Binding the Ocean

At least, that's what it feels like these days...

The medallion quilt is piled up on my love seat.  I take a bit of it at a time and stitch down the binding.

As this is a special quilt, though, my usual single-fold, straight-cornered binding just wouldn't do.  This quilt has a double-fold binding (not bias), and mitred corners!

Following the instructions in my 'quilting bible' (The Quilter's Ultimate Visual Guide editted by Ellen Pahl), I calculated the length of binding I'd need for this king-sized quilt, cut the strips, attached them together using the method in the photo below...and stored the binding around my 15" square ruler till I could get time to sew it on the quilt.  :-)

This takes more fabric than a straight-across seam
but I like the look and there was plenty of fabric available!

Temporary binding storage!

Look, Ma! A mitred corner!

By Friday I had the binding sewn on, and was trimming out the excess batting, pinning as I went.  What to do at the corners?  How to get the mitres to look good on both sides and stay put?  My pins just didn't cut it.

Blessedly, I had lunch with my friend C, who is a quilter...and who had invested in some of these:

A Clover 'Wonder Clip' in action!

What a neat gizmo!  Darned expensive (about 69 cents apiece U.S. if you buy a packet of 10)...but worth the price of admission if you're going to be binding quilts.  I think we carry these in The Shop...so will check that out tomorrow and likely buy my own pack.  I have a few bed-quilts to bind in the next year or two...and they might just come in handy with art quilt facings....

Once all the pins and clips were applied, I ready to stitch.  I've finished one side and am well down the second.  Oh -- and the label has been made and applied in one corner.  All this, of course, under the watchful eye paw of my Studio Assistant, Pookie (aka Miss Pooks, among other things...)

"What?! You want to stitch on this?"

Once I get stitching, I like to put on a favourite computer video, such as Design Matters TV (DMTV) or The Quilt Show...

In fact, a recent episode of DMTV was the inspiration for the mini I made today.

One of the hosts is my former C&G tutor, Linda Kemshall.  What a grand person: artist, mother, teacher, writer -- she presents everything she does with enthusiasm, style and a touch of humour.

Anyway, a few months ago she began a project -- a daily art journal in a sketchbook.  Though several of her viewers have joined her on this adventure, I'm not one of them.  That said, I was interested to see the DMTV episode on her September entries.  The one that really caught my eye was her working out images of the 'Blood Moon' and the eclipse that occurred recently.  I'm an early-to-bed sort, so I missed it -- but saw images posted all over the Internet.

And then, on Thursday evening coming home late after work and music practice at the church (I'm in a trio), I saw it: a full, round, gorgeous Harvest moon!  I couldn't stop the car to photograph it -- and my little camera wouldn't have done it justice anyway -- so I just kept watching as it rose above the hills and trees, searing the image into my brain.

Yesterday I went back to that DMTV episode, and worked it out on fabric -- three small samples:

Cotton fabrics, freezer paper stencils,
a disposable 'tub' (recycled), a sponge
and a bottle of "deColorant" discharge paste

I'd bought a bottle of this paste a couple of years ago at a quilt show, and had played with it with less-than-satisfactory results.  Now it was time to try it again.  I used a sponge to apply it to the circles of fabric, which was easy and fast.  I let it dry all day, then removed the stencil paper and ironed the fabric squares:

Tada!

As recommended, I used extra steam and ironed the pieces from both sides, to great effect. 

I then wanted to add a bit of colour to my selected 'moon' to give it that Harvest moon golden glow.  Not having any "deColorant PLUS" (which has colour added), I decided to over-paint it.  First I used my yellow and my red InkTense (R) pencils, well blended, and then...a hint of dilute Lumiere fabric paint, the copper metallic option.

Once dry, I ironed the fabric again, and set it into a small scene.  I used a stencil to trace tree forms in a repeating pattern on fusible web (Wonder Under) and applied this to black fabric.

Oops!

In my excitement, I ironed the fusible to the "topside" (aka the 'right' side) of the fabric...not the "underside" (aka the 'wrong' side)...

But, in the end, I think it turned out rather well, as the "wrong" side of that particular black fabric has some texture to it -- just right for trees...

Harvest Moon (C) 2015

Just a bit of time now to stitch some more binding.  Tomorrow will be a work-and-knitting day in The Shop...

So I bid all 'farewell' till next time...

Addendum:  Linking this to WIP Wednesday because I don't know if I'll be able to link later...

Movin' to the Rhythm...EBMC July - Part II

Rain at last!  For the last 36 hours or so we've had torrents of it, beginning late Wednesday evening and moving with all sound and fury through the wee hours of yesterday a.m., on and off again...until sometime during last night, when it began to pour down in sheets, blown on occasion by the wind.  Rain barrels are over-flowing, and streams are running down the street.

Not to worry; no flooding. We have a sandy under-soil here, so I expect it will all eventually soak in...

Perfect weather for getting into the sewdio and tackling my "Rhythm" piece.

First, the feedback on my initial sketches, though, eh?

Initial doodles

EB thought my initial doodles were "...a great way to start and I think it would be really interesting to draw out a whole page with your rectangle idea - it's a kind of quilt pattern/plain chant hybrid!  It would be fascinating to see what happens.   You could also simply take the musical staff and see how that would work out into a design."

A full 18" x 24" of rectangle!

This morning, I took her up on her suggestion and did a full page rectangle...

Um...static, boring...and look at that vertical slice right up the centre!  Aaargh! 

  
About the drawings of rectangles, including the watercolour, she wrote:

I think you've got a lot of rhythms join on here, and a lot of variety in your shapes...even though they're all skinny rectangles!  I'd do two things...first you're always ascending - musically speaking that is, which means that your implied diagonals are all going in the same direction.  It's always good to counter the movement when it's unidirectional with something going the other way - a lot more interesting and it prevents imbalance problems.  So have a few notes coming down as well as going up!!  And I would pull the two line together so they begin to overlap which will make for a lot more excitement.  You might even have three lines...more depth, more fun!  don't limit yourself.

Rhythm in line

She particularly liked the line drawings, though, and wrote this about them:

"I can see... how you have started to be looser and also to leave more spaces and more overlap.  This is an excellent idea...do a LOT more, don't be in too much of a hurry to start sewing.  this has the nice drawn line quality of some of your earlier designs which I think is part of your style and it would be good to develop further."

I was blown away at the thought that my earlier designs had, in her opinion, a "nice drawn line quality".  I can suck on that sweet candy comment for some time...  :-)

So...I went back to lines, after listening at to "Rhapsody in Blue" three more times: once, the Leonard Bernstein version (from my last post), once a piano solo, and once Gershwin himself on the piano.

I got the sense that maybe the lines should be more waves...at least to reflect the wee section of the music I wanted to isolate and focus on, so I tried this:

What if I joined the lines?

 And then this:

What if I try curves or waves?

More curves

I followed the drawing by putting a piece of pale blue fabric up on my design wall and trying to arrange a deeper blue length of yarn on it, emulating the curves.  It ended up looking like a textile electrocardiogram...Not quite the effect I was after!

So...I went back to strips of fabric lying on the background.  At one point, after another hour or so of playing with it, I pulled on a thread and the entire piece fell to the floor.  No, it wasn't pinned.   

Sigh.  I was close to tears with frustration at this point.

"Breathe!" I told myself...and as I reassembled the bits and bobs it occurred to me that if I used fewer strips and values of blue, it might be more effective.

My first attempt was rather lop-sided and less than charming:

"Rhythm In Blues" (WIP) version 1

I kept at it...another hour went by...

"Rhythm In Blues" (WIP) version 2
Size: approx. 17" square (unfinished)

Finally something worthy of EB's consideration!  And something I can realistically assemble and quilt.  I even have an idea of how I would quilt it.

So...we shall see what EB has to say.

Meanwhile, I'm linking to Nina Marie's Off the Wall Friday and digging out my handwork.  The rain continues.  It's a good time for some quiet stitching and knitting while I catch up on blogs and some episodes of Design Matters TV (the Kemshalls) and The Quilt Show...

Have a great weekend!

A Day Late...

This week I missed posting to WIP Wednesday over at NTN because...well, I had WIPs on Wednesday but no time to post.

Did I mention I'm working at The Shop two days a week right now?  Have been since after Thanksgiving.  It's Prime Yarn-craft Weather and customers have been flocking to the store for yarn with which to knit and crochet gifts for Christmas and whatever other holidays they celebrate -- on top of newly-arrived babies and grand-babies, etc.

In quiet moments there I've been able to work on my own knitting...but there haven't been that many quiet moments!

The days are long -- I leave here around 8 a.m. (yes, it's still rather dark then) and don't get home till close to 7 p.m. (yes, it's dark again then)...which makes for a fulfilling but lo-o-ong day.  By the time I've sorted myself out and read/responded to correspondence and fed the cat (and sometimes, me)...it's time for bed!

To keep Wednesdays and Fridays from feeling like 'catch-up' days, I'm trying to spend more (structured) time in the studio.  By Wednesday evening this week, here's what was going on:

• First, a reprise of "Gone South" from this time last year.  Here it is with my "test mat".  I was checking to see if I'd stitched in enough wee branches.  I test my pieces several times while under construction; using the mat helps me see what needs to be added -- or not.  Another example of what was added in this case was some stitching across the bottom to give the impression of snow banks, even though in this piece the background is a very pale grey.

Having decided the branches looked right, I began to add tiny beads to represent the small "apples" that grow on this particular tree (it's in my back yard).  (Yes they are the same beads that are featured in "Winter Dinette".)

The shadow is caused by the position of the piece on my worktable (a keyboard shelf at my desk; I was watching a PBS program on computer while adding the beads).  :-)

Today I will finish adding the beads, trim the piece, put some stay-stitching around the edges and apply the mat.

• Then I hope to start the stitching on this piece -- another WIP from Wednesday:

"Tipsy - Autumn" - WIP

The piece is based on a photo from another corner of my favourite field:

Until earlier this week, there were hay bales all over that field.  (Don't be confused; the bale is not larger than the building!  That's just the angle at which I took that photo, which I was taking not so much for the building but for the colours of the trees and grasses.)

That said, the presence of the bales has given me an idea for some of the stitching on the 'field' in the foreground of the piece.  :-)

Being reminded of the quilting design was a lesson I re-learned Monday and again Wednesday as I watched my former tutor, Linda Kemshall, on an episode of DMTV entitled "Art as Inspiration".  I watched it three times, I think, as I prepared for my next 15 x 15 piece on the theme, "Roads".  As usual, I have several ideas buzzing around in my head.  The DMTV episode helped me by reminding me of the steps I learned in my C&G -- inspirational photos/research; sketchbook notes and perhaps a drawing or two to get the colours and impressions in mind...etc.

Adhering to that lightly structured process is very freeing, really, because it slows me down, requires me to really look at my sources of inspiration, focus on the colours, lines and forms that appeal to me, which I can then extract for my quilt design.  It has a calming effect, serving to "unscramble" the ideas and thoughts crowding my brain.

The sorting-out thus far is both in my sketchbook and on my wall...

Mapping "Roads"

And the process continues... 

I'm now linking to Nina Marie's Off the Wall Friday.  The plan: stitch those beads to "Gone South II" while I sip a fresh cuppa coffee and read what others are up to.

Looks like EB is using a section of her Abstract Art for Quilt-makers class with the current Master Class Students.  Why don't you visit too...and see what's going on?  Happy Friday, everyone!