The Kiss: LSQG 2024 March Madness Challenge Quilt

It's finished!  The March Madness Challenge for the Lakeside Quilt Guild.

 

I decided to make a wall hanging modeled after Klimt's The Kiss.

This the fabric we were given.  Kaffe Fasset's Roman Glass, like a mosaic.

Here are the instructions.   In short, we can make anything, any size, as long as the given fabric is a focal point of the piece.  It can't be backing or borders, but must be a central part of the work.

Although I tossed around a couple of ideas (1 involving an octopus, another involving an abstract landscape), this is the one that came to the surface and wanted to be made at this point in time.

Here is my pattern.  Because Klimt's The Kiss is old enough to be in the public domain, there are lots of line drawings/ coloring pages of this painting out there.  So I picked one, enlarged it, and made it my pattern.

Klimt is also a favorite of quilters because of his use of textures and patterns in his paintings.

Here is is with everything fused, no stitches yet.  I am amazed at how recognizable it is, even using different colors and fabrics from the original.

The first piece I put in was the Roman Glass for her dress.  

All the other fabrics came out of my stash and scrap pile -- That was the self-imposed rule I wanted to follow.  The "big blue building" for his robe came from Laura R.  I'm much more partial to blue than gold anyway.  ;-)   I think her hair was a bandana that Sophie got from the groomer -- I washed it.  

I did have to purchase more Wunder Under fusible, but that's ok.   

 

The next step was to stitch everything down.  First I did a zigzag stitch with invisible thread - clear and smoke.  then I went back over some edges with a satin stitch.  Here are all the threads I used.  I'm so glad I bought that set of embroidery threads -- I've used them a lot.  I'm glad there are so many colors. 

 

Here's the threadwork from the back side.  The heavier lines are the satin stitch edges. 

 

Detail of The Kiss. 

I used a scrap of Dream Wool for the batting, so it puffs up nicely, giving some definition and body to the bodies.

I am so pleased with how this came out!  This has long been one of my favorite artworks.

I might even turn this into a postcard next time around!

StV Coverlet - Double Bow Knot in Red, Cream and Blue

I found this stunning coverlet at St Vincent de Paul's thrift store this weekend, hanging with the bedding and linens, priced for a mere $6.  I bought it without even batting an eye.  Clearly, the sorters had no idea what it was!  Indeed-- Just a few years ago, I would not have known what it was either!

It's in remarkable shape.  No tears, rips, or fading.  It's clean and doesn't smell bad.  So it's been cared for all these years ...  It's "light" so consider it a summer coverlet.

The pattern has a blooming leaf motif -- or Double Bow Knot-- in blue and red wool, with a natural colored warp and tabby.

The center seam is sewn with a zig-zag stitch.  Not sure if that was a later repair, or if this is from a time when people would have had sewing machines?  The earliest machines only did straight stitch.   I am nearing the end of weaving the 4th panel for my own Mountain Cucumber Coverlet, and still considering ways to join the panels together.  Zigzag might be the way to go for a more secure join?

Wow!  I still can't believe it was hanging there at St. Vinnie's!   The find of the century!  

I know I said I was done collecting coverlets since the cedar chest is full now, but this one needed an appreciative home.

Cob Web Blocks / Spider Web Quilt

The first 10 blocks of The Spider Web / Cob Web Quilt.

You can start to see the spider webs forming ...  The are not the final placements, but it does give an idea of how it will look.

This was one of the projects I worked on at the mini-Quilt Retreat hosted by my friend Shari C, who has a gift for hospitality (Seriously: That is her super power!).  I brought my old Featherweight, but could not get it working (???), so Shari let me use her mom's old Viking, which ran like a champ!  I hope that helped Shari feel like her mom was there sewing with us, too.

The Cob Web / Spider Web is one of the classic quilt patterns on my lifetime bucket list.  In researching it, there are many ways to make Cob Web blocks.  Here are a few methods:        

 

Jenny Doan demos a method with triangle paper piecing, a kite-shaped template, and a charm pack for a scrappy look.    I did order the foundation papers, along with the template -- I know I could have made my own, but we are minus a printer at present, and I did not want to trace them all by hand.

 

Here is a single block as shown in the Jenny Doan video.  This is the method I'm using with their foundation papers and the template for the black star center. 

I also ordered a pound of assorted fabric strips on Esty (Yeah -- someone else's scraps!) rather than a charm pack.  So far, I am happier using my own scraps as opposed to someone else's.  Each bit of color brings back a feeling and a memory, whereas the stranger scraps don't serve up that rich past for me.  Although, eventually new scraps will become familiar ...  Once they are all mixed in, they are fine.  That's the beauty of a scrap quilt: As long as things are evenly distributed, you can put just about any scrap anywhere and it will look good!

I think this will be my new warm-up exercise in the sewing room, pulling bits of color out of the scrap pile, creating order from chaos.  Eventually, I will have enough for a big quilt!

 

Jordan Fabrics explains the Carosel Pattern which is a sightly different way to do it by making strip sets, and then cutting them with 45-degree triangle ruler.  She doesn't worry about color placement, though you can orchestrate that too.     I did try this method, but was not happy with the outcome -- maybe I didn't like the colors in the jelly roll set?  I finished the cobe webs, but have not felt compelled to finish the quilt. 

Fons and Porter have a Sew Easy Handout that explains it using a Kaliedescope Ruler, too.  This is more of what I had in mind in thinking about this project from one of my favorite quilting books:

 I have an old quilting book that I love, showing how to make many classic quilting patterns / blocks.

 It explains how to make a cobweb / spider web quilt by making strip sets.  I have a jelly roll that I wanted to use ...

Holly's Midnight Garden Samplar

Holly's Midnight Garden

At Quilt Camp in October, I spent some time sewing these blocks into a quilt top.  My mom worked them up a while ago ...  It appears to have been for a class, probably to get to know one of her new machines, or her sewing machine feet.  She finished the blocks, but never put them together or finished it.  That happens -- You don't have to finish every project.  Esp. for a class like this.  

Since I like purple, this UFO called out to me to be finished. ;-) 

Each block had a layer of batting as stabilizer on the back already, so I added the green sashing and borders, but needed an extra layer of batting to even everything out.

I stitched around all the blocks just to hold them in place.  And then a simple free-motion leaf design along the green sashing.

Here are some detail shots of individual blocks:

 

 

   

 

 

 And here are some close-ups of individual flowers:

 

Another finish for 2023!