Creative Life Sampler

  Lord's Snowfall, 2018 Season's Greetings!!! I'm indulging in a flashback Friday for a visual to accompany my very best wishes for happy, healthy holidays to one and all.  It's always productive to look back at your work, to appreciate what you've done and acknowledge how far you've come. It brings perspective. Lord's snowfall was finished in 2018, appliqu é d by hand and hand quilted. It was one of the first times I "went off script" without a pattern and it took over 2 years to execute. Not only has my work evolved significantly in the last 7 years, but I've gotten much faster at handwork. It kinda boggles my mind. This was an improv quilt; there was no plan starting out. Each snow crystal is unique. They were cut out and centered on varying sized blocks using a variation of the Hawaiian appliqu é  technique. As the blocks began to accumulate, conscious choices were made so the background would be a gradual transformation from blue to white ...

 My Christmas Sampler, circa 2009 Reaching back into the linen closet to share this Christmas creation that was started in September 2008 and finished in January of 2009. It is a king sized sampler quilt, - each square is a star themed block in golds, dark greens and burgundies.  I still love this quilt, it makes me smile. I remember being so excited to make it.  But it feels like it was made a lifetime ago, in a different era, or maybe even created by somebody else. It's so foreign to what I make now.  In reality, I suppose I'm not the same person I was when I conceived of this quilt and put needle to fabric.  For one thing this quilt is all machine pieced and quilted, not a bit of hand work.  At that time  I was just beginning to explore Hawaiian appliqu é.  I had no idea how transformative developing skill in  appliqu é and reverse  appliqu é  would prove to be.   Back then, I had no desire to spend "too much time" on hand q...

This quilt was in the "Fabric of a Nation; American Quilt Stories" show at the Skirball Cultural Center this month.  During World War II, 17,814 men, women, and children of Japanese descent were held by the United States government at the Poston War Relocation Center in southwestern Arizona because they were perceived as a threat after the bombing of Pearl Harbor.   This quilt was created by Japanese American children as a project in their fourth grade civics class after studying pioneer women. The scraps for this project were gathered from the barracks at this internment camp and each child cross stitched their names onto a block.  Think of that for a moment.  These children were studying the country the lived in, it's history and its promise, just as other children their age were doing across the country. The difference is they were doing it without the freedoms they were learning about in school.   Quite the American quilt story. Though it was creat...

Child sized quilt in Snail's Trail blocks I've been going through some fabrics to get more organized and I'm finding a lot of U n f inished O pportunities (UFOs.) This was a stack of 24 Snail's Trail blocks that were left over from a twin sized quilt I created back in the early 2000's. It has been a while since I've done precision machine sewing. My latest projects have either been improvisational, meaning that the block units have no perceived pattern and are cut after they're sewn together to square them up, or they are appliqu éd, so I can manipulate the fabric at my fingertips. I'd gotten rusty at finessing the seam allowances to make everything fit together.   Four of the squares were smaller than the rest. They were saved for the backing: a modern setting for a traditional block:   The fabrics in this quilt were either water themed or they had motion to enhance the motion of the block. It seemed appropriate then to machine quilt this one in various...

Thought I'd share another quilt from my grandmother's house. It's creator and the date of its construction are unknown. The quilt top design is all triangles that form a simple lattice on point, or on the diagonal. The quilter added interest to the centers by using two subtle fabrics, a pink and a grey, against which the lattice pops. If I had to take a guess, I would say the fabrics used in the quilt top are from the Depression era; simple, small patterns which may have been more vibrant at one time but now wear a softer hue. Of course that doesn't necessarily mean it was pieced in that time frame. Quilters are notorious hoarders of fabric and it's not uncommon for fabrics to wait in the "stash" for years before they find a place in a project.   What's really cool about vintage quilts is that, in the absence of any documentation, they give us the opportunity to do a little sleuthing and hypothesizing. One interesting thing about this quilt is its back...

Last week I was inspired by the annual Road to California quilt show and what today's quilters are doing to elevate this art form and expand on what has come before them. So, this week I thought I'd go back in time to share a family heirloom.   The crazy quilt style became popular in the Victorian era of the mid to late 1800's. An appraiser placed the date of this quilt top at the end of this era. Adhering to the crazy quilt tradition, it is sewn in velvets, brocades, silks, etc., not cotton. Though some of the colors have bled or faded, there are hints that it was a vibrant piece. It was created by my great grandmother, Vienna, but as you can see from the edges, she never finished it off.  Quilt detail Been there, done that, Vienna! I don't know any quilter who doesn't have a one or two, or more, WIPs (Work In Progress.)  I do wonder why she lost interest in it. Perhaps the trends were already shifting to the next big thing. I get that. Sometimes we see examples of...

 Christmas Tree Skirt As I was pulling out all the Christmas decorations, it occurred to me that our tree skirt comes straight from the linen closet! It's an early quilting project that takes me down memory lane this time of year. The points are the traditional log cabin block. It was machine pieced and quilted, but the gold cording along the edge and the tassels were sewn on by hand. The opening has a flap of extra fabric on one side which falls to the back when the edges are overlapped. Velcro along the opening edges keep it in place around the base of the tree.  This skirt was made for an average sized tree. It looked a bit small when we replaced that early marriage tree with a larger one years ago. I briefly considered retiring it, but my family does treasure its holiday traditions.  The problem was solved by putting a circle of complementary fabric under it. This extended its circumference and made it feel more proportionate to the new tree.  Gotta love the...

Appliquéd Insects  In honor of the beginning of a new school year, I'm going back in time to share this child sized quilt which was made early in my quilting journey.  It is one of a series I designed and created for my siblings' new families. The technique used in these quilts is quite simple. Fusible webbing is ironed on the wrong side of the fabric, shapes cut out, and then ironed on to the background fabric. It is machine appliquéd with a zigzag stitch. The quilting for this series was very minimalistic. At this point my interest was directed toward creating the top. Quilting was an afterthought, of not a necessary, tedious step. I didn't want to take too much time on it, and even felt more quilting would somehow distract the viewer's attention away from the objects. If I'm honest, I didn't have the skill set to create more sophisticated designs either. My outlook on this part of the creative process has evolved through the years. Now I consider quilting the...

Cozy Crazy Quilt  It's been a while since I've gone to the linen closet to share an early creation, circa pre blogging years. This quilt was created several years ago for a graduating high school student.  I have used this crazy quilt block at least a half dozen times. In this case, I chose corduroy fabrics for their durability and texture. It was backed it with polar fleece for a cozy feeling. If you are interested in other samples of this crazy quilt block, check out "Crazy Quilt" under Labels in the side bar.    

Durable Blues   News of snow, and other inclement weather across the country brought to mind the color palette of this crazy quilt.  White denim shapes pop against various shades of blue and grey, while weathered and patterned fabrics add interest and texture to the design. There are so many options available in denim, and it is a sturdy fabric that will hold up to a lot of wear and tear. It is also pretty heavy; assembling this with batting would have added a lot more weight. So, a polar fleece was used to finish off this quilt, giving it the warmth of a batting without all that weight and a soft, cozy backing on the reverse side of the denim. It was quilted very simply with a "stitch in the ditch" that follows along the seam lines of the 8x6 square gridding. I have used this block pattern on multiple occasions and have grown to appreciate the odd shapes that emerge as blocks are randomly placed side-by-side and fabrics within adjacent blocks match up. (For a description of ...

  Linen Closet: Christmas Pillow Stepping Stones block pattern, created in 2014 For those creative types that plan for homemade gift giving, this is the season to begin holiday projects! It's far more gratifying to take these things at a comfortable pace and relish the process than it is to struggle through the process at the last minute, risking dissatisfaction with the end product. And we all know that trouble shooting under the stress of an approaching deadline does not make for a joyous holiday season. So, there's no time like the present to get started. The nice thing about going with a holiday theme is that your gift becomes part of a family's holiday tradition. When it comes out of storage for seasonal decorating, it is a gentle reminder of your presence in their lives. The pillow above was created as a wedding gift for a friend who had given us this lovely pillow as a gift for our wedding: Cathedral Window block pattern Fortunately, crafts people no longer have to w...

Linen Closet- Insect Themed Baby quilt If you spend any time in a fabric store you know there are shelves and entire rows dedicated to novelty print fabrics. You could find a fabric with just about any favorite team, character, animal, object, the list goes on and on. Somewhere along the line an inventive quilter came up with a cute way to use these fabrics for a themed quilt... I do not take credit for this idea, but I did borrow it for this insect inspired crib quilt about ten years ago.    This is a very simple pattern; the jars are rectangles cut at the corners with a right triangle of the background fabric. It is topped with a horizontal rectangle that has a square of background fabric on either end for the lid. That's the block.   Now that I look at it, it seems to me that the blue jars are the most effective because they look like they're made of glass that has distorted the blue of the background. I chose a consistent spacing for the sashing- the lengths of f...

Linen Closet- Spring Wall Hanging This is one of a series of four Hawaiian quilt wall hangings that I rotate with the seasons. It was started in October 2010 and finished in March 2011. I was going for a spring color scheme here. If I were to do it over, I would choose a paler off-white/beige; then the two colors wouldn't be so close in tone. To create a greater contrast, I elected to heavily echo quilt the background and not quilt the wreath. The texture of the background makes the wreath stand out more. Note: This pattern is from Hawaiian Appliqué by Vicky Fleming.

T-shirt Quilt Tutorial (2 of 2) T-shirt quilt #2, 2015 The two t-shirt quilts I tackled got complicated, but you can keep it simple with large squares, straight seams and basic gridding. Let me share some tips I learned along the way. Supplies: Since t-shirts and sweatshirts are made of a knit fabric that stretches, all fabric in this project should be stabilized with light/medium weight fusible (iron-on) interfacing. You will need a lot of this relatively inexpensive item.      Tip 1 - Iron the interfacing to the inside of the garment before you cut out your square.          Tip 2 - Many garments have thickly printed images which will melt under direct heat from the iron. If you must iron the right side of the fabric, place a piece of white cotton fabric over it and watch the heat setting on the iron. (You may also find this helpful when working with the interfacing.) Process: It is easiest if a...

Linen Closet- T-shirt Quilts    (1 of 2) T-shirt quilt #1, 2015 If you have been home with time on your hands, chances are you have finally turned your attention to a job you’ve been putting off for a while…cleaning out your wardrobe. Now you have a pile of novelty t-shirts or themed sweatshirts that you don’t wear any more. They represent a period in your life or an organization/cause/school you supported. They once meant something to you, but you’re ready to move on. (Some of them are beyond wearable; that’s how much they were loved.) Let’s be honest, if you try to give them away would anybody else care to have them? They can have a second life in a quilt! PS- Tomorrow I'll post a few pointers to help save your beloved garments from the landfill. 😊

Linen Closet- " I Spy" Quilts "I Spy" quilt measures approx. 53 inches square  With all the quilt history I've been absorbing lately, it's become apparent that, like so many other aspects of culture, there are trends and "fads" in quilting. Quilts are a reflection of the era in which they were created; themes, patterns, techniques, and fabrics go in and out of vogue like everything else in life. You will remember the "I Spy" children's books that were so popular in the 90's. Well, quilters naturally embraced this theme for their work. It makes sense that it would appeal to them, given the countless hours families have enjoyed searching heirloom quilt tops for favorite swatches and familiar fabrics from a loved one's wardrobe. With this new inspiration, quilters drew from the many novelty fabrics available to create pieces that deliberately encourage the "I Spy" experience. These quilts were created in...

Linen Closet- Hawaiian Wreaths Quilted wall hanging created with the Hawaiian appliqué technique. Wall hanging quilted in the Hawaiian quilting technique. These wreaths make a regular appearance in our home at this time of year. The quilt was created in 2011 as part of a series of triptych wall hangings that hang from a rod over the bed. Echo quilting traces the outline of the hunter green and cream Hawaiian appliquéd wreaths in ever expanding circles, like the ripples of a pebble dropped in the water. The pattern for this block is from Elizabeth Root's Hawaiian Quilting: Instructions and Full-size Patterns for 20 Blocks. Note: triptych- work of art divided into three parts/panels

Linen Closet- A Quilt by Any Other Name You'll have to excuse the quality of these pictures; I'm reaching back to 2002 for a trip to the linen closet. This quilt was created for the November wedding of some very dear friends. The fabrics are all fall foliage themed in a warm autumnal palette. Though the block design is consistent across the top, each square has a different fabric combination; it's a sampler of setting variations for one block. I called it Autumn Friendship Leaves , because I thought the pattern was called Maple Leaf . The leaf silhouette is composed of a square lined on two sides with triangles. You see it, right? Well, I was a little off. The pattern is actually most commonly known as Bear's Paw . The similarity between the block in this quilt and what I thought I was making is shown below: Bear's Foot (or Paw ) or Duck's Foot (right) and Autumn Leaf or Maple Leaf (left) from The Quilter's Album of Blocks & B...

Linen Closet- Evolution of a Pattern This quilt: "Summer Citrus" contains fabric with  a  summer fruit theme: lemons, cherries, watermelon...  Before moving to the west coast, I went to visit with a new friend and when we found we were fellow quilters she pulled out her quilts to share. She had one in pinks which caught my eye. There was no discernable pattern and I couldn't figure out how it came together, until she pointed out the blocks which made up the quilt. Then she gave me a zeroxed copy of the block. This was my introduction to the Crazy Quilt . Armed with her instructions I went home to create my own pink quilt,... and then a purple one,... several baby quilts,... graduation gifts,... well, I just haven't stopped using this pattern. But the configuration of the blocks and my goals for the ancestors of that first quilt have definitely evolved. On the pink and purple quilts I took great pains to evenly distribute the lights and darks a...

Celebrating Summer Many people travel to water for the summer, so I thought I'd share this classic pattern: Storm at Sea.  Stars Over Tempest was finished in 2003. Storm at Sea is a great example of a pattern that has many "layers", or shapes within shapes. Depending on how your eye gathers them together, you can see different motifs. If you focus on the white, stars emerge. But, there is a diagonal motion across the quilt, undulating lines that give the feel of waves. From a distance, you might not realize that the individual pieces are diamonds, triangles, and squares- there are only straight lines in this pattern. The position of the shapes creates the curves. You may actually even discern large circles, if you look closely. So cool. Viewed from the corner, the waving lines might be more obvious.   The pattern appears to expand and contract.  Quilting on the rather large border of this quilt mimics the feeling of waves in the center. My version...