Red - Let's Do 52 - Week 5

Red Apples

Red and Black Medallion
made with Kaliedecam App aimed at one of my quilts.

Once again, I am participating in Denise Love's 2018 "Let's Do 52 : 52 Weeks of Photo Prompts" to kick start the lull in my photography.   If you'd like to join us, find out more at the link above.  The more the merrier!

Quilt Blocks - Sonia's Windows (Again)

Ma's quilt blocks ...
My mom asked me to finish a King-size quilt for her.  Slow but steady progress.  Here are some of the blocks in a possible layout.

If it looks familiar, it;s the same Sonia's Windows quilt block, technique, and overall colors that I used for Aidin's Quilt here.  My mom liked it so much that she started one for herself.  She was able to make about half the blocks for her king-size quilt, then due to health reasons, asked me to finish it for her. 

Would be nice to have this all finished in time for their 50th Wedding Anniversary!  Today is their 49th wedding anniversary.  ;-)

Next steps :
Trim up the blocks
Choose fabric for sashing (light blue) and optional cornerstones (tree green?)
Sew it all together
Re-assess and add borders to bring it up to size

Lone Star for Beginners

I signed up for the Luminous Lone Star class at Craftsy.  This is one of the first lessons (Lone Star Pillow Top), a small manageable project to get us used to working with inset seams.  I've been sewing nearly my whole lifetime, but still there are things I need to learn, and practice--like these inset seams.  I am amazed at how FLAT it all came out!   I expected bumps and buckles and protrusions, and lots of headaches--but it all worked out, following her instructions.  The key is to mark 1/4 inch from the edges for seam allowance  where you start sewing.  That leaves room for the opposite inset seam to lay flat.

The instructor also advocates the liberal use of spray starch--so I got to use my DIY Linen Water.  My recipe comes from Kay at Borderline Quilter who shared a great idea for making your own spray starch for pressing fabric.  It's so simple!  Just a little Vodka with tap water (or distilled water, if you prefer) in a spray bottle.  It works because vodka is made from potatoes.  Apparently, there's enough starch left in the distilled spirits to make it work in this distilled form.   Only Vodka will work.

DIY Linen Water
In a spray bottle, mix 2 capfuls of straight Vodka in 1-1/2 cups water (tap water works, but you could also used distilled).  [Sometimes I add a little green tea essential oil, which I have on hand for soap-making.]
 
For a heavier starch, mix 3-4 capfuls of straight Vodka with 1-1/2 cups water. Quilter's Moonshine (water with a little vodka).  

You could also look up recipes for Quilter's Moonshine.   This one actually includes starch.

This was a nice little project for an afternoon.  I used fabric left over from the iron caddy I made in November / December.  If I were to do it again, though, I think I'd mix the diamonds from the 2 stars.  The all-over patterns take over and the diamonds get lost.   The star looks "fatter" than it would if the diamonds had more definition on the inside.

I made a second one with fabric left over from the Shade Tree Quilt.   I think these will be stand-alone wall hangings, as I don't need more pillows hanging around the house.

Baby Steps!

This class and the practice is all in preparation for a BIG upcoming project :

The Radiance Quilt Kit from Keepsake Quilting.

Next year (2019), my husband and I will be celebrating our 20th wedding anniversary (seems longer--in a good way!).  A new quilt is the perfect way to mark the occasion.   This will be a new technique/style for me. And a definite challenge!  One step at a time.  ;-)

Yes, I'm starting to list the kits I buy to make myself accountable to actually making them sooner than later.  Stars seem to be the new theme ...

Window or Door - Let's Do 52 - Week 4

Here's a more recent pic from our visit to see family in France last summer.  This is from the Normandy region, where CL's Cousin Mary-Martine lives.   Photo run through Topaz Impression with the Overpaint filter.

 

Here's the original. 

Seems like it was a little more golden in my memory, with that bight July sun!

Here's one from my archives ...

 Gold Door and Scooter in Toulouse, France - May 2014

This is one from my archives, but fit the Door prompt for this week.

 I was channeling my inner Kat Sloma when I took this shot.  Kat is known for capturing scooters on virtual film, especially in Europe--and they are everywhere in Europe!   (Really, Kat, this one's for you!)   As soon as I saw it walking the city streets of Toulouse,  this scene made itself!  The tall gold doors coupled with the horizontal stripes on the other garage-type door, along with the idea of movement and mobility in the scooter.   I took the shot,  added a few textures and voi la!

Image Processing in PhotoShop Elements :

1) Background image

2) Nancy Clayes Texture nc_0607 - Multiply Blend Mode at 34% opacity

3) Kim Klassen's Sissy Texture - Soft Light at 34%

4)  Kim Klassen's Rest Magic - Luminosity at 13%

5)  Shadowhouse Creations M08-2012-3 Overlay Texture - Screen at 56%

6) Added a solid color frame in black (a la Kim Klassen) - Soft Light Blend Mode at 76% opacity

Once again, I am participating in Denise Love's 2018 "Let's Do 52 : 52 Weeks of Photo Prompts" to kick start the lull in my photography.   If you'd like to join us, find out more at the link above.  The more the merrier!

Out of Focus - Let's Do 52 - Week 3

Out of Focus

This is from a photograph taken on a rainy hike around a Canadian-style pond in Scotland.

I cropped it down, then ran it through Topaz Impression with an Oil Painting Filter to give it a painterly, impressionist feel.

Here is the original cropped photo.

Once again, I am participating in Denise Love's 2018 "Let's Do 52 : 52 Weeks of Photo Prompts" to kick start the lull in my photography.   If you'd like to join us, find out more at the link above.  The more the merrier!

Liberate Your Art 2018 Possibilities

2018 Liberate Your Art Possibilities Collage (Rev.)

Here are the possibilities for my art that I am considering having printed for the
2018 Liberate Your Art Post Card Exchange hosted by Kat Sloma.  

I will have all of them printed at Moo.com, but still not sure which one(s) to make the official LYA 2018 Post Card.  We can also mix and match, too.  No need to send all the same card.

If you like what you see, feel free to contact me for an extra-curricular side-swap. 

If you want to join us, please do! It's a wonderful way to share your work with other creatives around the world.  It's also neat to see where your work winds up in it's new home.  

Looks like Moo.com has a sale on now 25 postcards for $21.  That does not include shipping (Probably more like $27 delivered.)

Be careful when you set up your orders.  Last year, I ordered the larger postcards (5x7in.).  They looked absolutely gorgeous, but were too big to be part of the official exchange.
Choose the SMALL-sized post cards, and you'll be fine.

Stacked Coins Scrap Quilt Done!

Finished quilting the quilting on the long-overdue Chinese Coins quilt.  This top was a "scrap"quilt made with a pile of 4-inch squares cut in half, and then some ...

It took me a long time to feel like this quilt had "come together."  Probably in part due to working with all the pieces so closely and for so long.   I was also a little disappointed that it didn't seem to have the emotional impact that a true scrap quilt does -- where you can point to any given fabric and tell a story about where else you used that particular bit of fabric, or where it came from.   I had purchased the 4-inch squares as a set -- just for the sheer variety.  They were not cut from my stash from other projects.

By the time I took a photo of the completed top, and could see it at a distance, I think I finally had the "Blue Earth" effect, and it did come together for me, and I really started to like it.

I think I'm going to hang it on the wall in the new year.  ;-)

Batting : Hobbs 80/20 Heirloom Batting (my stand-by because I love the way it crinkles up after it's washed and makes thinks look antique-y

Thread : Thread Art multi-colored purple and gold (Polyester embroidery thread that is strong enough to use for quilting.  I love this stuff because it also has a nice shine to it.  I know polyester thread is quilting is against all the rules set out by the quilt police.  But I'm not making my quilts for them.

Years ago, I'd purchased some rayon thread for thread-painting and embroidery, but it rotted in about a year to the point where I couldn't sew with it without it breaking constantly.  It was an expensive and short-lived investment -- I mistake I will not make again!)

Detail shot of the threads which seem to glow against the black background.  

They get lost in the colored squares. 

 From the back.

Quilting Pattern : 2-inch grid sewn with the walking foot on a diagonal

Small - Let's Do 52 - Week 2

Small

This is a snail on the Isle of Skye in Scotland.

Couldn't really find any textures or treatments that improved it, 

so this is basically straight outta the camera.

It made me think of a fascinating book I read a few years ago ... The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating. 

Once again, I am participating in Denise Love's 2018 "Let's Do 52 : 52 Weeks of Photo Prompts" to kick start the lull in my photography.   If you'd like to join us, find out more at the link above.  The more the merrier!

Rising Star Batiks Quilt

Rising Star Batiks Quilt
[Photo from Craftsy]

Just wanting to pull all the pieces and notes together for when I start working on this gorgeous quilt!
I love the purples and the blues together.  It's the yellows and oranges that are harder for me to get used to -- though they look great together here as complementary colors.

Rising Star Batiks Quilt Kit at Craftsy 
 (Ordered 1-6-2018)
 
There are several more detail pictures of this quilt at the Craftsy website, including showing how they quilted it with a kind of doubled grid pattern.  Simple and do-able.  Angela does a much more involved feather which she shows in the video below.   

Detail - Photo from Craftsy

Follow this up at YouTube.  She has several useful links in the details box for more info.

Angela's bonus video on Paper Piecing for Perfection.

4 Types of Paper You Can Use for Foundation Paper Piecing - Craftsy
I haven't done a lot of paper piecing in my quilting career, but enough to know that it's the perfect technique when you need perfect points or precision piecing.   I little fusty, and kind of a pain to rip off all the paper.  Fortunately, not all the blocks require paper piecing -- just the star points.

Using Tracing Paper in Foundation Paper Piecing
   Basically, it says that using newsprint as from a kid's art pad works just fine.  Tracing paper can be problematic to put through a printer.

What Paper should I use for Paper Piecing?

Outside : 2018 - Let's Do 52 - Week 1

French Landscape near Normandy.  Walking by a Wheat Field with Marie-Martine summer 2017.

I added a texture layer, and ran it through Topaz Impression to add the Cezanne filter for a painterly effect.

Once again, I am participating in Denise Love's 2018 "Let's Do 52 : 52 Weeks of Photo Prompts" to kick start the lull in my photography.   If you'd like to join us, find out more at the link above.  The more the merrier!