Fabric Choices

We live in a world in which we need to share responsibility. 

It's easy to say, "It's not my child, not my community, not my world, not my problem." 

Then there are those whosee the need and respond. 

I consider those people my heroes.

~ Fred Rogers ~

Last year I watched the Mister Rogers documentary, Won't You Be My Neighbor?, which related the life of Fred Rogers with many clips from his shows and interviews. Now I just finished reading The Good Neighbor by Maxwell King which covers much of the same ground; however, there are differences when you read. You can pause and re-read paragraphs; books usually dig deeper and explain more.

When DH saw what I was reading he queued up the 2016 documentary, Mister Rogers and Me by the Wagner brothers for us to watch last night. I didn't realize Kickstarter began the funding for this movie. The difference with the previous works is this one highlighted people who were influenced by Fred and discussed their work that parallels his vision. How good to know there are more people interested in early childhood development and grounding children in kindness.


Back to the Stars. Picking three fabrics always seems like it will be easy. It's not. At least for me it's not. First I chose the three blue fabrics on bottom. They looked so good folded in a group and so bad cut and laid out. It needed color contrast, too. I kept trying different choices until finally choosing pink for the lightest value.

So it should be easier going forward, right? Wrong.

This time I used the medium value from above as the darkest value below. Again, my first idea was a range of three values of the same color.

Eventually the pale blue worked best for the lightest fabric. Hopefully my choices will improve as the quilt moves along. {Hope springs eternal.}

Enjoy the day, Ann

Propellers and Planes in the Fall 2015 Blogger's Quilt Festival

I've always wanted to make an airplane quilt - partly from memories of watching them with my grandfather and more recently because I have sons. When I saw some blocks made with the Steam Punk pattern, I knew it was time to start. I pulled all my vintage/special fabrics, bought more, and combined them into a personal memory quilt. Spurring me on... I desperately need a quilt large enough for our California king bed.

Propellers and Planes quilt

Upon completing a few blocks I loved the density of the fabrics when the blocks are set side by side without sashing.

Collage 2 of Steam Punk quilt blocks

However, that layout would be a piecing nightmare with so many points to be matched and thick seams pointing the same direction. Additionally, I wanted more variation on such a large quilt. So I drafted some larger blocks and sawtooth sashing, combining them with groups of four small blocks.

For more fun, I drafted and improvisationally pieced a squadron of 30" planes for the back. I've never gotten a photo of the entire back but I snapped several partial views at our guild show.

A squadron of single prop planes flies across the quilt back.

When you make a quilt "just for you" it's always scary to send it out into the world. What will other people think? I've been honored that so many people have stopped to talk with me about the fabric combinations. There is something for almost everyone on it: bicycles, models, dogs, birds, fish and flowers, vintage and modern. Those novelty prints plus remnants from gifts made for family and friends make it my perfect memory quilt. I am blessed to sleep under it every night.

A selection of the fabrics in this quilt

Here is my last post about this quilt with links to many construction steps.

Quilt Details

Size: 118"(H) x 118"(W)

Pattern: Based on Steam Punk 

Batting: Pellon cotton

Thread: Auriful 50/2 cotton sewing threads

Quilting: Free motion quilting on a home machine

I'm entering it in the Large Quilt category of the Blogger's Festival at Amy's Creative Side. Take the time to look at all the wonderfully diverse quilts.

Enjoy the day, Ann

Ah, AHIQ Begins

After a good six months of conversation and planning Kaja posted our preamble to improvisational quilting. Yesterday she started the ball rolling with our first AHIQ post. Be sure to check it out.

Initially I was surprised at the broad interest for an online improv group. So many quilters have expressed a desire to join us. Then I realized we are drawn to improvisation in the same way we were drawn to quiltmaking. We need to express ourselves (or find our voices.) We want to be joyful in our work rather than worry about meeting external standards of precision, design, color, or fabric. We want an original rather than a copy. There are times to use someone else's pattern but there are also times to create our own. With improvisation, we riff off each others' themes or head in completely new directions. We work in a community to create something uniquely personal.

As Kaja wrote, improvisation has at least two definitions - creating spontaneously without preparation and making something from whatever is available. While I can agree with creating spontaneously from what is available, I personally doubt much is created without preparation. 

A science-fiction author recently stated that spontaneous writing only happens after days of preparation - summary, plot outline, character description, location description, and more. Similarly my filmmaking friend assures me directors deliberately choose to shoot with handheld cameras for a rough, homemade look. They don't just wake up and start filming. Afterwards, editors cut and rework these random scenes into a cohesive story. 

So how can we prepare to be improvisational? 

If you are going to create spontaneously from what's available, why don't you get reacquainted with your stash? Sort by colors; sort by theme; sort by age. What do you collect the most? What makes you smile? Your stash already describes you. Out of the entire universe of fabrics, these are the ones you chose. It's the first curation. Listen carefully because it speaks volumes.

      "There is no one alive who is Youer than You!" Dr. Suess, Happy Birthday to You!

I'm not suggesting you reorganize your entire stash immediately... or ever. I am suggesting you pull a good assortment to help you notice patterns in your choices. If you store them in different places, try getting a bit from each of them.

Next, pull out a fabric that excites you. Pin it on the wall or throw it on the floor. Then place your other fabrics next to it - especially those from a different fabric line. Take photos. Which grouping surprised you most? Excited you? Start there.

Pat it or cut it. Pin it on your wall. Make a block or make several. Make triangles, rectangles, hexagons or any other shape. Then take the next step - the one that's right for you.

We look forward to what you link up with us Tuesday, September 29.

Enjoy the day, Ann

New York Beauty Still Progressing

The curved wedges of New York Beauty are finished. Just a few more blocks to sew together and then I can play with the arrangement easily.

New York Beauty blocks on point

When I started these blocks [years ago] I had a more limited palette of reds and greens. It only worked for the first few but I didn't want to expand to just any color. So it got put away.

Now the fabrics include blues and even some yellows and purples. I think it looks much better but perhaps it just looks more contemporary. Popular colors change over the years as well as the pattern printed on them. Many of my older fabrics have a mottled background - lighter and darker shades of whatever color they used. Current fabrics tend to have solid backgrounds. My older reds are almost neon while the newer ones are happier and more clear. (Can you call red "soft"?)

Most of the multicolored fabrics have colors of similar value. After much consideration, I added a light fabric printed with large white, pink and red roses. Very pretty but a strong value change within one small piece. Then I made a big mistake: I centered one of the roses in the middle of the template. Do you see it below?

New York Beauty with
"centered" rose in the background.

Centering the entire rose is distracting; it's too overwhelming and obvious. Being the highest contrast, it really draws the eye away from the arcs. So I recut the piece. Here's my second attempt. Note to self: sometimes it is preferable to be asymmetrical.

New York Beauty with large
multicolored rose fabric cut off center.

We flew to Philadelphia last month. Along with lots of baseball, we saw Betsy Ross' (alleged) house. From the second floor, here or in the house next door (which no longer exists) she and her first husband lived and ran an upholstery business. Betsy, a Quaker, was read out of meeting when she eloped with John Ross.

Betsy Ross house

She and John attended Christ Church where his father was assistant rector. For more than 50 years the steeple was the tallest structure in the United States. As such, it was used in maritime navigation.

Christ Church, Philadelphia

Their pew was adjacent to George Washington's and located on the same side as the wineglass pulpit, commissioned in 1769.

Wineglass pulpit, Christ Church, Philadelphia

We also visited the Free Franklin Post Office. Benjamin Franklin was our first postmaster and this post office cancels letters with a replica of his postmark, "B. Free Franklin." I loved the models of postal workers in uniforms over the years. There was more memorabilia in the museum upstairs.

Models of postal worker uniforms
in the Free Franklin Post Office

Happy Fourth of July to my fellow Americans. Freedom and democracy are very precious.

Enjoy the day, Ann

Progress, Graduation and Pilgrim & Roy

Step by step and oh, so slowly work continues on my Trip Around the Block. Here's a closeup of the border.

Background quilting in progress on the border.

Free-motion quilting is a boon for those who hate to mark. It takes so much time and I personally can't see the markings unless they are very dark (and then they are hard to take out.) But I had this "brilliant" idea that marking guidepoints would be quick and easy. Wrong-o. Tracing the entire design might have been easier. Does anyone have advice?

Last week I flew across the country for a graduation. A beautifully sunny day for the ceremony. As always, the candidates and their families are proud, happy, hopeful and relieved. With 60 colleges in Boston alone, clusters of joyful families crowded every street, park and restaurant.

Boston University 2014 graduation

Of course, I had to take in the Pilgrim and Roy exhibit at the Museum of Fine Arts. Quilts and Color compares the vibrancy of Amish, Mennonite and others from the 1850s to 1920s with Op Artists of the mid 20th century. Of the many outstanding quilts, this strongly graphic design was our favorite. It was especially enjoyable to discuss the patterns, fabric choices and quilting designs with my daughter. Part of another quilt sparked an idea we plan to pursue soon. Isn't that the joy of sharing!

Touching Sunbursts quilt 1854, Pilgrim and Roy collection

Best serendipitous find? Grey's Fabric and Notions. Owner Sarah Grey also carries loads of indie patterns. We chatted with her for half an hour about her classes and patterns.

Grey's Fabrics and Notions

 

We chose these ocean-themed pieces to make pillows. Love the whales!

Hearty Good Wishes by Janet Clare for Moda

Home in time for Memorial Day. God bless the men and women who've given their all for our freedoms.

Fret not; enjoy the day.
Ann

The Woman Who Knew Too Much

Here's an another example of how misguided I can be. Years ago someone wanted to trade these blocks in a fabric combination I knew would look terrible. But she was a good friend so I made a few, planning to piece the top and quietly give it to charity. Well, it looked much better than I thought. Changing my mind, I kept the top and donated something else. Oh, darn; there were only enough blocks for the center... because I knew so much.

It took a while to collect a variety of solids and even longer to find black background florals but I persevered. Colors kept getting brighter so the border fabrics are stronger than those in the center. Then there was a problem with the inner border. Nothing seemed to work until... We moved across country; my new friends wanted to dye fabric. Everyone else's looked fabulous; mine looked like five dirty dishrags. I knew it! I saved them even when we moved back to Texas where I finally hauled this top out determined to finally finish it.

When I can't figure a quilt out, I get all my fabric and successively pin it near the problem. I knew commercial solids and hand dyes didn't work well together. Good thing I followed my habit because the dishrags looked great. But none had sufficient yardage to make a border. So I pieced them. Where one fabric got mushy and dirty-colored I picked another hand dye and made little four patches to transition them better.

Dishrag lavender to dishrag peach

Adding the inner border meant the outer border needed to be a bit larger. Squares of the black florals in the corner solved that issue. Serendipitously the corner of each square blends with the other points! Lucky me; the top was finally completed.

The blocks are from Princess Feather and Mountain Reel Quilts by Nancy Daniel. It was one of the first designs for rotary cutters and it's an easy pattern. (This is not the quick cut Delectable Mountain. The light side is larger than the print side of this block.)

Fret not; enjoy the day.

Ann

The Road to My Sister's House

So you weren't scared off by the wild braid in my last post? Here's what I made from those ugly fabrics. It's a personal story about my youngest sister.

The Road to my Sister's House quilt

The class designed with the smallest squares in the morning. After lunch we cut rectangular crosses, sashing and posts to build on our stories and layer texture into our quilts. How amazingly everyone's quilt improved, especially mine! Cutting the braid the length of the fabric kept consistency along each sashing. Limiting the width highlighted its inherent motion. To me it represents the tire tracks of all those long drives. Those incredibly loud oranges became the flower centers surrounded by orange and yellow petals. (Printed circles are very useful that way.)

I added borders the following week. The inner border used all my African fabric. (It spoke to me at first sight it but had never found a home.) Again, I just played around putting fabric near the quilt to see what looked right. The outer border x's and o's represent the letters we send and the love we share. Complete o's were too static; partial o's look better. However, I quilted the phantom parts in.

The back enlarged the pattern on the front to keep it interesting.

Fret not; enjoy the day.

Ann

Ocean Waves Away

It's done! Putting it in a show was the incentive needed to finish Ocean Waves. This is one of the few quilts  I've made without a border. It looked odd at the show but looks great on the bed.

There are no photos from the beginning of this project but I started with lots of light blues, pinks and greens. Eventually I found this fabric in my stash which seemed to have many of the colors 'She Who Wore White' wanted.

Fabric (by Fabric Traditions) used for binding & color selection.

All the cut fabrics were placed next to it. Any (but not all) that didn't look good in this new color scheme were discarded. Then I added medium and dark blues, teal, greens from yellow-green to blue-green, darker browns and a few mustard, rusty orange, purple and black. Fabrics didn't have to match but they had to blend with the others. The lights run from white to tan. I like how the bright whites "pop" - something unexpected. Almost every print style is included: Civil War, 30's reproductions, baby fabrics, batiks, modern, stripes, plaids, geometrics, florals, etc. No solids, although some may appear to be.

Pebbled quilt edge

A section with lighter triangles

With so much muslin on the front, the back had to be muslin to prevent shadowing. This is my first time using a wide fabric (108") for a back. I doubt I'll ever do it again. Although it is nice to have no seaming, it didn't have the same the quality. Ocean Waves drew up more than other quilts I've made. The top was 102" but after quilting it's 98". I'm uncertain if the cause was the thread, the backing, the construction or the heavy quilting. On previous quilts I've tried everything except the wide backing so perhaps the looser weave on the backing caused some of the shrinkage.

I free motion quilted with white YLI 100 weight silk on top and beige Soft Touch 60 weight cotton in the bobbin. These fine threads require shorter stitch length. (Thicker thread need larger designs and slightly longer stitches.) Make samples before starting.

Fret not; enjoy the day.

Ann

Aspen Leaves Background

Oops, I forgot to explain the background changes.

When the aspen leaves fall they cover bare dirt or decaying leaves. My brown and black leaf-printed fabric should realistically portray nature. Surely the yellows and oranges would shine on this duller background. Wrong!

I was as certain the green and blue fabric would be perfect in the leaves. The white lines on the fabric could be leaf veins. However, when the leaf was sewed the blue stood out like a sore thumb. Was I just adding wild fabrics for no reason? Should it be ripped out and replaced with a much quieter fabric?

Before going to that effort I pulled various colors from my stash and the blues looked wonderful. Even the green and blue fabric fit in! Before laying it out I thought this combination would be too gaudy, too many bright tones. I thought only a dull fabric would make the warm tones sparkle. How nice to be so wrong.

The fabric on the left is Bamboo Thicket by Michael Miller. I don't know who made the fabric on the right.

After this I also learned to take daily photos to track ideas and changes.

Fret not; enjoy the day.

Ann