Game for Colour

Spice Market: 2013

You can understand why I was smitten....

The moment I saw Colour Game in Quiltmania (2009 #72), I knew I had to have a go - one day.  Aside from the colours, I saw a fantastic opportunity to use those lovely fabrics I had coloured in 2002 at the dyeing workshop with Gail Simpson in Mittagong.  Great, FINALLY using up fabrics from the stash and especially those not so easy to incorporate - hand dyes.  I also had a small selection of stripes left over from my Delhi Days and they seemed just a perfect fit too.  I think I’d planned to do something else with them but as they say, strike whilst the iron is hot!

At last, in April 2013, I made a start (that's only a mere 4 years later!).  It was certainly challenging, although fun, to scour my fabric boxes for just the right prints to match my Indian stripes and colour wheel hand dyes.  I must add that this quilt was designed by Roberta Horton, who along with Mary Mashuta must be two of my all time favourite quilt (& clothing - sorry wearable art) designers. 

The pattern was just so easy to cut and I used my “design wall” to place them ready for sewing up.  The design wall helped so much because after a while you get a little “same block” crazy and pieces can end up upside down or mirror imaged.  It also helped me with positioning each individual row of colour – this is where most of your time goes.  The fabric I used for my patterned yellow row happens to be from a vintage piece given to me by my mother.  I suspect it may have once been tagged for a dress for one of us.  It was fairly sheer, so I had to back it as well.

Now for some reason, I decided to keep notes on what I was doing with this quilt but only after I’d found myself well and truly into the process.  Never done it before but it was interesting that I’d spent:

• 2 days finishing the piecing after starting in May,
• then a day to baste it, and
• finally to quilt it, 17 hours (roughly calculated) by machine, using 15 bobbins & 2 reels of Signature Cotton Threads (variegated).

To all this, it is necessary to add time to cut, sew and stitch bindings – a couple of days at least, and then an hour or two to embroider on my label.  How long I spent (at the start) contemplating the pattern deciding on fabrics, cutting and arranging them on my piece of beige flannelette (Kaffe specified, of course), I’ll never know.  And this will most probably be the first and last time I take such detailed construction notes.  There is more to life – unless you are a professional of course and charging to make a living.

I can't help but think this would make up beautifully in a collection of Kaffe Fassett fabrics too.  I want to be clear here, that I am not a total Kaffe tragic!  Well, maybe not on Tuesdays…  ; )

Finally, here is my version, which I must say I am very happy with:

Just for the Record:

Quilt Finished Size: 141 x 168cm
Block Sizes: 22cm
Cut in: Apr 2013
Pieced & Basted: Nov 2013
Quilted: Machine Dec 2013
Quilt Type: Modern
Quilt Finished: December 2013
Exhibited: Never
Collection: Home# 057
Pattern Name: Colour Game
Pattern Source: Quiltmania #72, 2009 p65
Fabrics Purchased: From the Stash…
Fabric Design: Prints, Stripes & Hand Dyed
Fabric Style: Brights
Materials Type: Printed Cottons
Wadding Type: Cotton
Backing: Pieced using left-over remnants

(Photos & measurements eventually.  I have to clean up my sewing room first!)

And a little close up to admire the machine quilting

Yellow for Sun Gods

Indian Sari Series #3: 2011  (Started: 2004)
Konark’s Chariot

Lesson for photographers: lighting from behind doesn't work in this instance!

I’m not sure there’s a lot more to say about this one, number three, but oh my, that’s some interesting yellow to work with.  Very sadhu (holy man)!  I fussy cut a stripped ikat to add detail to the stars and used quite a collection of fabrics.  Lastly, rather than feature one large piece, I added two borders, offset, by that strong blue. 

Ah yes, there’s still more fabric waiting to be made up to add to this series.  One day, one day…..

(The Konark Sun Temple, a 13^th c Hindu temple, takes the form of a huge chariot for the Sun God, Surya.  It symbolises the passage of time: seven horses pull the chariot on 12 pairs of wheels.  Located in Orissa.  It is spectacular!)

Machine washed & clothes-line wonky

Just for the Record: 

Quilt Finished Size: 115 x 164cm
Block Sizes: various
Cut in: 2004
Pieced & Basted: Machine Pieced 2004; Basted 2005
Quilted: Machine 2011
Quilt Type: Own Design
Quilt Finished: Jan 2011
Exhibited: Australia Day, 2011
Collection: Home# 044
Pattern Name: Army Star, p35*
Pattern Source: Own Design
Fabrics Purchased: India 2004
Fabric Design: Ikat
Fabric Style: Handwoven Cotton
Materials Type: Cotton
Wadding Type: Cotton Batt
Backing: Cottons_Indian dress fabrics

*101 Fabulous Rotary-Cut Quilts” by Judy Hopkins & Nancy Martin

Delectable Mountains

Indian Sari Series #2: 2011  (Started: 2004)
Sun Temples in the Heat Haze

Australia Day Exhibition 2011

As always, once you actually start something it doesn’t take long to want to make another.  This time I chose “Delectable Mountains” as my basic pieced panel along with a substantial and oh-so-very interesting piece of ikat fabric to make up this quilt.  Again, I was inspired by the fabrics and considered how best to use them without losing their character.  Finally, I settled on making up an interesting sari pallu design. That brings together my interests in traditional clothing, textiles and pieced designs.

To add to the effect, I pieced up a backing making do with leftovers and “interesting” bits – all purchased at Nehru Place, of course!  Needless to say, it was all machined, including the quilting.  I added a few cowrie shells for good measure.

Backing with machine quilting showing - just!

Just for the Record:
Quilt Finished Size: 112 x 160cm
Block Sizes: various
Cut in: 2004
Pieced & Basted: Machine Pieced 2004; Basted 2005
Quilted: Machine 2011
Quilt Type: Own Design
Quilt Finished: 2011
Exhibited: Australia Day, 2011
Collection: Home# 043
Block Name: Delectable Mountains, p71*
Pattern Source: Own Design
Fabrics Purchased: India 2004
Fabric Design: Ikats
Fabric Style: Handwoven Cotton
Materials Type: Cotton
Wadding Type: Cotton Batt
Backing: Cottons; Indian dress fabrics

*101 Fabulous Rotary-Cut Quilts” by Judy Hopkins & Nancy Martin

(This piece looks a bit wonky as it had just
been washed but I think it better represents colour.) 

Challenging Colours & Fabrics

Indian Sari Series #1: 2010  (Started: 2004)
Garden in the Amber Fort

On display at the Australia Day Exhibition 2011

I wanted a simple block to highlight several ikat handloomed fabrics I had discovered in Nehru Place.  And feature those bold colours so loved in India!  I found an interesting design for a background in a bamboo sampler design that I adapted.  It was interesting because the plaid increased incrementally over the length of the quilt.  This seemed a great place to make a start.  I also deliberately chose an asymmetrical design – I guess that’s the Japanese influence coming out too. 

Preparing my fabrics wasn’t easy as I only had a bucket in my shower to wash them.  Here I learned about renegade dyes…. And then later about fussy cutting! The quilt went together quite easily and as always the ever-reliable Hopkins & Martin ensured my rotatory cutting was less wasteful and more accurate.  The main feature for this whole “set” of quilts however, was always going to be that fab ikat fabric.  Don't even ask about the choice of yellow - it just seemed to work...

Close-up of fabrics, quilting & those prairie points

With a few bulges...line dried

Finally I used a sarong I’d purchased in Kathmandu as backing.  The colour red has special significance especially to married women in India & Nepal.  The whole thing was machined and I managed to eventually locate some wadding to baste it together. (Wadding is not something needed in Delhi’s warm climate, although there are traditional quiltmakers – just not quilts similar to the ones we were making.)

For those interested (& as it’s quite fashionable at the moment) ikat is a resist “tie & dye” process where threads are dyed in a specific pattern before being woven to complete the design.  Here’s a few descriptions of the ikat process to follow up on:

Here's a simple description of ikat or a more complex one with lots of detail to follow up on.

 

Just for the Record:

Quilt Finished Size: 119 x 140cm
Block Sizes: various
Cut in: 27^th Jun 2004
Pieced & Basted: Machine Pieced 2004; Basted 2005
Quilted: Machine & Hand 2010
Quilt Type: Own Design
Quilt Finished: 2010
Exhibited: Australia Day, 2011
Collection: Home# 042
Pattern Name: Various
Pattern Source: Own Design
Fabrics Purchased: India 2004
Fabric Design: Ikats
Fabric Style: Handwoven Cotton
Materials Type: Cotton
Wadding Type: Cotton Batt
Backing: Cotton Sarong

Dyeing a Rainbow

Dyeing Workshop with Gail Simpson; 2002

This two day workshop, as part of the July 2002 Quilters Gathering at Mittagong, allowed me to play with dyes.  I have a fondness for Procion – it’s easy to use, not complicated to mix up and produces some wonderful colours on cotton fabrics. 

Even in the pot you can see differences

Gail Simpson, who produces her own range of hand-dyes, bravely led us on a colour discovery tour.  We spent the days mixing potions to produce rainbow ranges, cut vast lengths of fabric into sizes big enough to stuff into small take-away cups, and had fun adding salt or other resist materials to make our product more interesting.  Instead of chatting and relaxing after dinner, we spent our time gathered around washing machines rinsing (& salting) samples to ensure the dyes did not run. When dry, we packed them into plastic lunch-sized baggies to take home

It was a busy two days but we did come out of it with a large tub of our own hand-dyed fabrics – some conveniently packed into a rainbow assortment – and a ton of notes & samples that I later converted into a ready reference book. 

Great ideas - just waiting to be put to use!

Flower of Life....

Tea Reading: 2009  (Started: 1999)

My favourite quilts are made with scraps.  This one is made from a mixed bag of left-overs, charm squares and friends’ donations.  The background is made up of a selection of “scrap” creams too, some from a tea dying episode.  This quilt, though not huge seemed to use an enormous amount of fabric – probably because of the shaped piecing.  Not that that is a bad thing; one just has to work harder to keep one’s stash at a healthy level!

This traditional tea leaves pattern by Judie Rothermel in “Aunt Grace’s Scrapbag” was sourced by Erica (who incidentally made 2 quilts of this particular pattern in lovely 30’s prints no less!) and they were my inspiration to try one.  The top is all hand pieced and kept me busy during those long hot Delhi summers!

For the backing, I used a cotton sarong I had purchased in Kathmandu, and a complementary fabric purchased in Mr Singh’s store, Nehru Place.

Once basted, I started to hand quilt the plain background pieces, but cotton wadding makes for better machining, so I did a small stipple using a variety of cream shades.  This had a nice effect of accentuating each tea leaf shape as I left them unquilted.

This quilt allowed me to try a scalloped edge – and thus the need to cut & make miles of ½ inch bias for a pretty binding.  It wasn’t as difficult as I expected and the bias sat nicely in the tight curves. 

I put my Tea Leaves on show for the Dangar Island Australia Day celebration in 2010.  One of our visitors said that the pattern was an ancient design called “Flower of Life” and is heavily symbolic.

Australia Day Quilt Exhibition Dangar Island 2010

Just for the Record:
Quilt Finished Size: 177x 200cm
Block Size: 12“ circle
Cut in: 1999
Pieced & Basted: Hand 2005
Quilted: Machine 2009
Quilt Type: Group
Quilt Finished: 2009
Exhibited:  Australia Day 2010
Collection: Home# 034
Pattern Name: Tea Leaves
Pattern Source: Judie Rothermel
Fabrics Purchased: Stash
Fabric Design: Mixed
Fabric Style: Cotton
Materials Type: Cotton
Wadding Type: Cotton
Backing: Cotton

Lessons Learned:
I hadn’t hand pieced a quilt for ages and this one seemed to take forever ; ).  The blocks were very “portable” however, so this became an easy project to work on in those spare moments when life can be dull (eg driving 12 hours to visit relatives in another state).  I also seemed to use up heaps of fabric due to the shape of the leaves, which wasn’t so bad for the scraps but somehow I was always scavenging for backgrounds as I didn’t want them noticeably different from each other.  

Cottage in Bloom

Cottage Garden & Cottage Garden in Bloom: 2003  (Started: 1998)

A couple of us were invited to attend a Windflower Workshop with Sandra Edwards run by a neighbouring local group (a Sunday Group) at Maroubra on the 4 July 1988.

This was a fun quickie quilt and I had enough pre-cut pieces to make 2 single bed size quilts.  I found it easy to machine piece and learnt how to join 8 point stars (I wonder if I could still remember how to do it so precisely today?).  We also learnt rotary cutting techniques which proved invaluable over the years.  Just to keep it hands on, there was some hand applique of leaves & stems.

First Twin (Cottage Garden) #29

Backing CG #1

Blues with mustards and pumpkins were my colours of choice, with a few hand-dyed blues thrown in for good measure (more on that later, but I’m guessing you know what I’m going to say!).  I even tea-dyed my background fabric (seeded calico) to make it more interesting. 

For backing, I added leftover blocks plus “interesting” bits.  There were probably enough leftover pinwheel blocks to have made a third quilt but two of the same is really my limit.  I discovered that my temperament suits making one of a kind, and then needs to move on to the next challenge.  I’m not good at repeating…

Nearly Twins #2 (Cottage Garden in Bloom #30)

Fewer scraps for the back of this one, CGiB
(note 3 dye splotches on back)

Anyway, I eventually machine quilted in a pattern of straight lines, quite basic really, as I was just starting to feel comfortable using my new Bernina and that fabulous walking foot.  Still a cautious machine quilter and not quite ready to cast off the walking foot for a go at free-motion quilting!  Both quilts were all machined by Sep or Oct 2003, part of my wild effort to get as many UFO’s finished before I departed for India, Feb 2004.  Our notes described the finished SB quilt as a cottage garden of flowers, hence my quilt titles. 

Cute pinwheels

Just for the Record:

Quilt Finished Size: 131x 175cm (CG) 131x 174cm  (CGiB)
Block Size: 6 ½”
Cut in: 1998
Pieced & Basted: Machine 2001
Quilted: Machine 2003
Quilt Type: Workshop
Quilt Finished: 2003
Exhibited:  No
Collection: Home# 029 & # 030
Pattern Name: Workshop provided - Pinwheel
Pattern Source: Traditional
Fabrics Purchased: 1998
Fabric Design: Prints & Plains
Fabric Style: Cotton
Materials Type: Cotton
Wadding Type: Cotton
Backing: Cotton

Lessons Learned:
This is one of those sad washing tales. I keep my quilts flat on a bed in a spare room and usually air them for a short time over Christmas when the bed is needed for family or guests. One year I arrived home to a pile of musty smelling quilts. A south facing window had been left open and I suspect it had allowed moisture into the room.  There was nothing left to do but to wash everything.  I’m no fussbudget and use the washing machine (on a gentle cycle) to give my quilts a bit of a wash. Aside from using a woolmix & conditioner (both Earth Choice) I also add a dash of Dettol to the rinse water for good measure.  This washing project (over a couple of days) worked a treat with only two casualties.  One was my Amish houses wallhanging.  The black cloth I’d used for a background must have been poor quality and a few little pieces shredded a bit.  The second casualty was my Country Garden quilts.  The quilts held up fine but the hand dyed blue I used bled, even through to the backing.  It’s not a major disaster, certainly only noticeable to the quilt- trained eye but worthy of follow-up…one day.  So, the lesson is to test hand-dyes (& perhaps all other fabrics if you're especially keen) for those renegade dyes!

A close-up of the nasty dye effect

Show Pony

Quilted Jacket: 1997

I wanted to update my wardrobe with a little bit of patchwork fashion and had fallen for Mary Mashuta’s book, "Wearable Art for Real People", 1989.  I chose my favourite design, found a pattern and selected fabrics with pink & black roses as a starting point. Later I added a batik, a nice soft, fine cotton, for lining and sandwiched pellon inbetween.  The main fabric was hand dyed (discharged dyed) after folding it shibori style.  (This actually jogs my memory about a class I did with Deborah Brearley and the Geelong Quilters Guild- 4 Jun 1988- some years before.)  I've been dabbling with dyeing (procion dyes & bleaches) every now and then ever since.  

I loved this jacket, even though I hardly wore it.  I had made the sleeves ¾ length and I found that a bit annoying in the end.  Somehow solutions to fix it only seemed to make it worse.  And by then of course, such dramatic pieces were no longer fashionable...

The jacket would look better if it was on a model but
one can't take photos & model at the same time!!!

Change of Perspective

Guild Workshop:  Colouring Fabric 1988 

I was lucky enough to get a place in Deborah Brearley’s Fabric Painting Workshop, 4 Jun 1988.  Deborah was into her work with cyanotype and I see (from doing a little more net surfing!) that the QNH now operates a gallery on its premises and had Deborah’s work on show in 2012.

Anna Atkins (see wiki)

Not only was this day a chance to work with Deborah Brearley and learn from her, but this Geelong Quilters Guild workshop was play time – big time!  We had a great day dabbling with Pebeo fabric paints/dyes and made some interesting and useful samples. I particularly enjoyed the basic introduction to shibori work.  

It was also a useful connect with the art I had studied over the years in Brisbane and made me realise the possibilities for moving away from quilting’s traditional form.  I suspect that I was still in learning mode however and didn’t feel that I wanted to delve headlong into art quilts at that time.  I was (and still am) inspired by graphic forms produced from traditional blocks and modern colour.

I enjoyed this course so much and was so inspired that I have since taken a number of courses in fabric dyeing and texturing.   Not that I have produced too much in the way of work with the pieces I’ve painted or dyed since….  Oh well, one day!