Wednesday, March 25, 2015

Final Tour: Propellers and Planes with a List of Previous Posts

Propellers and Planes, my Steam Punk, hung in our guild show this week along with many fabulous quilts by members of SCVQA and BAM. It's the first, and probably only, photo of the entire quilt. The colors aren't quite right; they are much truer in the previous posts, but at least you can see the entire layout of the quilt.

Steam Punk quilt blocks grouped in fours with sawtooth sashing of dark blue and white is bordered with chartreuse
Propellers and Planes quilt

Here it is again in lighting that shows the colors better. But it's not hung high enough. This really is a softly colored quilt with small bits of bright fabrics on occasion.

This scrap quilt features many conversational prints, scale change of block, sawtooth sashing
Propellers and Planes quilt

There is a huge variety of fabrics in this quilt. The oldest was purchased in Boston about twenty-five years ago. The newest were purchased last year. Sue Benner gave me one of her hand-dyed pieces. After being saved (and petted) for more than a decade I used it here. There are scraps from quilts I made for my children, my new daughter-in-law, my parents and my dear friends. Some, like the 50's mannequins, simply make me laugh. All bring back memories of people and places I know and love. Now we sleep under it. What great good fortune. I wish everyone could wrap themselves in cherished memories every night.

A collage of some of the fabrics incorporated in Propellers and Planes

Not wanting to piece batts, I looked for a really large cotton one. There were not many choices but Pellon (yes, the interfacing company) makes one. It's 100% cotton with a very flat, almost felt-like appearance that reminded me of Warm and Natural. It is also warm, heavy and has a beautiful drape - think brocade. It would be a great choice for a wall quilt. Unfortunately, it was only 120" in one direction and I had to piece about four inches of batt in the other direction. Grr.

I used YLI invisible thread (nylon monofilament) for ditch stitching along the sashing then switched to Aurifil Mako 50/2 in grey and light green for the rest of the quilting.

Here are links to previous posts.

Steam Punk Blocks, February 2014
Second Set, March 2014
Third Set, June 2014
Fourth Set, July 2014
Fifth Set with Construction Notes, July 2014
Final Set, July 2014
Putting Steam Punk Together with Sashing Notes, August 2014
Where Do You Get Your Ideas, August 2014
Steam Punk Back, August 2014
Enlarging Circular Blocks (How I Made the Large Propellers), December 2014
Quilting Steam Punk, January 2015
More Quilting, January 2015
Binding, February 2015
Quilt Show Ready, February 2015

Wow. A year of work and fifteen posts. I like to read about your processes and hope you like this much information, too.

Enjoy the day, Ann

24 comments:

LA Paylor said...

how did the yli invisible work? I can't remember, do you quilt on a long arm? This is a monster sized. This is stunning, I'll bet you got a lot of comments at the show. The mix of fabrics is so fun, and the mix in sizes interesting. This kind of describes you doesn't it? In a way.
LEeAnna at not afraid of color

Camille Mendel said...

This is an amazingly breathtaking finish. I'm so inspired by your quilt. I too have this pattern sitting around my studio, waiting for me to get up the nerve to do the curves. It's absolutely incredible. Thanks for sharing.

Monica said...

My goodness, another brilliant quilt! Love all the fabrics, love the border colour, love the graphic sashing. I haven't seen these blocks done in two sizes, and I love that too, it really gives added interest to the quilt. Very inspirational indeed, great job!

Ann said...

It's my favorite invisible. I used Smoke because of the colors. It never has the shine the clear thread does. And I quilted on my domestic machine... the one with the <8" throat plate. I've found its limit! Thanks for the compliments.

Ann said...

Thanks, Camille. It wasn't that hard. This one is just larger than most because we have a very large bed. I hope to see what you do soon.

Ann said...

Thanks, Monica. I thought changing the sizes was pretty clever of me. Some really large scale prints inspired that; they didn't show well in the smaller version. Isn't it fun how little changes to a pattern can personalize it so much?

Lara B. said...

Ann, I bet your wonderful Propellers and Planes quilt was quite a hit at the show. I could stand in front of it looking at all the wonderful details for a really long time. It still boggles my mind that you quilted this on a domestic sewing machine with so little throat space. I love YLI invisible thread too.
Well you've heard me say all along that I adore this quilt and I do! The best part of all though, is how it contains so many pieces of your life and memories - the perfect quilt to sleep under!

audrey said...

I love that your propellers quilt was made with two different sized blocks. Very unique and fun! Also, the use of so many different fabric prints is just incredible. I wish more people would think to make quilts from fabric prints and styles that span several years. It really creates a personal touch that is unmistakable and very unique to the maker.:) Love reading about your process too. Thanks for being generous enough to share it and your gorgeous quilt with us!

Ann said...

Oh, there were loads of fabulous quilts - including a gorgeous Baltimore Album. But people who like fabric liked mine and some of them looked for quite a while. I'm glad you like this quilt, too and especially appreciate that you understand what it means to me.

Ann said...

Thanks, Audrey. I so agree with you about using fabrics from different years. On the other hand, most of them haven't quilted (and hoarded/saved fabric) as long as we have. Thanks for letting me know you like to hear about the process. Part of why I like your blog is the great information you share.

Kaja said...

How lovely to sleep under something with so many memories contained in it. I have followed this quilt all along and it is gorgeous. I think there is a real skill in balancing all your different scraps into something that looks so coherent and deliberate.

Cathy said...

Oh, gosh...another gorgeous winner! My head is spinning (or is that all the movement in the quilt?) I love looking at all the quirky fabrics. I love quilts with unexpected surprises you see close up but don't notice from afar. Thanks for sharing the process too.

Karen in Breezy Point said...

Love your version of Steam Punk! I'm hoping to get to working on some blocks soon--your quilt is so inspirational--it makes me want to dig out my fabrics and get going!

Ann said...

Thanks, Kaja. One of the joys of blogging is sharing with others and seeing what they create. I'm always amazed how you create such interest and balance in your improvisational quilts. It's very thought-provoking. Sometimes it seems that you sew large chunks together and then cut/resew until you get the size and arrangement you like. I feel like I make a bunch of small things and then arrange them until they look good. Like starting from two different endpoints. Anyway, what a privilege to see how others work.

Ann said...

Thank you, Cathy. Fabric does it for me, too. I do enjoy mixing different years and styles. You've probably noticed some are modern, reproduction, conversation, hand-dyed... and the list goes on. It's like a big city. Stand on the street and watch every different type of person go by.

Ann said...

Thank you for writing, Karen. It's always fun to hear from people. I looked at your blog posts; you applique so well. It's on my list of things to incorporate. These blocks were fun. The parts were large enough to show off the fabric and there are so many ways to use more fabrics in a single block. I thought I'd tried every combination but new ideas still pop into my head. It will be fun to see what you create. Somehow I think it might have extra applique. ;-)

Maryse said...

What an excellent work you have done, your quilt is terrific! Well done!
I want to make one now ...

Ann said...

It will be fun to see what you make with this pattern. Thanks for writing, Maryse.

Quilt Rat said...

Wow! You certainly have some wonderful pieces going on over here!!!

Ann said...

Thanks. The quilt show deadline was a big help in getting these done.

Cathy said...

It is fabulous! The page opened and my jaw dropped and I just said, "Wow!" Tremendous finish. Congrats!

Ann said...

How very kind of you, Cathy. I'm happy with it, too.

Dawn said...

What an accomplishment! It's beautiful!

Ann said...

Thank you, Dawn. This was a challenging project but it had lots of meaningful aspects.