Bran New Day 2016

2016: Project List

Graphic with thanks to Graphics Fairy

New Year, new broom and definitely a much needed update for OTS!  Welcome to 2016!

As with all resolutions, my list of UFO’s needs attention – some just need a mere photo for a post but trying to find a “perfect day” for a little photography has been something of a challenge lately.  Then the silly season just got in the way of progress.  So, here’s my revised list from late December 2015:

#1.  Stumbling Fans (1980).  Silk cushions made from this era have already been consigned to the bin.  Fabric fatigue, I’m afraid so I’m wondering whether it’s actually worth spending the time, effort or financial commitment to start quilting this project. 

#2.  Christmas Fairies (1989).  Will they ever see light of day?  Tough one!

#3.  Bear Jackets (1996).  Do said bears need warm, appliqued & embroidered jackets?

#4.  Fairy Quilt Medallion (1999).  Currently on the design wall undergoing a revamp into a Dutch Coverlet design.  Too many fairies, so birds are the go to trick this whole thing up.  

#5.  Thai Embroideries (2002).  This is a personal challenge and I need a week locked in my garden shed to get this one from a fuzzy idea onto the design wall.  Let’s hope 2016 – only 14 years on from the workshop, (eeek!) – will see it started.

#6.  India Exchange Blocks (2005).  Yes, yes!  I’m planning to start this one soon but as I plan a fairly complex applique border, it’s going to take years to finish.

#7.  Antique Toys (2006).  Just waiting on embroidery – a few details to add character to this quilt and it’s done.

#8.  Explorer Series (2008).  Repeat after me…one day I’m going to finish this art quilt series.  Only 3 little guys to go.  Let’s get the pressure on!

#9.  Flash Purples (2011).  Never let a box of UFO’s get in the way of starting a new quilt.  This was especially challenging as I made up my own design and then slunk off back to Kaffe’s books – as you do (when nothing’s going right)!  This one’s in the quilting hoop right now.

#10.  Windom Quilt (2012).  I fell in love with this design though managed to incorporate an even older UFO (from the Armidale Symposium, 1989) as the medallion centre.  I’ve posted a few “progress” photos already.  This one too, is waiting in line for quilting.

#11.  Horta Calling Cards (2013).  On a dull day what better to do than fiddle around with “photofabric” pieces and a perfectly good printer.  Look Mum, no hands - and now I’ve got a rather too large selection of photos on fabric to do something amazing with. 

Phew – that’s it.  Not too bad I suppose, so I’ll just keep slogging away at the fabric mountain in my garden shed.  No new bits until I’ve made a bit of a hole in the assembled collection.  (You know that’s never going to happen – buying new fabrics is ESSENTIAL, right?)  My plan now is to post as I progress and when I’ve finished each quilt, new or UFO, round out the detail I’ve managed to record.  It’s taken me ages to find (or not find, as the case may be) information about quilts my own fair hands have created.  Who would have thought it so hard to find facts about your own history…

So begins another year full of hope for the future.

Nature is an inspiration in itself, isn't it?

Be It Ever So Humble

There's nothing quite like progress!

Well, it's great to be home and have some time for sewing.  I've eventually put together enough of those little petal squares on my Windom Quilt adaption to make an informed colour selection.  After putting them up, "pales" won out.  Although now, a reasonable stack of "bolds" sit waiting for inspiration and yet another "something" quilt...

So, here it is - photographic proof of being busy at work in the Garden Shed!  FINALLY.

Above photos - 19/3/15

As I worked (photos above), I realised that the pale petals looked better.  Having them up on a design wall allowed me to juggle as I worked and by not stitching until I was really happy with the arrangement, I saved a lot of time and unpicking.  : )

The central medallion is, she said proudly, a UFO from a workshop at the Armidale Symposium. Yes, that was 1989!  It just goes to show that some things should not be rushed....

Photo taken 6/10/15

Back to the Books 2015

Spice Market is my last finished quilt and despite being almost there with another one, I won't be able to make it over the line before we take to the hills again.  Somehow I've developed a backlog needing machine quilting or handwork.  Not to mention finding time to take photos and do a little more research for my quilt album.  Are there ever enough hours in the day?  Still, it is nice to be up-to-date.  Well, kinda! sorta!

Also, I'd better put some time and effort into Textile Tourist, who must be feeling rather neglected this year given all the empty promises of tales of exotic places to be written up.  Still, there's the call of new horizons, lots more adventures on the high seas and quite a few stories to tell.  Just where will it all lead and what lovely textile finds will I discover....  So, I'll be back in time to see those glorious Jacaranda trees in bloom. 

Discovering treasures in humble Viscri, Romania

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

No Quilting Here

2012/2013

I have omitted to put in a little about 2012, a busy year that slipped away without so much as a by your leave.  This was of course, the big “Year of Flooring” when the kitchen, lounge & garden shed floors (about 1/3 of our house space) were re-laid.  That meant significant upheaval, lots of dust and frequent blue language.  So, with no sewing room there was little quilting achieved and with no kitchen, we got used to BBQ’s, salads or sandwiches. 

To add to the misery, I had inadvertently left a window open (for 6 months) and my quilts had taken on that vague and somewhat unsavoury odour of a wet dog.  That meant a serious washing session, which turned out reasonably well with only two quilts shedding dye and another with ripped fabric.  The ripping was not a major issue and easily fixed.  Some black fabric I had purchased for an Amish style quilt was a little “cheap” and probably old, so it showed.  I simply re-appliqued a shape over the tear and no-one was the wiser.  As for the dyeing, the colour run stands testimony to care, selection & pre-washing of hand-dyed fabrics.  Always learning!

Once washed, it seemed silly to put my quilts away before photographing them.  This then, was the prime force in getting a move on with my blog.  So lots of washing, photographing and staring at a computer screen. 

Australia Day 2013

Then came the news that we were to celebrate Australia Day on the Island in 2013.  That meant finding time and a space to complete a few from the UFO box to put out for display. There was also the challenge of Aprons for the Cafe.  Somehow it all came together – after one too many late nights - and we managed to put up a lovely display for our many visitors.

Starting All Over 2012 & 2013

2012 & 2013

Last year we decided to forge on ahead with the last 1/3 of our cosmetic renovations.  That meant lounge, dining & kitchen.  All that stuff is now strewn around the rest of the house which we swear has given us a serious list towards the west.  Mr DIY is nearing the end of laying a brushbox floor and has offered to do my garden shed with the left overs.  Too right! 

The thing is of course, that the shed has to be emptied out.  I am now trying to move rather too “many” boxes of fabric stash, habby, dyeing equipment, and silkscreen frames into the house.  Not to mention the odd few sewing machines.  Just where does it all come from?  The other difficulty is trying to make it all look less than it really is…..as you must!  I keep pointing at the frames saying, “They’ll be on the wall soon.”  As if!!  The reality is however, that it could be another month or more before I get to do some sewing.  Sew, what to do?

My Garden Shed - more garden than shed in 2003

Garden & shed much improved but still not sewing, 2008

The answer I’ve decided, rests in the many old reference materials that I’ve brought in from my garden shed.  You know, the lot that you might need someday…  As a consequence, I’ve revisited my blog terms of reference to include a couple of additional goals.  It will continue to be a log of one quilter’s progress that is, mine.  However to add a bit of depth, I plan to include:

Significant influences – those ah-ha moments that set you off exploring down another path.  For some time I’ve read “The Books that Changed Me” in the Sunday paper.  Interesting choices.  What would I choose in my list?  Better yet, what were the occasions that changed my quilting life?

A bit of Art History.  Groan.  Well maybe not.  I’ve kept years (and years) of notes thinking they would come in handy and as we plan to do a bit of touring Europe, I can reacquaint myself with what’s to see and do.  A sort of a Grand Tour inspired to some degree by the indefatigable Sister Wendy and Kevin McCloud.  Only I’ll add my photos as I take them and use words from my notes.  Don’t worry, they’re descriptive and fairly simple.  We weren't taught to think for ourselves way back then.  My teacher in year 11 described herself (a lot) as “Rubenesque”.  It’s the only thing I remember, except for thinking that that wasn’t much to live up too.

(For those wondering where all this is going, be assured that where possible some reference will be made to resources used, including books – remember them?  Main texts used over 7 years of schooling/college were Gardener’s Art through the Ages 1964, Herbert Read’s The Meaning of Art and Carl Roebuck’s The World of Ancient Times 1966.  College was slow death by a flood of slides.  A lot of the notes we were given were roneod, a method of copying first introduced in 1906 and still being used in the 70’s.  Remember that smell of metho in the classroom?)

Updated and going strong in 2021...

Bears in the Wild

Arcadia, Maine: 2011

Inspired after my efforts with the New York Quilt (it was quite the feverish high!), I quickly took up another stack of memento fabrics I’d purchased in Bar Harbor ME whilst on a trip through the Arcadia National Park (7/9/10).  This trip has special memories.  I was on walking sticks having landed heavily on (and badly twisted) my ankle a few days prior.  We’d also just ducked out of the way of Hurricane Earl and rather more pleasurably, eaten lots of freshly cooked lobsters. 

Despite being walking (just) wounded, I was determined, like a moth to a flame, to get into Fabricate if only to buy myself some quilting magazines.  To aid recovery, I assured Cap'n Doubtful.  In this lovely shop, I discovered some delightful fabrics that shouted “Maine” and I knew they would make up into a wonderful travel memento. 

Back home, I set about selecting a pattern of squares.  Based on my previous success with Kaffe Fassett’s designs, I found an energetic pattern made up of 6 squares.  (Jewel Squares, Kaffe Fasset “Patchwork”, 1997 p.138).  I fussy cut the squares to showcase the best of each design and then pinned them the next day at my regular Randwick meeting.  From there, it didn’t take too long to sew them up into a nice small-ish wall hanging.

Quilting design of waves, wind & mist

Back pieced to use up left-overs

I never did see any bears or even get moose-d but sought solace at Fabricate, 52 Cottage Street, Bar Harbor ME.  It all worked out for the best. The Cap’n would never have shared his cabin well with a bear for a guest… 

(Please note again, this is not an exact replica of Jewel Squares, I simply used the pattern piece sizes to construct my own arrangement of squares.)


And one for the photo album too.
Northeast Harbor, Maine

Just for the Record:
Quilt Finished Size: 114 x 168cm
Block Sizes: 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 & 12 inch
Cut in: 15 Apr 2011
Pieced & Basted: 2011
Quilted: Machine 2011
Quilt Type: Modern
Quilt Finished: 2011
Exhibited: Australia Day, 2013
Collection: Home#0 54
Pattern Name: Jewel Squares p138
Pattern Source: Kaffe Fassett, “Patchwork”, 1997
Fabrics Purchased: Fabricate, Bar Harbor ME
Fabric Design: Local Animals & Fall Foliage
Fabric Style: Travel Memento
Materials Type: Printed Cottons
Wadding Type: Cotton
Backing: Pieced using left-over remnants
.