Today was rainy. I skyped with my always inspirational friend Julie. So, I dusted off the Bernina and put together this little piece.
Does it look like this? That is the general idea. If (and given my track record lately, this is a big if) I get it done, it will be part of my Mod guild challenge entitled 'Metro'.
The guild challenge invites us to collaborate. Even though I did the quilting alone, I like to think of it as a continuation of a conversation started by the original artist. In my imagination the conversation goes something like this:
Me: What is this? (pointing to the sculpture)
Mark (original artist): It's called Joie de Vivre. (joy of life)
Me: Right, because people are going to laugh, because they have no idea what it is.
Mark: Exactly! That's the whole point of modern art, to bring a smile to your face.
Me: Good call making it red, it is a great contrast to the buildings.
Mark: Yes, red is the ideal color for urban outdoor sculpture.
Me: I agree. Red also goes well in quilts...
*note that the quilt in photo is longer and more narrow than appears
So far, I've finished two quilts in 2013! Ok, so I started both of them in 2012, but that's a minor detail. I finally finished the binding on this orange and green fall colors quilt.
I think it came out pretty well. I finished piecing this during the hurricane. I had trouble basting it because the strong winds created a draft in our floorboards. The quilt which was taped down kept billowing up. It was pretty wild.
Here is the second quilt of 2013. The free motion quilting experiment that I described earlier. Though it was far from perfect it will keep some lucky recipient warm. I didn't get a photo of the finished product but it looks like this but without the safety pins and with nice grey binding.
Below is another quilt top that I've finished. This one is not really a finish but almost!
I've been feeling a bit uninspired lately. I have a few ideas but nothing that's jumping out at me. I'll let you know how it goes.
The last post ended with a bit of a cliff hanger. I'm sure you have been asking yourselves, 'What Happened Bernadette?!?' Well, your long-awaited answer is here. Free motion quilting is a lot of fun. As I was going along I began to remember tips that I had read on other websites. Now I know understand what everyone was saying. (These pictures show the back. The quilting shows up much better there)
Here is a list of things that I learned. These are all things that I had heard before but they never made sense until I tried it.
1) Start in the middle and work your way out. I kind of did this but I also left bits (in the middle - that space in between the 'crop circles') that I thought I would go back and do. This is going to be difficult because this middle area now has quilting on all its sides boxing it into a perfect bubble. I'm unsure how to proceed with this.
2) Choose a small pattern so that you can motion freely with small movements. Initially, I decided that these big circular movements would be a great idea. It was not. I had to move the quilt around a lot and this resulted in a lot of tugging, repositioning and therefore lots of little jagged seams instead of smooth motions. The meandering bits in the corners were a whole lot easier to do and the stitching is smoother and more consistent.
3) Pin. Pin. Pin. Then pin some more.
Will definitely be doing more of this next year.
Happy Holidays!
Thank you Michele from Quilt Bloggers for arranging a block drive to make quilts for those effected by Hurricane Sandy. I signed up to make four. And I did and sent them off. Then I thought, 'Come on Bernadette, you can do better than that'. So I made more, and more blocks. Then it became a quilt top. Funny how these things just happen.
I was inspired by (copied the design from) Helen. Thanks Helen!
I'm now going to attempt to quilt it the real way. I had such success with the straight line quilting, how hard can free motion be? I have this special foot that my mom gave me over the summer. I've been too intimidated to take it out of the box. But I just did and I put it on the machine!
Baby steps. There were also two extra pieces in the package.
I'm not sure what they are for. Maybe they are just extras like those miscellaneous bits that come with Ikea furniture. Ok. Here goes.... oh but maybe I'll start in a minute. I really should update this blog first.
That's right. Two posts in two weeks! Today I went to the NYC Metro Mod Guild meeting. It is always so inspiring. I showed my summer challenge quilt (a little bit late); a baby quilt using Thomas Knauer fabrics. I was happy to give it to the Sandy Quilt drive.
It had been brought to my attention that the quilt design resembles a hurricane, and perhaps the recipient might not see any humor in the irony. But the guild concurred that the resemblance wasn't strong enough to worry about.
This was also my first foray into straight line quilting. It was surprisingly easier than I had imagined! I think I'll do a lot more of this.
Update: Here is a link to a photo of me showing the finished product at NYC Metro Mod guild meeting. Thanks for the photo Jess!
In New York mostly. But busy. When there is a spare moment I am faced with the decision. Quilt or blog. Quilting usually wins. Sorry about that dear followers.
I'm sure you are asking yourself, 'Busy? Come on Bernadette, busy doing what?!' Well, first off, my sweet sister had foot surgery. She's fine, thanks for asking. But I have made several pillows for her recovery. Which is going really well (thanks to the pillows).
I especially like this one. I messed the proportions up a little and ran out of room for the 5th toe. Which prompted a discussion about Elaine Zayak. Apparently there are lots of things you can do without all the parts of your foot. This is excellent news for my sister who now only has one of her sesamoid bones.
More soon... (really, I promise.)
I got a new iron! It is light years better than the old travel iron that I had been using. The new one is fantastic and it looks like a spaceship, don't you think?
I'm not sure where the old one came from. I remember taking it to college with me. It was old then. It still works. Kind of. My only complaint is that it drools when it has water in it. So you get big wet patches. But it still makes fabric flat.
I feel that having kept the iron in working order for so long, I am in a position to advise others on how to keep their irons going for years. The secret (in my experience) is to use it sparingly. Ask yourself, do I really need to iron that t-shirt? Probably not. Should I worry about these fold marks in my jeans? no. Does the fabric need to be ironed. Maybe sometimes.
I hope the new iron lasts as long as the old one.
