Week in Review 2013 - 03/22

Close enough is this week's mantra. I aim for 3 full studio days each week. There are times, like this week, due to foreseen circumstances, that I need to adjust my studio time. As of this posting I have managed 2 1/2 studio days this week. I may be able to squeak in the final 1/2 day. However my photographer (husband) won't be here to take photos of that half day progress. For this week, 2 1/2 days of change between postings is close enough.

Despite shorting my week by half a studio day, I did manage to meet all my goals, or at least came close enough. Here is how the week ending March 22 went:

1) Pictorial Painting

Pictorial Painting assignment #2 - Canyon

I am taking Pictorial Painting taught by Annette Kennedy through Craftsy.com. My attitude about taking classes is to experiment, enjoy the process and learn. What I create will never appear on my website, nor will it be eligible for exhibition. Therefore, I feel no need to "fix" issues. This is another case of close enough.

a) Select the fabric for Canyon. - Done!

If this were my design versus a class I would change out the ground fabric, probably using the same fabric but its backside. This way there would be a stronger contrast between the mountains and the ground. It isn't a problem on the right side, just the left side of the piece. I believe this will be less problematic once the piece is painted, since there is a thin dark line to painted exactly where the brown/mustard mountain meets the textured ground. For now, it is close enough.

b) Cut the fusible backing according to the templates. - Done!
c) Use the fusible templates to cut the fabric. - Done!

I even managed some bonus work. I laid out the fabric on my muslin backing and fused it in place.

2) Express Your Love

a) Do whatever assignment Leah comes up with next. - Done!

Detail from Express Your Love showing the ray done
in Zigzag Spiral.

The goal was to use a new filler pattern of Leah's that she titled Zigzag Spiral. This is actually two patterns, Zippling and Spiral combined. I opted to use it one of the rays. It is the most central red/variegated ray on the bottom of the image. The pattern combined with my color choice feels very southwestern or fiesta like to me. Perhaps that is because I am heading to the southwest soon, so it is on my mind.

b) Continue quilting the hair. - Done!

Detail from Express Your Love showing the hair
as it appears today. 

I added the thinner of the two white streaks, done in the Cat Hairball pattern and the farthest to the right Stacked Flame strand. This is better than close enough. I am luxuriating in such a rich mane of hair.

c) Finish the Iris Still Life by adding a sleeve. - Done!

3) Reflection (Absolute deadline April 23, 2013)

Detail from Reflection after the red branches
have been added.

a) Make and adhere the red branches to the quilt. - Done!

My original plan had been to make bias tubes from a luscious deep maroon fabric to form the branches. Then I would add detail through fabric clumps and french knots. However, even the skinniest of bias tubes was too thick. I scrapped that idea. Next I thought I would paint the branches. This was better, but I don't yet have the dexterity and knowledge of paint and brushes to achieve the thinning and thickening of each branch that I hoped for. I was wary about thread painting the branches. I feared the heavy stitching required might distort the quilt. However, I discovered the section to be thread painted is not extensive in area and that area if it is outline stitched before the thread painting is done the quilt really doesn't distort. There is no need for a hoop or stabilizer, since the quilt had already been quilted it acted as a stabilizer or basting would.

A second detail showing the lower branch from Reflection.

I couldn't resist showing a second detail image from Reflection. Thread painting the branches allowed me to apply two of my recent Leah Day lessons. I marked the swoop of the branches using assisted free motion quilting. I didn't mark how the branches would taper or where to add the buds and leaves. These I did by eyeball while running the machine. The thickest sections of the branches are done in Cat Hairball stitch.

c) Square up the quilt for finishing. - Done!

b) Make the binding.  - I opted to face Reflection versus binding it.

Reflection with 75% of the facing stitched down.

I have been mulling over whether to bind or face Reflection since I first started working on it. My instinct was to face it.  I have faced approximately five quilts before Reflection using a variety of "no fail" facing methods and have been disappointed with the results every single time. However, once I opted to thread paint the branches binding the quilt just didn't make visual sense. The branches need to appear as though they start somewhere off the quilt. If binding comes between the quilted branches and the implied start of the branches image would feel off. I thought I could continue to thread paint the binding after it was applied. My fear was that would flatten the binding noticeably under the branch "extensions."

How could I paint myself out of this corner? My plan was to research facing methods. Maybe there was a YouTube demo that would show me how to have more success.  I sat down at my computer to start researching and in one of those powerful moments of serendipity a fellow Visioning Project member had e-mailed me a link to her favorite facing method. I tried it and for a first attempt and am very satisfied. The corners don't look like dog ears, the quilt turns nicely to the back so that none of the facing is visible in the front and it even finishes nicely on the backside of the quilt.

Tips, Techniques and Thoughts...

It can be so tempting to take the easy way. I would have been much more comfortable binding Reflection. I have binding down and find it a pleasant respite after the challenge of designing and making a quilt. My muse started whispering, then speaking and finally shouting "this quilt MUST be faced." I am glad I listened.

If you are interested in giving this facing method a try it can be found on Susan Brubaker Knapp's website. Even if you don't want to try your hand at facing, drop by Knapp's website. Her quilts are outstanding.

I will be traveling next week and therefore not working in my studio. However, when I return I intend to pick up where I left off. Here is my plan for the week ending April 3:

1) Pictorial Painting

a) Mark the fabric for painting.
b) Watch the portion of the lesson that demos how to paint the Canyon piece.

2) Express Your Love

a) Do whatever assignment Leah comes up with next.
b) Finish quilting the hair.

3) Reflection (Absolute deadline April 23, 2013)

a) Finish stitching the facing.
b) Make and attach the sleeve.
c) Make and attach the label.
d) Add Reflection to my website.

Week in Review 2013 - 03/15

Detail from Reflection

Tips, Techniques and Thoughts...

Leah Day has been sharing her fears, insecurities and disappointments this week on her blog. It got me thinking how regular practice over years and decades helps to dampen these fears, insecurities and  disappointments. Why is this so? I would conjecture because over years one begins to see personal patterns of highs, lows and plateaus. Therefore, one develops confidence that mistakes can be rectified and lows don't last forever.

When I started quilting in 1988 the World Wide Web didn't exist. That didn't come into being for another 5 years. I learned about quilting through magazines and taking classes. Magazines were also my source for where to enter quilts. The first Call for Entry I submitted was in 2000 to the American Quilter's Society. Amazingly my entry was accepted. I was so excited and assumed it was such a fluke that I actually flew half way across the country just to see my quilt at AQS. My next Call for Entry also resulted in acceptance. Maybe my work was worthy after all. Then the next was rejected. I have no idea how many calls for entry I have completed since 2000, but I have a good sense that my work is NOT accepted more often than it is accepted. Not being accepted doesn't sting the way it used to. Why? Because I have a CV with a long list of all the exhibitions and publications I have been privileged to be part of.

It is rare that I don't have at least one or two or more quilts on view somewhere in the country and even occasionally outside of the country. Currently my work can be seen in Loveland, Colorado, two venues in Appleton, WI and in an on-line catalog as a runner up for an on-line exhibition.

Does this mean I plan on sitting back and relaxing? Of course not. Here is where I focused my attention last week.

Another detail from Reflections

1) Pictorial Painting

a) Watch the next lesson. - I started to watch the lesson for the second and final project. I opted to stop a few minutes in so that I could...

b) Begin the next lesson. - I did. I printed out the 3 different blue prints for the next project. These are poster sized and require overlapping and securing pages to get the full print. I now have the templates, layout and painting guides for the canyon piece ready to go.

2) Express Your Love

Detail featuring the hair from Express Your Love.

a) Do whatever assignment Leah comes up with next. - Done

The assignment was to use the filler stitch, Cat Hairball.

I am using three different patterns and three different threads
to create the hair. Left to right they are Stacked Flame Stitch in
a pale gray cotton thread, Channels and Paths in a variegated
white through brown cotton thread and Cat Hairball using
a variegated white through pale gray nylon.

b) Finish quilting the hair.

I made some progress with this. I did another lock in Channels and Paths and tried my hand with Cat Hairball. Cat Hairball is very, VERY time consuming. That single lock took me between 5 and 6 hours and used a full bobbin of Bottomline thread.

Express Your Love as it looks today.

c) Finish the Iris Still Life by binding it and adding a sleeve. - 50% done.

The binding is done, but I still need to make and add the sleeve. Selecting a binding wasn't easy for this piece. Since I dyed the quilt and didn't have the presence of mind to dye additional fabric to use as the binding, I didn't have matching fabric. I had at least four fabrics in my stash of purples that I thought would work. I found that the light and mid value choices were dull. I went for the darkest one. My preference would have been to have dyed matching fabric at the time I dyed the quilt. 

3) Reflection (Absolute deadline April 23, 2013)

a) Finish quilting the ice and water surrounding the geese. - Done!

Reflection after the background quilting has been completed.

This is where I spent the majority of my studio time this week. It took nearly two full studio days to do this. I had underestimated the time. I thought because it was a simple all over pattern and that I was doing it in a small, but not micro scale it would go faster than it did. It was worth it though. I like the pattern I invented to give a sense of water on ice.

b) Start work on the red branches. - Done.

OK, it depends on your definition of start. I have selected the fabric. I have ordered and received the bias tube pressing bars. I have cut the fabric and sewn the first seam needed to make Mobius bias strips. If you look closely at the various images of Reflections in this post you can see pencil lines where the branches will be.

Another detail from Reflections

I've been talking about getting those red branches added for several weeks now. Next week for sure! Of course I won't stop there. Here is my game plan for the week ending March 22:

1) Pictorial Painting

a) Select the fabric for Canyon.
b) Cut the fusible backing according to the templates.
c) Use the fusible to cut the fabric.

2) Express Your Love

a) Do whatever assignment Leah comes up with next.

b) Continue quilting the hair.

c) Finish the Iris Still Life by adding a sleeve.

3) Reflection (Absolute deadline April 23, 2013)

a) Make and adhere the red branches to the quilt.

b) Make the binding.

c) Square up the quilt for finishing.

Week In Review 2013 - 03/08

I have been a free motion quilting fiend this past week. Often my projects are at different stages, so that I might be designing one quilt, piecing another, quilting a third and perhaps doing handwork on a fourth. However, this week all three of my projects involved free motion quilting at some point in their progress.

Was free motion quilting what I had in mind for the week ending March 8? Here is my plan matched up with what I actually did.


1) Pictorial Painting

a) Watch the next lesson. - Done

Annette Kennedy gave a lecture on depth and dimension using her photographs and quilts as examples. There were no assignments for this lesson.

b) Begin the next lesson. - Done or not done. There was nothing to do.


2) Express Your Love

Work begins on the goddess's hair.
The design, called Express Your Love, is by Leah Day.

a) Do whatever assignment Leah comes up with next. - Done

Last week I said that Leah hadn't provided us with a lesson. I spoke to soon. She did demo a variation on Flame Stitch that she dubbed Stacked Flame Stitch. This week she shared how to do another filler design called Channels and Paths. I chose to do use both this patterns in my goddess's hair. Since I see myself as my goddess, I decided to use thread similar to my own gray, brown, white, dark brown, slightly streaked hair. Therefore, I did the Stacked Flame Stitch in a pale gray and the Channels and Paths is variegated brown, golden honey and white.

A closer look at the goddess's hair. 

b) Finish quilting Iris Still Life. - Done

This a whole cloth 16" square quilt. The fabric is a single
hand dyed fuchsia. What a difference varying  the thread
color and density of the quilting makes!

Last week I quilted the rays done in McTavishing.  This
week I decided to use a portion of the center image -
a single iris,  placed in alternate rays.  Note how this single
change helps to both draw your eye in and pull it out.

3) Reflection (Absolute deadline April 23, 2013)

The brown threads across the background are the
basting threads. They are removed as I come to them. I find
this method of basting results in the least distortion of the quilt
that is a natural result of quilting.

a) Add the first layer of batting needed to trapunto the geese and trim it. - Done

b) Add the second layer of batting and backing, in other words make the quilt sandwich. - Done

c) Start quilting the ice and water surrounding the geese. - Done

Close up showing the effect of the trapunto, reverse
applique and free motion quilting.

This week just might set a record. I don't believe I have ever completed 100% of what I planned on doing. Much of the credit is due to Leah. I have learned so much about free motion quilting over the past 15 months that I can do it for hours. It has become as second nature to me as piecing. Proof positive that practice makes a difference.

Tips, Techniques and Thoughts...

"Reflection" a.ka. the geese quilt, is a favorite among readers of the blog. It has generated a few questions about how I did the reverse appliqué. The difference between appliqué and reverse appliqué is that the first is pieced on the front/right side of the quilt, while the latter is pieced to the back side of the quilt and the front of the quilt is then cut away revealing the piece. Think of a picture frame or window. Since the front is cut away there are raw edges to deal with. My favorite method, and the one I used to here to cope with raw edges, is to satin stitch around the appliqué. I find it helpful to set my machine at a slightly longer length between stitches than recommended. This keeps the satin stitch from being so dense that it won't flow under the machine's pressure foot. I also change the width to about half the default setting. Ultimately, the key is to set the satin stitch in such a way that it covers the raw edge and doesn't detract from the design. Thread choice is key, too. I used a VERY pale lavender thread. White would have "popped."


Nothing like a solid week of work to leave me eager for more. Here is my plan for the week ending March 15, 2013:

1) Pictorial Painting

a) Watch the next lesson.

b) Begin the next lesson.

2) Express Your Love

a) Do whatever assignment Leah comes up with next.

b) Finish quilting the hair.

c) Finish the Iris Still Life by binding it and adding a sleeve.

3) Reflection (Absolute deadline April 23, 2013)

a) Finish quilting the ice and water surrounding the geese.

b) Start work on the red branches.

Week in Review 2013 - 03/01

I am fortunate to belong to SAQA and through SAQA have the opportunity to participate in the Visioning Project. Each fiscal year, running from October 1 - September 30 VP participants set a personal goal for the year. It seems ever since I started quilting in 1988 I have wanted more time to quilt. Then it hit me, why not make more time my VP project for 2013? I started practicing in September not answering the phone during studio time. I also notified family members that I would not be answering the phone during studio time, but would listen to messages during my breaks just in case there was an emergency. What a difference that simple change has made! You only have to look at what I accomplish each week to see what I can do by not answering the phone when working and committing to three studio days each week when I am at home.

The proof is in how the week ending March 1, 2013 went:

1) Shore's Edge (Absolute deadline March 21, 2013) - Made it with three weeks to spare!!

a) Attach the sleeves. - Done!

b) Make and attach the label. - Done!

c) Submit Call for Entry to Vivien at Fiber Revolution. - Done!

d) Add Shore's Edge to my website. - Done!

2) Pictorial Painting

a) Create a palette of colors to be used when painting the geese. - Done!

3) Express Your Love

a) Do whatever assignment Leah comes up with next.

An experiment with trapunto. The iris in a vase design is Hari Walner's.
I stole the rays from Express Your Love. I am thinking of
adding a single iris in alternate rays, then stippling around it.

Leah took a break from Express Your Love to work on a personal goddess quilt of hers. She wrote about how she is adding trapunto to the piece as well as how and why she opted to dye the over 60" square piece midway through the quilting process.

A closer look at the trapunto practice piece. It began as a
white whole cloth quilt. I immersion dyed it with minimal
stirring, hence the mottled look. 

I have been deliberating about adding trapunto to Reflection as a way to give the geese more of a 3D appearance. I used Leah's break from Express Your Love to do what she did, some trapunto followed by dying a whole cloth quilt, just on a smaller scale. The piece, with a working title of Iris Still Life is going to be approximately 16" square, unless I am inspired to continue with it by adding quilt as you go borders or blocks.

4) Reflection (Absolute deadline April 23, 2013)

a) Finish reverse appliquéing the geese to the background. - Done!

b) Paint the geese. - Done!

I painted the geese and then painted the lightest and darkest sections again in order to achieve a more natural contrast.

Reflection after the gees have been painted.

The red branches's location has been penciled in.

c) Determine how best to create the red branches and their foliage. - Done!

I have decided to create the red branches with skinny tubes of bias fabric. This method is frequently used when making Baltimore Album quilts to weave baskets or add vines and stems. I am going to embroider the foliage, probably in french knots done in clusters.

Now, what trouble can I get myself into before March 8, 2013?


1) Pictorial Painting

a) Watch the next lesson.

b) Begin the next lesson.

2) Express Your Love

a) Do whatever assignment Leah comes up with next.

b) Finish quilting Iris Still Life.

3) Reflection (Absolute deadline April 23, 2013)

a) Add the first layer of batting needed to trapunto the geese and trim it.

b) Add the second layer of batting and backing, in other words make the quilt sandwich.

c) Start quilting the ice and water surrounding the geese.

Tips, Techniques and Thoughts...

Last week Quilting Jenny made the following comment on my post:

"I would like to start laying out my project steps in this way and hope to get more accomplished. You seem to have a very good grip on your process and what is required at every stage."

The one word response to this comment is PRACTICE. I have been a quilter since 1988 and an artist with fabric as my medium since 2000. I have no idea how many quilts I have made, but since I make approximately six quilts each year I have made close to 150 quilts.

One thing I have doing since defining myself as an artist is beginning my day with morning pages or journaling. I do this 365 days a year, on weekends, while vacationing and even when I am sick. Morning pages are uncensored stream of conscientious writing done in long hand, not on the computer. I have found many benefits from this practice. One of the first things I noticed is that I got the whining out in private. I gripped about the weather, my health, my relationships with others, whatever had my hackles up. Getting it out there allows me to let it go. As time went on, I discovered that problems I was working on, such as how to make the red branches in Reflection, were often solved while I wrote. Sometimes I even doodle. That is how I created the free motion quilting pattern I will use on the ice in Reflection.

If you are interested in learning more about morning pages or making the transition from quilter to artist, I can't recommend "The Artist's Way" by Julia Cameron highly enough. I use it as one of the textbooks for my one on one mentoring class titled "How to Make An Art Quilt."