Out on a limb

I've made some progress on Tree #4 this week. 

 

The limb on the left was longer before- I had planned for it to extend off the edge, but it seemed to overpower the main tree.  I've covered it up by laying yellow background pieces on it, but I haven't glued them down yet. Which do you like better- the shorter limb (above) or the longer limb (below)? You can got out on a limb (ha, ha) and leave your vote in the comments!

 

It was so cold here early this week that there was frost inside the window of my quilting room. Those Machinger's quilting gloves really came in handy!

 

And I made an impromptu draft dodger by bunching up some FMQ practice sandwiches and stuffing them at the bottom of my window. Hmm... maybe I should write a tutorial and call it the "FMQ Up-cycling Draft Dodger!" (just kidding!)

 

I'm linking up to Nina Marie's Off the Wall Fridays.  Check it out to see lots of inspiring fiber art!

 

Hello 2014

Time for a quick recap of 2013, and some goal-setting for the New Year.  I find quilting goals so fun and invigorating, because I tend to actually follow through much better than with my typical resolutions (lose weight, clean more, etc) which are quickly abandoned.

Here's what I made in 2013:

It was a good year.  I met some goals: I improved my free-motion quilting, and I started teaching at Sew to Speak (yay!).  I've entered my work in shows, and I finished 3 quilts in the Tree series.  So, what's next?
2014 Goals:
1.  Continue to exhibit my work in shows- specifically MQX East, NQA, and the Fine Arts division of the Ohio State Fair.
2. Finish Tree # 4.
3.  Re-organize my sewing room.  I need better storage for my stash.  Currently I have these plastic drawers under my cutting table, which make great use of the space, but I've outgrown them. Also I'd like to organize my thread on a hanging rack.

 

4. Move toward making more original quilts, and defining my own style.  Ruth McDowell and Susan Carlson have been big influences on the Tree quilts.  I appreciate and admire their work, but now I want to move beyond that. I want to make quilts that look like me, and not like somebody else (well not literaly me.  I'm not going to make self-portraits).  This is a big goal, and I'm not sure exactly how to get there. And it's certainly not something to cross of the list in just one year. But if you don't know where you want to go, you'll never get there, right?
I'm linking up with Off-the-Wall Fridays.  Check it out!
Here's to a happy and productive 2014!  Thanks for reading!

2 finishes in one day

I celebrated New Year's Eve with a quilting marathon.  In addition to Tree #2 which I posted yesterday, I also finished Tree # 3 (it was almost done already, though).

I used a finishing technique from Susan Carlson's book- I glued snippets of fabric to the front, wrapped around the edge, and glued them on the back.  I really like how it looks on the front, but I think it's kind of messy on the back.  But I didn't want to see a line of binding around the edge, and it was too stiff to turn under for a facing. So this seemed like the best option.   In this picture, I've almost finished the edging, and you can see the back of the quilt with room for about 3 more snippets.

I ironed the label on at 11:43 pm Dec 31- so I can say I finished it in 2013!
Happy New Year, and thanks for reading!

Tree #2 is finished!

Well, I just managed to finish this up at the tail end of 2013.  Overall, I'm pleased with the results.

 

I challenged myself to use more solid fabrics, and fewer prints, than I have in previous work. I like how machine quilting in almost-matching thread looks on the solids.  Here's a closeup:

 

And another:

 

 

 

I tried a facing, rather than binding for the first time.  I used Kathy Loomis's facing tutorial-it was very clear and detailed, but might not be the best technique for very heavily quilted pieces.  I do like the finished result, though, so I will keep experimenting with facing methods.

 

How do you like to finish the edges of quilts?  Have you found a good method for applying a facing? 

Thanks for reading!

 

 

5K- I did it!

Not related to quilting, I know. But, I accomplished a major goal today- I completed a 5K. 
Here I am crossing the finish line-

And a few seconds later...

My mom and my sister joined me.  My sister has more running experience- she's already done a half-marathon.

 

Here' my mom on the home stretch:

 

This is extra-special because two years ago today she was one-day post-op from a hip replacement.  Go Mom!

We're planning to make this an annual tradition.  Next time I hope to do a little more running and a little less walking :)

Why finish one quilt when you can start another?

Designing and starting new projects is my favorite part of quilting, so I tend to have a backlog of unfinished projects (hmm...I guess that is not unusual among quilters, though!)  I'm enjoying Tree #3 so much that I decided to do something very similar for Tree #4. This time I'm experimenting with using some bigger pieces of fabric.  I fussy-cut motifs from some large scale prints to get started.

Here's how it looks after filling in some pieces. 

It's been challenging to use larger pieces, because its harder to blend the colors together smoothly without one piece jumping out and being too obvious.  Also, it is harder to judge the value of a motif from a large print, because they usually have a range of values.  So I'm filling in the areas around big motifs with little snippets to help them blend together.




I did find one spot where the shadow I wanted under a branch was about the same shape as a darker area in a leaf motif I'd cut from an Amy Butler (?) print.

 

See the triangle with the D and the half circle marked DD?  These are areas I plan dark and very dark values (hence the D's, to help me remember). By placing dark values there I will hopefully make it look like a shadow under the tree branch. Well, this leaf shape continued the shapes in the fabric above it, and even though it is not the exact same shape as the shadow I originally planned, I think it works well.

 

To help the large leaf motif blend with the fabrics around it, I trimmed the black off the edges.  Here it is after filling in some more pieces.

 

So for now, Tree #1 is the only one in the series completed.  I'm still quilting Tree #2, need to finish the edge and do a sleeve on Tree #3, and Tree #4 is underway.

 

 

Tree #3 is underway

Early this spring I took many photos of trees.  Big and little, closeup and far away, and lots of different textures of bark.  After looking through these photos, I realized that depicting sunlight and shadow on the trees is what interests me the most. Here is one of my favorite pictures with highlights and shadows:

 

Here is what I came up with.  It's an interpretation of the photo, not an exact replication.

 I used Susan Carlson's technique, explained in her book Serendipity Quilts.  Basically you glue snippets of fabric down, and then quilt over it.  I haven't done the quilting yet, but the gluing was really fun!  Here's a close-up view:

 

 

This is a really fun technique!