together.  

I was so nervous at the start of this workshop and my mouth got so dry that I could hardly speak at one point but I think it went well. Everyone seemed pleased with what they had achieved in the time and there may be a chance to take this technique further in a future workshop.  

As I had decided not to go to Harrogate today I have been pottering around tidying up a little in my sewing room and finishing off a Linus quilt. (No picture yet).  I also took the weights (books) off a pressing of leaves I had set up a few days ago.

The paper is still very wet as it has been sandwiched between waxed paper to stop the books getting wet.  As you can see there were some subtle marks showing through which made me think it hadn't been particularly successful.

How wrong could I be?  The beech leaves didn't work very well but that may be because they need longer to break down but the (?)sycamore leaves have made some lovely marks.   I've still got some more leaves that I've managed to keep moist so I think I will set this up again with some fabric.  I may try some leaf hammering too! Oh and some Gelli Plate printing.  Watch this space!

(Just so you know, I soaked the Khadi paper in the bath for about an hour before I drained it off and set the leaves on it.) 

Have a good week and keep warm if winter is catching up with you.

First Time for Everything!

I have been a bit on edge this week as I watched Friday slowly, or should I say, rapidly, approaching.  The reason for my angst was that the lovely ladies who run Stitchcraft Studio had encouraged me to teach (!) a 'Fun Friday' session.  Gulp! 

The subject of the session was 'Topstitched Curved Piecing' which you'll know I have used regularly in my seascaped themed pieces.  I spent a lot of time preparing and making both samples and finished pieces and I'm pleased to say my little group understood my instructions and made some great little samples.  Sadly I only managed to get photos of 4 of the completed pieces but I will be seeing the other girls soon so I'll photograph their work next time I see them.

This beautiful muted sample is Annette's work.  She has made lovely use of the fabrics she had chosen and used both the right and reverse sides of the fabrics to give her a wider range of tones.   Annette's planning to make some table runners now she has learned the technique.

Christine, one of the owners of Stitchcraft Studio, worked with the beautiful batiks above and took a leaf out of Lindsay's book (below, the last piece) and inserted part curves.

Isn't Kathryn's impression of Mallorca above fabulous?  She wants to make a larger piece to remind herself of all the beautiful colours in the landscape and the sea of her favourite holiday destination.
Lindsay inspired her too to make part curves and they add interest to the piece.  Kathryn is the other owner of Stitchcraft.

Last, but not least, Lindsay completed the piece above with its lovely calm colour scheme.  As you can see Lindsay was keen to include a partial curve to suggest a distant hill. 

Despite being nervous about doing the class I had a lovely time and enjoyed the feedback from everyone which thankfully was positive.  Phew!  I've even volunteered to do 'Curved Piecing Part Deux'!

April Journal Quilt

I have had two attempts at my Contemporary Quilt Group Journal Quilt for April.  The first attempt was actually my crinkle quilt cut to size with some further stitching added but I really wasn't satisfied with it so yesterday I set to and started again.

I have called this 'Waves'.  Not very original but sometimes titles escape me. 

I made the quilt using the method given in Karen Eckmeier's book 'Layered Waves' and it went together fairly easily.

I cut and pieced the curves using the same method I used for the December Journal Quilt last year which I blogged about here.  I started by piecing various fabrics together until I had a piece of fabric larger than my finished piece would be.  I then cut through the fabric to make strips of varying widths (remembering to take account of seam allowances).  Sorry, I didn't take a photograph of the cut strips.

The next step was to arrange the strips into a design that pleased me.  I flipped some of the strips so that they were 'upside down' as I felt this improved the composition and adjusted the strips up and down so that I felt the balance was right.

The next step was to 'quilt as you go'.  Each strip was laid down onto the quilt batting and the next piece stitched to it.  The top piece is then flipped over flat and the next piece added.

I used a piece of my hand-dyed fabric for the backing and some batik for the binding.  The fabrics used in the quilt were my own hand-dyed fabrics, sun-dyed and some commercial fabrics.

December Journal Quilt

Yes, I know it’s still just November but, ‘Dah da dah!’ I’ve finished my December Journal Quilt for the Contemporary Quilt Group. Woo hoo!

This was the stitch and flip curved piecing which I then topstitched using variegated threads, changing the thread to blend with the fabric as I went. The fabrics include my own hand-dyed and painted fabrics together with commercial batiks and cottons. I have to say I am really pleased with it and with myself for completing this challenge before the deadline. I really wanted to get December’s quilt done before everything started to get mad with the ‘C’ word.

The topstitched curves piece pictured below still needs cutting to size and binding but I have done the decorative quilting. I used the same arrangement of fabrics for both pieces.

I did think about stitching the two quilts together back to back but I chickened out! Bwck! Bwck! Bwck!

I have a couple of things I should have included here before.

When Carole sent me the fabric to make her stitched square for her bloggers’ quilt she also sent me this ATC made from vintage embroidery. Thank you Carole :)

I have made this little postcard for a lady I met at a workshop with Gina Ferrari down at Art and Stitch in Peterborough. Pat, who doesn’t blog, very kindly sent me some cyclamen leaves as she had seen the Journal Quilt I had done inspired by Gina’s embroidery workshop. This postcard is a little thank you to her .

I’ve already started my next little project but I’m not going to be able to show you it until much later as it’s a present and I think the recipient may look in here occasionally. Suffice to say it is something I said I wouldn’t do again so the air will probably be a little blue chez nous.

Hope you all have a good week despite any grotty weather that’s about.

Work in Progress

There is something addictive about these curves! Having said yesterday that I really liked the top-stitched curves I found a slight variation on stitching curves with stitch and flip and have really enjoyed doing just that today. It was in the book Stitching To Dye in Quilt Art by C June Barnes which I have on my bookshelf. I have to confess I've had this book for a while and haven't yet got round to reading it properly. You know what it's like, you buy the book, have a quick scan and drool over the pictures and then put it to one side for a moment when you have more time to really study it. Nine times out of ten that precious moment is a long time coming!

However, I digress! So far I have constructed the basis of a seascape above using stitch and flip and effectively quilting as I went as the fabrics above are stitched to wadding and a base cotton. I have used an assortment of commercial fabrics and batiks, hand dyed and painted fabrics. The curves went together easier than yesterday and my only/main niggle is that some of the areas look as if they are going uphill as I didn't angle the curves quite right.

Questions that occur to me are:



* Should I now add free machine quilting? Yes probably.

* What quilting pattern should I use? I think I will use a series of lines that suggest the movement of the water with a variegated thread. I would probably have to change this for the foreground which is supposed to suggest the beach.

* What about incorporating some layers on top eg lace, scrim, sheers, net?

* What about adding embellishments, beads, beach finds? Too early to decide at this stage I think.

* How do I include narrower strips next time? I have an idea but I will obviously have to keep working on that one.

I think I will have a go at the same design using predominantly the topstitched technique to see what that looks like. I have enjoyed myself so much yesterday and today that I am worried that I am catching the patchwork/quilting bug! These things creep up on you when you least expect it! Not so long ago I called myself a painter then I morphed into a mixed media artist only to find I was becoming a textile artist and now it appears quilting is slowly taking me over! I'm only taking little steps but they are taking me in a very unexpected direction ;o)

Curves

Thanks to some very generous blogging friends, you know who you are :o) , I have been having a play with stitching curves. Before I started I watched Alicia Merrett's videos on YouTube as Sandra suggested. This was a good introduction and demystified the process to the point where I felt ready to have a go.

Having said that, I did decide to start with the top-stitch curves as I thought they may be a little easier. Annabel had sent me some detailed instructions which walked me through the technique.

The main premise of this method is cutting the curve, turning the edge and stitching the curve down onto the next fabric after pinning. (Please ignore the top piece of orange fabric in the photo above, it shouldn't be there).

The beauty of this method is that you can arrange the curves so that some are set as 'valleys' with a fabric stitched on top on both sides, and some become 'ridges' being stitched on top of two other fabrics.

For the other method there is no top stitching but a 'normal' seam is stitched with the edges being pinned round the curve and the fabric eased. I am assuming that with this method you cannot have valleys and ridges in the way that you can with topstitching.

Putting the two techniques side by side the curved piecing on the left does give a smooth feeling of landscape or rolling hills. I can see that you would have to work with tone to achieve the feel of a landscape or seascape and I can see exciting possibilities with this method. I would add though that I found it very tricky to do, but that may have been more to do with cutting across the grain - or not! The top-stitched curves on the right were much more comfortable to do and I do like the idea of including 'valleys'. Karen Eckmeier is a proponent of this technique and both teaches and has written books on the subject. Her quilts are lively and my trip to the Knitting and Stitching Show on Satruday will definitely have me looking for her books!

Obviously I have only just started to explore this technique and my efforts are very raw but I am excited by the possibilities. I think my next task is to explore combining both techniques to get the effect I have in mind, to see if it will work. If it doesn't I think I will explore the topstitched curves for my final journal quilt for the Contemporary Quilt Group. Or maybe I could go mad and try a reversible quilt with one method on each side!!!! Oh no! Forget I said that! :o)) Thank you, everyone, for all your pointers to instructions for cutting and stitching curves. Bloggers are wonderful!

York On The Edge and Curves

First of all, may I say thank you to everyone who rallied to my plea and gave me links to various sources for Free Cut Curves. Also to Annabel for contacting me too with her original tutorial. I'm hoping to get started on my own curves in the next few days and I will be sure to post my progress.

Yesterday my friend Ann and I decided to have a girl's day out and took a trip to York to visit the Quilt Museum. I have heard some criticisms here and there of the Quilt Museum but Ann and I really enjoyed it. The Museum is housed in the 14th century mediaeval Guildhall which had also seen service as a school in its history.

This plaque which sits in the wall by the entrance to the Quilt Museum commemorates the Blue and Grey Coat School that was once housed in St Anthony's Guildhall.

The main exhibition hall is a very impressive room being upstairs in the building and having beautiful exposed wood beams and rafters on display together with carved bosses. I'm sure I could smell the soot from age-old fires still lingering in the rafters. The Turkey Red exhibition was interesting and a lot of the quilts were antique. I haven't really seen a lot of traditional quilts up close (ther than at Quilt Shows where you can't always stand for very long) so it was fascinating to see all the work that had gone into them. Some of the red fabric had been discharge dyed with very intricate patterns and many of the quilts had been hand sewn. It was interesting too to see the areas of wear on the quilts and wonder at the lives they had led. Maybe the most fascinating were theitems of clothing made from Turkey Red fabric, including a quilted skirt which must have been rather bulky but pleasingly cosy in the days before central heating. There was even talk of quilted knickers! Makes a change from the 'longjohns' that were all the rage when I was at school! (Mid thigh length draws with lacy trim, sorry I can't find an image anywhere).

There is a separate exhibition by The Edge Textile Artists from Scotland and that was a great contrast to the Turkey Red exhibit. The Edge display was in a side gallery that had once been the school dining hall. There was a wide variety of work on display, some of it sparking off ideas for both of us. It was a lovely surprise to see a piece of work by Frances Caple whose blog I have followed for some time. "Allium" is a large quilt with about 30 images of an alium and jug, each one subtly different in colour from its neighbour and embellished with beautiful beads.

Coming out of the exhibition, after a good look round the Museum shop and a little shopping (I was delighted to see a copy of the third issue of Thr3fold by Linda and Laura Kemshall which is out of print so I snapped it up together with some thread) I had time to take a snap of the pleasant looking gardens which must be a lovely place to relax with a cuppa in warmer weather.

We had a nice mooch around a few shops after lunch and then went to York Art Gallery to see the Sashiko exhibition that is on there. That was stunning! There was a mixture of antique pieces and modern interpretations and the original garments had so much life and history in them. Many of them are badly worn through but the resulting textures are exciting. I'm really pleased we went to see the exhibition. You can get an idea if you click here. It would have been even better to have seen all round some of the garments, especially a beautiful modern coat with mixed fibres stitched onto the surface. If you go to the official Sashiko website you can see some images of the exhibits and see where the exhibition will be going next.

The Quilt Museum has regularly changing exhibitions as well as workshops and events and in my opinion is well worth a visit. The staff and volunteer stewards are very friendly and informative and the exhibition space is amazing in itself.