A New Face to the World

"We do not have government by the majority. We have government by the majority who participate."

~Thomas Jefferson

I voted today. Did you? Make time to quilt and to vote.

Quilting

Remember the Faces class with Freddy Moran? This is what I made after lunch. What a hoot!

Clara with emoji pigtails collage quilt top

I found the emoji fabric by Timeless Treasures in Dallas last year intending to use it in a baby quilt. While the scientific fabric was made up, this just lingered in the stash. I cut two rows of emojis and dropped one on the background. It just looked like pigtails and there was the top. Freddy loved this fabric so I cut two more rows for her. I can't wait to see what she makes with it.

Detail of emoji pigtails

The eyebrows were petals {from that wild black and white fabric that was Jane's eyes.} Adding the line of her cheek defines her face as a heart. At home, I plucked some eyelashes, repositioned her lower lip, and found brighter red confetti.

Then I thought about the quilting. Each fabric on Jane's had a thread change. That seems a bit much for an improvisational piece. On the other hand, I couldn't see anything when quilting the background with clear nylon monofilament. I'd like to quilt over/across the collaged pieces rather than outlining them but the pigtails should be highlighted with circles... which is just outlining.

Clara with emoji pigtails collage quilt

I don't know about you, but after noticing something - good or bad - I often repeat it. It suddenly seems like the sole solution. It's either the dichotomy between my conscious and subconscious or simple hypocrisy. So here I am again, changing threads with each fabric color.

Once it was quilted, she really needed earrings. I kept wondering about ears but finally decided to call it done.

This quilt also called for facing. Here's a photo of it in progress.

Sewing a facing on the Clara collage quilt

Quilt Specifics
Size: 25" x 24"
Designs: Collage
Batting: Hobbs 80/20
Thread: Blue, red, pink and yellow 60-wt cotton and black poly threads
Quilting: FMQ and walking foot

Approximate Yardage: 1.25 yd

Off the Bookshelf
The first one wasn't on the bookshelf but I read Mary Robinette Kowal's Lady Astronaut of Mars {the actual novelette is here}, loved it, and then found her two prequels: The Calculating Stars and The Fated Sky {and another to be published next year}.

The series follows an accelerated space program after a 1953 meteor wipes out the east coast of the US causing extinction-level climate change. Like Hidden Figures the women are calculators who run the math for the launch and trajectories. Mary is a writer and puppeteer {interesting combination} with an optimistic outlook on life. There are problems to be faced but most people can change for the better. Let me know if you like this series.

Enjoy the day, Ann

Facing the Year with Freddy

"If you want something to fall in your lap, you have to move your lap to the right place."

~Sandra Bruce

As the time passes more and more junk email arrives in my box. Most are true junk but some are various shops I've inadvertently signed up for. How and where do they obtain my email? Sometimes, it's a lucky break and this was one of those times because Freddy Moran was teaching her Faces class and there were a few last minute cancellations... and I was in the right town... and I had the day free... and the supply list was very short. Two fat quarters, glue stick, scissors, and scraps.

Even better, a non-quilting friend wanted to come. Off we went to play with paper dolls for the day. Not that there is any paper involved but it's as easy as that childhood pastime.

Here's my first face. The hair is leftover triangles from Propellers and Planes - the quilt that will never die. Several smaller quilts have spun off from its leftovers and more of these triangles yet remain.

Jane: collaged face in fabric

Working quickly, the top was finished before lunch. Her eyes were flowers from a wild black and white fabric. Lobster earrings don't show up as much as I wished but they dangle beautifully. Moving her eyebrows made the biggest change in her expressions - frowning, quizzical, surprised. This position reflects the bemused wonder in her eyes.

Jane with a nose job

Before quilting the next day she got a quick rhinoplasty. Now the printed butterfly marks the tip of her nose. I also added a strip of background fabric on the left so some of her spiky hair shows. But once it was quilted, that section didn't work anymore. Off it came.

Jane quilt

Facing seemed the best way to finish this quilt but it took two days to sew correctly. Binding would have taken me a couple of hours. It's not that hard but I don't face quilts often. The consolation is {perhaps} it looks better.

Freddy recommended not trying to make a specific person. However, my kids insist this looks like their favorite aunt.

Quilt Specifics
Size: 23.5" x 19"
Designs: Collage
Batting: Hobbs 80/20
Thread: Various 50- and 60-wt cotton threads, 
and YLI clear nylon monofilament
Quilting: FMQ

Approximate Yardage: 1.25 yd

At the beginning of class Freddy shared her story. After a medical issue and entering hospice she felt she'd lost her creativity and would never make another quilt but, remembering a recent class on Mostly Matisse by Rosalie Dace, she challenged herself to make one face a day. By the time 54 were completed she regained her creativity, improved enough to leave hospice, and started showing the quilts. Here she is sharing one of her collage quilts with several Faces in the background.

Freddy Moran at New Pieces Quilt Shop,
Berkeley CA

Me Made Update

With two dresses under my belt, I felt ready to tackle a new challenge. My friend was not available to help fit the pattern so I sewed a muslin of the top only using a "bargain" fabric that had tiny holes in it. I was so annoyed to discover them but it's perfect for this use. 

It took a couple of days to work out the adjustments because I chose the hard way. Only afterwards did the easier methods occur to me. Sigh. At least now the alternations are completed if/when I make it again.

Dolman sleeved dress

The attached belt wraps around and ties with a knot in back. No bow. I reduced the skirt width twenty inches, lengthened it half an inch, and added deep pockets. Why did designers think mid-century women didn't need pockets? When they are deep enough that items don't spill out, they remind me of Winnie the Pooh's useful pot. A place to put things in.

Clothing Specifics

Style: Dolman sleeved dress
Pattern: Retro Butterick

Fabric: Cotton broadcloth print with large blue flowers
Yardage: 3.5 yds plus 1 yd for the muslin sample

Thread: Gutermann 50 wt blue cotton

Enjoy the day, Ann

Shadow Star

DH took me to Paradise Square this weekend, a musical about the free Black and Irish immigrants who lived in the Five Points slum around the Civil War. The show highlighted a forgotten era of early interracial neighbors and friends torn apart by the draft which forced Irish immigrants to fight for the Union while denying American-born Blacks that same choice.

The next day I had time to view Freddy Moran's Face the Year at Hello Stitch. Freddy wrote that she became dissatisfied with quilting and considered giving it up until she started making a quilt a day. Fifty-four days later she had a collection of faces, a sampling of which made this exhibit.

Pride of place was her original self-portrait: her red glasses, white hair, and bright clothes on a signature background of neutral red.

Freddy Moran's Self Portrait quilt

Her new collaged works are much smaller but encompassed unique fabrics for hair as well as frequent additions of flowers and fish. Seeing them together allowed easy comparison of facial features and construction techniques from one strip-pieced face to a minimalistic light- and dark-sided face.

Face the Year, collaged quilt portraits by Freddy Moran

Although I should be quilting more of the finished tops, there are only so many I can force myself to power through. I simply had to start a new quilt. I'd taken a break to clean up some photos on my computer and saw this antique quilt I'd saved from eBay. Years ago. Before Pinterest.

At first glance it looked like an eight-pointed star on a circle. Then I saw the appliqued flowers that make up the design. Not pieced at all. However, it reminded me of a quilt from my childhood. I only saw it once so I have the haziest memory. All I recall now is that the pieced stars faded into muslin at the endpoints. Similar to this one.

Searching through my block references, I found Shadow Star. Practically perfect. This is a compass design based on the eight-pointed star grid. After a few changes, this is what I've come up with.

Shadow Star block laid out

Loads of y-seams. Not for the faint of heart. I can't wait to get started.

Enjoy the day, Ann