Quilts

Temporarily Out of Service

June 19, 2013 Elizabeth E.11 Comments

This is what I put up on Instagram, in between woozy episodes of a drug-induced haze. Gotta’ love those drugs, however. I did stay up late the night before my surgery putting a binding on an quilt, hoping to hand-stitch it while ~~lounging around~~ recuperating in bed, but given the effects of the painkiller, I’m foregoing hand-stitching for sleeping.

But rather than leave you empty-handed, I’m including a few photos from my time last month walking around New York’s Fashion District. Some of these are significant, and others are just sewing “eye-candy.”

Even the little church has quilt patterns on their facade.

It’s easy to forget that a lot of clothing has passed through the doors in this section of town, like this “Garment Wear Arcade.”

Fabrics & Fabrics! Yay!

I had to work fast to get this one–a guy moving a dress form from one location to another. It would be soooo much better if I lived closer, as there were too many treasures to try and fit into my suitcase. I googled Nadelstern Fashion District, and found a PDF document (some years old) that listed a lot of places to go see. Some were inaccurate, so make sure you use your Google Maps (Apple maps was almost completely worthless in NYC) to locate the stores precisely.

And if you go. . . head there with a project or two in mind. I found myself looking at so much stuff, but having no idea what to do with it, so I didn’t buy much this trip.

Yes, I’ll be temporarily Out of Service, but hopefully not for too long–a couple of weeks–and then I’ve got two new bee blocks to get sewn up before the end of the month. Luckily the surgery was on my LEFT foot, so I can work the presser foot after I get up out of bed!

So, what are you doing for summer vacation?

Quilts

City Quilter Gallery

June 11, 2013 Elizabeth E.14 Comments

I love to visit City Quilter in New York City, for not only do they have amazing fabrics, they also have an attached art quilt gallery. The exhibit when I was there was Deb Hyde: Sunshine and Shadow.

Sunshine and Shadow–Yellow

All the quilts were made of tiny pieces of fabric, fused to a grid, sewn then finished. That makes it sound so elementary and perhaps the technique is, but it is Hyde’s use of color and pattern that elevate these quilts to a new level.

The above are increasingly detailed photos of the opening image, and it’s easy to see that she makes good use of fabric that we might relegate to the side of the fabric closet.

Pink Dress

One of her talents is the way she defines the body, the shapes, but also makes the background interesting with varied tones and values.

Sunshine and Shadow–Turquoise

Check out the use of batiks to make the eye realistic.

Wishful Thinking

Detail

This quilt was up over the desk at the front of the gallery so I couldn’t get a good shot, but I love the way the light falls on the shoulders.

I became interested in how she quilted these. In my recent post I talked about Colorwash quilts and how we sewed millions of little squares together. The newer method — of fusing them down — is an easier way, but it does make the quilts stiffer, so I wondered how the quilting would enhance and become a part of the composition, since it would be more noticeable in the thicker texture. This is a simple diagonal quilting style.

Random box pattern.

All over. This piece (not shown in its entirety) is interesting because the grid appears to have been appliqued on top of the darker borders, with a scuffly, random stitching adhering and melding the two pieces into one.

The New York Times recently profiled the shop in this video:

And while there, I glimpsed Amish With a Twist II, the newest Block of the Month quilt; I signed up for it, and the two installments of this BOM were waiting for me on the doorstep when I arrived home. Quilting has kind of come to a halt around here, as my daughter and her three children have arrived for a week (circus circus, but really fun). Yesterday, while I watched waaay too many episodes of Wizards of Waverly Place (with Selena Gomez as the star witch), I started cutting out the first two kits. Other than losing my marbles with trying to figure out which color was which (Putty and Williamsburg Blue gave me extra fits of crazy), I successfully finish up the cutting last night.

Now I’ve got to run–time for breakfast for three little people and their Mom!

Quilts

Geek 8 Competition–Spoonflower Fabrics

June 7, 2013 Elizabeth E.3 Comments

The link to look at the fabrics, read about the designers is *here.*

Like many of you, I’m a fabric geek–love the texture, the designs, love having a wide range of fabrics to choose from. The theme of Spoonflower’s second annual Design 8 contest is “Geek Chic,” and the initial offering included all kinds of geekiness, including taped glasses, computer references, science allusions and designs–the whole range. I think these final few contestants have captured the full range of geek chic. I loved reading their biographies, as they live all over the world, from Santa Monica to Toulouse, France, and while they all begin differently with their sketching, they all end up on the computer, making their designs. Three of my four favorites are in the top row, and the other fav is the middle of the bottom row, so I’ll have to think hard about which one to vote for.

The contest voting closes next week, so hurry! Cast your vote!

Quilts

First WIP Post of Summer 2013

June 5, 2013 Elizabeth E.4 Comments

It’s the first post of summer–the first Works In Progress post, thanks to Lee, of Freshly Pieced.

I put together the sections for the Schnibbles block, trimming it up as the pattern recommended (we’re doing Dulcina this month–see Sherri’s blog for more info).

Whoa! Big Shrinkage. (The trimmed up squares are on the right.) If I make this quilt in the future, I’ll try to figure out the dimensions so that the trimmed up block doesn’t lose an inch in each direction.

Final center section, all sewn together. Now the borders. Because I have so much going on in the quilt, I’m looking to build some quieter borders than are shown in the design. But I’m putting this aside for now, to tackle my Big Project: Quilting the English Paper Pieced Quilt: