More of My Work from the class

There are three of the pieces that I made in the class that didn't make it into the window before I took the pictures.
So, first let me share those with you.

 This one above looks similar to one of the others I made.  In the window, it looked like stained glass.

This one is a fairly simple block that I cut a diagonal line through and added the blue strip. This was my first try on this way of altering a block, although the block was already "free-pieced."

This third one was dubbed "Pickles and Peanut Butter" by Julie who sat next to me.  I showed her the two pieces of fabric and said "I am going to use these two pieces in a block"  She replied "What?!?!  That is like pickles and peanut butter."  She didn't think they went together at all. It is a bit unusual but I think I like it. I used what I remembered of a technique that I learned in a book.  Of course I didn't remember the exact method, so I had to just wing it.

There was plenty of fabric to play with.  China and Mary Ann brought in several bags and tubs of fabric. It was all piled on or stashed under two tables. I call this the "Pile o' fabric"

This photo was AFTER the students had gotten fabric and started sewing. However, it was different again at the end of the class.  I know that I added some from my scrap bag back onto the table.  I probably used more fabric from the table than from what I took with me.  I have fallen in love with using solids.  I think there is a Zen feeling that solids can bring.

One of the students sewed everything by hand.  At lunch we were discussing it and she said "I work in front of a computer all day. I just didn't want to be sitting in front of another machine."  She had lots of pre-cut strips laid out and sewed them into  strata. Here is a picture of her basting them onto the batting and backing while China visits her.

And here is her quilt pin basted.

She did all of this by hand in the class time from Monday night until Thursday morning.

Now, let me show you the two pieces I have made since getting back.

For the first one I took a piece of fabric that I had embroidered on and used it as the center. I pieced pieces together and worked out and around from there. 

For the second one, I simply started piecing odd bits together and "making" fabric.  In both of these I added some bits of muslin that I had stamped with fabric paint and my leaf stamp.
In doing this process  of free piecing, I have learned to use my scissors more than I ever did before. it is much easier than jumping up to go to the cutting table to trim a seam.

Let me challenge you to try making this type of block.  There is no pattern, no templates, and best of all no rules!  Let yourself go and try things.  Don't over think it - that limits your creativity.  Just play like you are a kid and the fabric is your box of crayons.  Color outside the lines.  Trust me it is fun!

Nebraska, Birds and Flowers?

What a week this has been!  I had an opportunity to fly to Nebraska on Monday.  What is in Nebraska? you say.  Well it happens to be home to a product I use a lot. The AccuQuilt company is based in Fremont, NE.  So I got to take a tour of the company and met some wonderful people there.  I met everyone from the secretaries, to customer service, to IT (information technology -aka computer) folks, to the CEO and CFO of the company and others.  Today's post will not have pictures from that tour or even from the Nebraska trip. (Yes this part is a teaser for a future post.) 


While I was gone I did get a new die for my Go! cutter.  I got the cute little GO! bird.  I told a dear friend about it and she asked if I would put fusible on some scraps and cut some birds for her.  You bet I would! 

I told you that they are cute!  If you fold the fabric so that part is face up and part is face down, you get birds that face both directions. 
So after I cut these I said, now what to do with the scraps. Good fabric, good fusible - I am NOT throwing it away. 
Here are what the pieces looked like.

There are some nice pieces left.  So I said "What die has smaller pieces that I can layer these over and get extra play pieces from?"
Oooh...the Daisy die is a sure winner for that. 

Kinda ignore my sloppy outlining of the shapes on the daisy die. 


I also had some purple batik scraps with fusible.  So I cut these pieces.

Circles and petals - which may become something else altogether once I start playing fabric artist.  Some of the petals are not perfect as the pieces didn't quite cover the shapes.  Guess what- all leaves and petals in nature aren't perfect either!


There was one larger piece of blue left. But I saw possibilities if I didn't cut it with the die -so for now it looks like this.  I drew some wobbly lines on it with the photo editor. 

The black outline could be a head and torso. The aqua outline could be an urn or vase. So I will see if that plays into my plans when I start putting the "puzzles" together.  I am leaving the option open. 


There were some other small scraps too. I suppose most people would throw them in the trash.  But I used some very small pieces on the last fused piece I did.  So I am saving these:

I already see some little blue tree branches.... 


Reminder - stay open to creativity.  Look for unexpected shapes that delight your eyes.  Play! Create! Love life!


Oh yes...don't forget to sign up for AccuQuilt emails and get 22 free patterns. Click the picture below

A picture for Monday

Today I don't have a lot to post about BUT this is a painting I did that hangs in front of my desk at work.
The short name is Bridge.

The longer name is Bridge Across the Void into Tomorrow.

But, What do YOU see?

Quilted -Free Motion Delight

Today I took the runner from yesterday's post and had a wonderful time quilting it.  I did my version of free motion quilting. It is part meandering/stippling and part drawing with the needle.  As in all my work it is heavily influenced by abstraction.  You can click on the pictures to see them bigger.  Just use that back button on your browser to get back here.  I don't want you leaving before I am done! LOL

I did this little loopy border around the edges, just because.
I love using an ecru thread over dark fabric to quilt. It makes the stitches really pop. The down side to that is that every mistake is highlighted too.  Such is life.  Risk is like salt, without it life is bland, but if you overdo it, it can be dangerous.



Ooops, I see fuzz on that burgundy...... well it needs washed to make it crinkly and soft anyway.

I clicked on these pictures - to check them out and found several "birds" in my quilting designs.  They were totally subconscious renderings. I did intend some other shapes that didn't come out so well, but the birds look intentional.   My subconscious is a strange place!

Barbara asked (in comments) if I drop the feed dogs, the answer is Yes I do!   I emailed Barbara, but I thought I would let everyone else know right here.