And Another Vision Popping In

  If you read my last post you will see a quote of Mark Twain's regarding the storm of thoughts in one's mind.  Well I had a quick little burst of my next project - that I may start this weekend along with the Hands All Around Quilt.  I think I will call it For the Birds.  Since the thought popped into my head I have been formulating the layout in my mind, playing with different ideas that go in and out.  Next I will be putting pen to paper to get a basic visual and play with color a bit.  I think maybe that I will fuse this one too.
  Tonight I will be putting the finishing touches on the Kayak Quilt and binding it.  If the lighting permits, I will take some pictures of it this weekend and post it so that you all can see my first project using fusing.  So come back over the weekend and take a look.  Leave a comment if you like.  I love hearing from all of you.  In the meantime enjoy these couple of pictures that have nothing to do with any up coming project . . . yet!

Swirly Snail Shell

Swirly Snail Shell Bottom- This was once home!

Kayak Quilt - An Update

“Life does not consist mainly, or even largely, of facts and happenings. It consists mainly of the storm of thought that is forever flowing through one's head.”   Mark Twain

Mark Twain got it perfectly right when he said this,  I find that as a person who loves to create there is always a storm of ideas from the east, west, north and south of my mind.  At times those ideas flow so freely that it seems impossible to write them all down fast enough- so some do get lost at sea. At other times one idea spurns another, then periods of drought - which for me do not usually last very long.

So try to keep a journal of your ideas, I know many people are doing so these days.  This journal is for yourself to record your thoughts, so that they might be put aside for now to be picked up later and acted upon.  It makes room for more ideas in your mind and gives you some choices to pick from later on during those drys spells that all creative people have at one time or another.

Anyhow on to my Kayak Quilt, today I am ironing on the stabilizer and doing the cut outs so that it will fit together like a puzzle.  This will go pretty quickly as I plan to stitch it all down today on the machine.  The plan is to make it fat quarter size (for those of you who do not know 18" by 22" is a fat quarter).  I picture it in my head all finished and like what I see - now to the machine to make it reality!  Watch for photos later in the week!

Colorway for Kayak art quilt

Here is the colorway for the Kayak art quilt that is in the beginning working stages.  The collection of supplies includes iron on stabilizer, various color threads or maybe a variegated one (I haven't quite decided), and a thin cotton batting (unless I change my mind about that!), as well as an array of colorful cotton fabrics shown in this article.
 The plan is to iron the fabrics onto the stabilizer and cut out the shapes.  Of course I have a drawing to go by that I have enlarged to give me the desired size.  All the shapes will be ironed onto the main fabric then stitched down with a narrow zigzag stitch with my sewing machine.
 We all went kayaking for the first time last year during the air show out on the bay.  Some of us had never been but took to it like old pros!  While some of us ran into another bigger boat that fortunately was not a yacht and grounded the kayak a couple of times (me).  We had great fun, the weather was terrific and we got soaked!  Can't wait to do it again.  I especially enjoyed seeing the land from a view that normally isn't as visible.   The jets from the air show flew right over our heads, it was very exciting.  On the way back I managed to miss the bigger boat, thank goodness. Anyhow here are the colors I will be using in the Kayak art quilt....

Monarch Larvae Quilt

     Here is the Monarch Larvae quilt completed today.  The colors of the monarch larvae are quite striking which is what has inspired this small work.  The color of the larvae are more of a chartreuse than a yellow but this is my rendition.  The monarch butterfly is a migratory animal traveling from Florida, Texas and as far south as Mexico from North America.  A trip can be a long as 3,000 miles.  They only eat milkweed and are therefore poisonous to most would be predators even in the larvae stage.  As colorful and beautiful as the larvae are the adult butterfly is spectacular with it's orange and black colors.
    This art quilt was made using foundation piecing method.  The pattern was drawn out on a large piece of paper.  Each piece of fabric was ironed down after being stitched in place.  Three strips were constructed, then the three lengths were stitched together. Originally I had planned to add a little bit of yellow-green with some stitching but have decided to leave it as is for the time being.  Probably the most difficult and frustrating part of this quilt was NOT letting the black show through from the back where the black and white are stitched together.  These are manufactured fabrics and not from my stash of hand dyed fabrics.

Two More Projects Begun

These are the cotton fabrics being used in the Larvae Quilt project.  The palette is limited to these three colors.  More color will be added with stitching once the quilt is pieced.

This past weekend a set of very colorful solid fabrics were gathered for the kayak quilt project.  This one may be a bit smaller than the last one.  The plan is to use fusing materials to construct it, then go over it with stitching.  Using only what I needed, having a plan, and a time line should keep me on track.
Also the larva quilt project is already underway and partly constructed.  Utilizing only three colors of fabric, there are three lengths so far that are an arms length..  The colors are shown above.  It is very simple, using no pattern and alternating colors for the pattern.  A fourth color may be introduced via thread so that it won't look so flat when it is completed.
Both of these projects will have a layer of cotton batting or possibly cotton flannel as the middle portion of the sandwich.  And as usual, I have more to say than to show at this point.  I will post pictures of the fabrics for both projects sometime this week and maybe even some of the drawings that I prepared with.  So check back during the week, maybe even (most likely) into the weekend, for postings here for the images.

"Thus" a music blog

 Take a look at this music blog. While you are there take a listen, some good music there.

http://thusmusic.blogspot.com/2011/03/thus-ii-journey.html

Stitched Striations - A New Name

This was intended to be the back of this piece - however I got a little carried away with stitching that I ended up concentrating on the back which is now the front!

Edge detail

At first I was not going to stitch the green sections - but they need to be brought into the fold so they will now be stitched to give a bit of continuity.

Just a wider view

This is the "new" back!  All of these fabrics are older Hoffman prints from about 10 years ago.  I just cut them up into rectangles and randomly stitched them together into panels separated by black cotton fabric.  So now there is texture rather than stitch detail that is more evident  on this side.  Though I like these fabrics, the opposite side is my favorite.

Here it is all finished, except for the binding which will take no time at all as it will also be stitched.  Formerly named the "Quicky Quilt" now has a new title - Stitched Striations.  I didn't really like the cutesy first name.  So anyhow you can see all the stitching in various colors and threads.  I let the needle lead the way here, so the stitching is intentionally uneven and the stitched design is random.  If you click on the picture you can see more detail.  This started out as a small project to use up some bits of fabric (bottom picture).  All the fabric is manufactured - not dyed by me.

A wee bit late ....

The stitching is done!   Now the binding on the edges is next and possibly a sleeve to hang it with.  The "back" has now become the front.  This piece is heavily hand stitched with an array of meandering colorful lines.  I am going to attempt to take some photos today that accurately show this Quickie Quilt off, wish me luck on that.  My goal of finishing it by the end of Feb was not met but I have finished it none the less in short order - so I won't beat myself up about it as my overall goal is to finish a few projects that have been neglected for a bit of time.  Now on to the next project ... hmm what will that be.  Come back soon to see what I have decided.