Yes, I know it’s September. Way back at the beginning of the year I committed to doing monthly journal quilts that were 12 by 12. I got stuck back in….May. Good grief. I decided it was finally time to just finish the stupid thing and move on.
If you want a refresher, you can see the other posts about my journal quilts here.
So, here we go. My theme is the Alphabet. That’s a pretty wide open theme and I sort of wish I’d chosen something a little narrower, or stuck with some of my initial ideas that would have wound up tying all of them together better. Oh well, it’s a learning experience, right?
You are going to think that what I’m about to say is going to sound like I’m being overly critical and hard on myself, and honestly: I’m not. I don’t hate this piece or think it’s terrible, but I do think it’s a little boring and could have been a lot better. Or different. Or something.
Things I do like
1. The beads edging the leaves and flower petals. I used something similar on the journal quilt I just sent to Houston, and I’m really pleased with the look that this gives to the applique.
2. The beads in general. I adore beads. I still have a lot to learn about successful beading, but I know that I want to continue trying to incorporate them in my quilts.
3. The colors.
Things that I do not like or wish were better or different or something
1. I liked writing the words with beads, but I think my beads are too inexpensive: the consistency in size and shape of the seed beads (or lack thereof) made it hard to always have really nice smooth lines.
2. The size/scale of the flower. I was using some applique shapes from an abandoned project, and I wish I had either made the flower smaller and had more flowers or made the flower much bigger and cropped some of it out.
3. The background: I wish I had quilted it on the longarm to give it some texture. I also wish I had bound this with a regular binding instead of “birthing” it.
4. The beaded edging at the bottom: I like it, but: I should have marked out where the loops were to stop and start so that they are all consistent, some aren’t the same and you can tell (in person).
The key is that these don’t have to be masterpieces: they are supposed to be experiments and learning tools.
Honestly, all I had to do yesterday was the beaded edging — the rest of it was done. And now I’m calling it good and moving on to “June.” Hopefully it won’t take me 5 months for the next one.
In other news: I had my first rehearsal with some of the kids that have solos in the upcoming high school production of Grease last night. Went pretty well, all things considered. I have a lot of practicing to do — so do they. 5 weeks and counting! I got copies of the movie and the original Broadway cast recording to watch/listen to — this music is a lot of fun, and I hope our cast can have a good time with it.
Gotta go — my studio is calling me to come back for a short while before bed.
TTFN-
Suzanne
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Hey! I’m caught up now!
Of course, I can’t stop, as it is time to do May’s 12×12x12 quilt, but I have hopes of getting it done on time this month.
I showed pictures of this earlier, when I was just starting to bead. I mentioned at the time that I adore beads. I just should also add that I adore buttons. I’m actually pretty proud of myself for sticking with this one. As you will see, there are a lot of buttons. Maybe I’ll con the boys into counting just how many buttons are actually on it.
I really struggled with myself about even using the buttons or the beads. The design is nothing spectacular, just the initials of my business name. It doesn’t seem like it’s a “real” quilt. Even though I professed several months ago that I was going to use my stuff, I still struggle a bit — I feel like I should be saving things for “good” — for use on a really “serious” project.
Seriously. Isn’t that silly?
I talked myself into continuing and last night I sewed on the final button. I think one of the things I like best about this is the sheer weight of it. It feels really cool. Shall I show you the picture instead of continuing to ramble?
OK, here it is. I pinned some black fabric to my design wall to put behind it for contrast. Click on it to view it full size. It looks stupid with the right edge of the picture cut off.
After I finished the buttons last night, I actually found myself thinking “Hmmm. Maybe the letters ought to be entirely filled in with beads.”
In between sewing on gazillions of buttons, I have been spending time sorting out my disaster of a studio. 15 minutes of cleaning, 15 minutes of sewing. I’m finding some interesting treasures. I’ll probably share some of these later. One thing I did was cull out some quilting books I’d like to try to get rid of. I’ll be posting a list later. Right now, though, I have to get some More Meandering Magic books ready to mail, head to the Post Office, and then I’m off to get groceries.
TTFN!
Suzanne
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So here it is the last day of April, and I’m still behind on the Quilt Studio 12×12x12 challenge.
But now, I’m only 1 month behind, instead of 2. Click to view this larger:
I was so tickled with my rainbow idea for the ABC Round Robin book (see yesterday’s post), that I did it again as a 12×12 quilt for myself.
It’s the same but different. It’s a 6 by 6 square of inchies, rather than the 6 by 7 rectangle for the book. You’ll also notice the addition of some buttons. And beads — the buttons on the inchies each have a black bead on top of them, in addition to the beads in the fringe. I love beaded fringe. I think I need to do more things with beads and buttons and fringe.
The funny thing is that my theme is supposed to be the Alphabet, with the idea that I will incorporate text on my quilts. Um yeah. Well, I forgot today. I had an idea that I was going to try, but I didn’t remember that I was going to try this idea until….the quilt was completely done. Oops. I still have a few ideas that I may play with, but for now, this is good enough. *I* know it is supposed to be a representation of “R is for Rainbow.”
Learned a few things from it. Still need to work on my satin stitch technique. I was brainstorming about why it is so messy, and it occurred to me that changing my needle might have helped. Any tips on how to do a clean satin stitch around the outside edge of a piece? The inchies are made of fabric fused to Timtex.
My next 12×12x12 is in progress. It’s covered with beads and buttons too. It’s taking me some time to do, but I hope to be done in a few days. And then I need to get going on something for May!
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On a completely unrelated note, as I was looking through pictures, I realized that I never showed a picture of this little book I made. I saw these on Lisa’s blog last week. She also provided a link to the tutorial where she learned how to make them, which is here.
I learned from this project that I am a very messy gluer. Actually, I knew that already, it was just driven home to me with this project. No matter how hard, I try I get glue allover the place. I’m not sure what my problem is. Maybe I need to go back to Kindergarten for some gluing lessons.
Last, but not least, I thought I’d show off a picture of my athletes. I didn’t get very many decent pictures at the soccer game on Saturday, but was glad that at least one of them had both boys in the same shot.
I think that’s all from me for today. I need to go sew on some more buttons and then go to bed.
TTFN!
Suzanne
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So after I got through whining about my fusible web tracing issues from yesterday, I went back to the studio to try again. THis time I managed to get it right. I’m making this piece up as I go along, so once the letters were fused, and I did a quick zig-zag in matching thread, I had to decide what was next.
Beads.
Figured it couldn’t hurt to try.
I had this red bead mix that is packed with various shades of red (true red, pinky-red, purpley-red, goldish red, matte, shiny, silver-lined, clear). So, I started picking up groups of 2 or 3 beads (stab the needle in, whatever comes out on the needle is what gets sewn on), and began outlining the Q. Between last night and this afternoon, I’ve got the “C” and the “Q” outlined.
Yum.
I adore beads.
Don’t know what exactly I’m going to do with the all of the plain white fabric in the rest of the block, but I’m sure I’ll come up with something. Maybe more beads.
In case you are wondering, Salt Creek Quilt Company is the name of my business, thus the reason for the letters.
(Don’t forget to click to view them full size. These tiny thumbnails do not do the beads justice.)
I think I need more beads. Anybody want to share their favorite bead source(s)?
Thanks,
Suzanne
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I’m behind on my 12×12x12 projects — for those of you that don’t know, it’s challenge from the Quilt Studio web ring — I’m supposed to be making a 12×12 journal quilt each month. I got Jan and Feb done, but March and April were lost causes. I thought I’d try to do something — anything — today.
My theme is the Alphabet. I putzed around for awhile and then decided to do something using the initials of my business name. I drew the letters freehand, traced them to fusible web and then fused the web to some fabric.
I’m sure you can tell what’s wrong.
No?
How about in this picture:
Ugh. I can’t believe I didn’t reverse the letters before tracing them on the fusible web.
Some days I don’t even know why I get out of bed.
It’s WIP Wednesday (again). I’m having such a hard time getting my self geared up to do anything.
I did load a quilt that I need to finish for a customer. It’s one of those African sun prints. I have already outlined all of the really large leaves, but still need to fill in all of the detail around them. I have a lot of work to do. It’s huge.
And now, it’s nearly suppertime, yet again. Life is so daily. Do you suppose my mood is impacted by the fact that we’ve had more than 3 inches of rain since Sunday? I WANT TO SEE THE SUN!
TTFN-
Suzanne
(you can click on all of the pictures in my blog to view them full size)
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I decided that it is MY project, and if I want to change my mind, I surely can. So, I have abandoned my tree idea for the time being, and just picked another letter of the alphabet for my February Journal quilt.
I made a postcard a couple of days ago that was black with pink and green charms on it. I decided to expand that into a larger piece and this is what I came up with:
I quilted the background fabric on my longarm. The four charms were made individually and then I attached them with invisible nylon thread. It had originally intended that the "O"s would both be buttons, and the "X"s would be beads, but I realized that i would be more interesting to try to come up with different ways to represent the hugs and kisses. The bottom "O" is actually a tiny mirror that I glued in place and then surrounded with beads. What I really should have done was used beads to create a "cage" for the mirror, but I wasn’t up to that today.
Both photos are clickable, so you can view them in a larger size. The charms on this piece are about 1 3/4 inches square.
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I think I’m supposed to post my reveal of my February 12×12 journal quilt tomorrow.
Considering I still have no clue what I’m doing for February’s journal quilt that’s going to be tough. I have a sketch or 10, but I just haven’t been able to make up my mind and DO something.
Phooey. So much for that goal (i.e. getting these done on time each month…). Well, I’ll pick myself up, dust myself off, and see what I can accomplish tomorrow. Depends on the weather. It may or may not snow, and if it doesn’t snow, I’ll be heading out of town for part of the day.
Speaking of journal quilts, my mom has started making them, and one of these days I’m going to help her start a blog so she can show them off. Her first one was cool, and the second involves some freeform knitting, which I’m anxious to see….
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It seems that the shower is the place in which I do some of my best thinking.
I figured out what I’m going to to about my journal quilts for the year. Of course, it is subject to change, but I have a plan and I am very pleased with myself!
T is for Tree
A is for Apple
L is for Leaf
B is for branch (or bark?)
W is for Winter (with snow covered branches)
N is for Nest
O is for Orchard
F is for Flower
S is for Seed
P is for Picnic (under the tree)
C is for Creatures (in or around the tree)
V is for View from the top
That’s 12, I’m still thinking to see if I can come up with any better ideas for some of the months. I’m working on the details, but the basic plan is to continue working with the tree, but to combine the variations on a tree with my original alphabet theme. Thanks for all of the advice and encouragement. I’ve really appreciated all of the comments both here on my blog as well as on the main Quilt Studio blog.
Stay tuned!
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Yesterday was supposed to be my "reveal" day, but I didn’t quite make it. As I attempted to say in yesterday’s post, it’s not completely done, because I’m not sure where I’m going with it.
My theme is supposed to be the Alphabet. For no real reason, I decided to start with T — for Tree. I drew some sketches in my altered book (you can see those here). I used a piece of 12×12 paper to play a little with the layout, and drew/colored a tree that you can see here.
It then dawned on me that I could bring in another "T" word and decided to use Threadpainting for my tree. My first experiment involved my longarm, some cotton and poly threads, and some dissolvable stabilizer. It wasn’t a disaster, but it didn’t turn out like I expected. I know what I did wrong, and if I ever try it again, I have some ideas of what to do differently.
From there, I decided to load up a layer of batting, a layer of Vilene stabilizer, and some background fabric to which I had fused a tree. I used a variety of my brand-new ARC Poly thread to do the thread-painting. I forgot to take a picture before I started stitching, but here it is in progress. You’ll note that the tree is flipped from previous pictures. Fusible web appliqué will do that to you if you don’t think ahead…
Once I all of the threadpainting was done, I blocked it, added the black frame and did some outline quilting with clear thread:
And then I started to bead. And while I was beading I contemplated. For one thing, both my husband and my mother said they thought it looked like a window. That wasn’t my plan, but, yeah — it does, and I really like it. So the internal debate was — do I go with my original plan — the upper sections are supposed to be where I put the lettering — Big T little t, etc…(and how was I going to implement the lettering….) or do I do something different.
And then I thought some more. I thought about other ways I could use this same layout and do trees. Maybe trees with fabric leaves, instead of beads, maybe focus in on a branch. Maybe, experiment with different ways of creating the same tree (i.e. start with the same shape, but try out paints, or ink, or silk fusion, or, or, or….). I’m also undecided about how to finish it off — will they be individual 12×12 quiltlets, or will they be pages in a book, or will they be put together into one larger piece?
Last night I did end up finishing my beading. I might add another 1 or 10 here or there, but for now, it’s done. I don’t have a lot of time to decide how I’m going to tackle February’s piece, but the wheels are turning. As I said yesterday, I have found myself thinking about this in terms of "the trouble is…." I realized, though, that I have no TROUBLES — just OPPORTUNITIES.
Very shortly, I’m going to create a photo album to put all of these pictures in, so you can see all of the steps/progress in one place. I’ll plan on adding to that album as the year progresses.
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Some writers sit down to a blank page and just start writing. If find that I need to do some composing in my head before I’m able to sit. Often, I’m doing this in bed in the morning before I get up — or right before I drift off at night. The shower is also a prime thinking time. This morning in the shower, I start composing a post that was going to be a little bit of a whine about hands. (I got a blast of steam on my thumb last night and it HURTS). I was also going to whine about the fact that I haven’t yet figured out how to draw hands, which is why in my drawing for yesterday (in my photo album or on my other blog, see the links to the right…) the girl’s hands are tucked behind her back.
But then I started thinking about the fact that it has been almost exactly a year since I fell on the sidewalk at school after dropping my children off. I was hurrying, and even though I had boots on, they didn’t have a lot of traction (who makes BOOTS with no traction?? oh wait — who BUYS boots with no traction?? Oh yeah, that was me…). The sidewalk is on an incline and I slipped, and landed flat on my back. Wow.
It took me weeks to get over it. Looking back on the experience, I realized what an opportunity it turned out to be for me. It was during the time that I was sitting around doing a whole lot of nothing because my back was so sore that I signed up for, and starting reading the QuiltArt e-mail list. It was also during that time that I discovered some books about creativity and it was that time that ultimately started me on the artistic journey that I’m taking right now.
Today is supposed to be my reveal day for my January 12×12x12 journal quilt project. It’s not ready, yet, though. Maybe tonight, but I’m not sure. I got clobbered with some other stuff that had to be done today (which I’m not actually complaining about, because it was good stuff, it was just unexpected…). The reason it is not done, though, is because the project is transforming itself on me. My theme is supposed to be the Alphabet, but I’ve had a few ideas occur to me that might make me rethink my plans for the year. The piece that I’m working on right now is going well, but it’s not turning out like I had planned.
When I was thinking about this in the shower this morning, and thinking about the fact that I wasn’t going to meet my intended deadline. I was thinking things like "The trouble is…" or "my problem is…". The truth of the matter is that I don’t have troubles or a problem — I have an opportunity to learn some things and if it goes in a different direction, then by golly, I can’t wait to see where it leads me!
So, I’d better get back to work, and maybe you’ll hear from me again later. With pictures!
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