Quilt Reveal: Kamaria

 

When I made the Project Quilting challenge quilt last week, I almost switched from making a light bulb to making a face.I have been admiring Freddy Moran and SewJean Impey's faces and have been wanting to make my own series for a while.

This week's Project Quilting challenge is about fussy cutting fabric. I think I can easily use the challenge to finally make a face.  I fussy cut the eyelashes, the lip and the shirt, but wanted to make it even more obvious with the birds.

I used a quarter yard of fabric as the background. It was cut a little big so it finishes at 9 1/2"  x 11 1/2". It uses the same techniques as the light bulb and was also fun to make.

SewJean always makes up a name and a story for each of her portraits, and Julie said she takes the time to research names.  Since this quilt uses the same yellow as the light bulb fabric, I looked for names that meant light. There were lots of good choices, but Kamaria stood out to me as Kamala Harris is sworn in today as Vice President. Kamaria is an African word for moonlight.Africa is a continent and not a language, but that is all the information the site had..

I especially like being able to put today's date on the quilt since it is a palindrome (same backwards and forwards). 1202021 and also 12021. I do want to make an inauguration / palindrome quilt, but I didn't want to make it until I saw the inauguration and didn't want to rush it.

Also linked to:

Can I Get A Whoop Whoop?

Design Wall Monday 

DrEAMi #48

 

Quilt Reveal: Color It Red

Welcome to the Color It Red blog hop!

 I really like red and white quilts so for my Blog Hop day, I was originally going to finish an old project that had red in it, but decided to make a brand new red and white quilt. Starting new quilts are so much fun, and since I have an excuse, I may as well take advantage of it!

My quilt started with some red yo-yos I made for my yo-yo coverlet. I decided that the red yo-yos were too bright for my coverlet.

If you are new to my blog, as way of background, I am making a yo-yo coverlet to replicate an antique one I saw when I was in New Orleans. Welcome, and feel free to look around once you are finished with this post. I make lots of different types of quilting and other craft projects. If you are a regular visitor, I am sorry for bringing up the coverlet yet again. Consider this post to be a vacation from that coverlet. I promise I won't mention it again in this post.
 

Instead of sewing the the yo-yos together to form a rectangle, I decided to use them to surround a red and white quilt. I thought a silhouette would make for a simple applique, and a profile portrait would make for a more interesting portrait. I looked up some silhouettes on the internet and found a silhouette profile with flowers in the hair. I thought that was a great concept for my quilt.

I used dots fabric to resemble the dots portraits in old newspaper articles and books before photography. It's a little reference to my genealogy addiction.

I traced it, but made lots of changes in it to make it my own. I put fusible on the back of the fabric and cut out the shape and fused it to the background. I then free motion quilted and bound the quilt. I threw away the rest of the fusible so I don't ever accidentally use it again.  It gummed up the needle and made it very difficult to quilt.

I think it looks great as it is without the yo-yos. Some of the dark splotches in the photo above are due to my lazy job washing the washable marker out. Some of it is winter lighting.  I am sure it will be fine after a second wash.

When I quilted it, the face received dimension on its own so her jaw line is pronounced and her eyes are set in.  I really like that. I added a layer of batting behind the hair so it would also stand out. It made a small difference. I used permanent fabric markers to make the eyes, nostril and lips. The  shadow under the eye is a mistake but I think it makes the face more interesting.

Since the point of the quilt is to use the yo-yos, I added them around the quilt as planned. I think it is good practice for future use. You know, in case I ever need to know how to join yo-yos.

The inside quilt is about 6" x 8" and with the 2 inch yo-yos, it is about 10" x 12".  By the way, did you notice that the portrait uses a different fabric than the yo-yos? I was happy to find that I had two different dot fabrics in the same shade of red.

Thanks for visiting me. I hope you enjoyed your stay. You're welcome back anytime. Feel free to look around and see what else I've been up to over the last couple decades. There are links in the sidebar to help guide you to whatever interests you. When you are done here, visit the other participants on the blog hop.

February 17^th

Creatin' in the Sticks

Websterquilt

Vroomans Quilts

Hill Valley Quilter

Selina Quilts

Kathy's Kwilts and More

Samelia's Mum

February 18^th

Ms P Designs USA

Podunk Pretties

DayBrook Designs

Cynthia's Creating Ark

Bumbleberry Stitches

Sew Many Yarns

Karen's Korner

Stitchin At Home

February 19^th

MooseStash Quilting

Quilted Delights

Everyone Deserves a Quilt

Storied Quilts

Just Sew Quilter

Kathy’s Quilts

Just Because Quilts

Words & Stitches

Scrapdash

February 20^th

Life in the Scrapatch

Songbird Designs

High Road Quilter (you are here!)

Elizabeth Coughlin Designs

Patchwork Breeze

Lynn's Blog

DesertSky Quilting

Seams To Be Sew

February 21^st

Just Let Me Quilt (our hostess)

Quilt Fabrication

Beaquilter

All Thingz Sewn

Karrin’s Crazy World

Den syende himmel

Daughters of Dorinda

Quilt to the Edge

Becky’s Adventures in Quilting and Travel

Also linked with: Beauties Pageant

July Mini of the Month Quilt Reveal: Fuschia Fairy

  Can you handle two quilt reveals in a row?

Initially, I was going to skip making a mini quilt this month.  After all, I have a huge backlog of  quilts I started earlier this year (not to mention previous years), and a huge list of quilts I want to start (alphabet quilt, postage stamp, circa 1880).  But I realized that I would feel bad about not making one this month, and I didn't want to rush through making one just to say that I did. I started this quilt last week.

I started looking for ideas of a mini quilt, and realized that I didn't need to look for ideas because I already had plenty of ideas from previous projects. I thought it would be best if I took an orphan block and made a quilt out of that. That way, it isn't technically a new project, and there is some progress in the overall quilt lineup.

I was thinking about pretty fabrics in general and I remembered that I had received a panel a long time ago. So long ago that I think it was before I moved to this blog in 2008. I got it from a blog friend who said something to the effect of "I look forward to seeing what you do with it." Sorry, friend, for making you wait so long.  This panel is just so pretty, and I wanted to do it justice.  Over time, I saved pieces of leftover fabrics that I thought would go well with the quilt. They were my favorite pieces then and they still are! The panel came with three small squares, so I just cut the other scraps to the same size and added them around the quilt.

 I realized I had everything I needed to finish off this panel.  The fabrics I have with the panel were ones I especially liked for one reason or another, and went well with the panel, but they were on the small side, so they didn't lend to themselves to much piecing. Which is good, because I wanted to keep the piecing simple and let the focus stay on the panel.

I added in some other current favorite bits, and made this quilt, like some sweet 30s fabrics and two kinds of lace. I also added embroidery stitches in the form of wavy vines in the borders. If you deliberately make it wavy, it doesn't have to be straight! The picture above shows the truest color.

The darker pictures were taken earlier in the day when the sun was out.  I left them here because they show the texture.

Linked with:
RSC19
Slow Stitching Sunday I hand stitched the binding, and took the time to add embroidery stitches and lace.
Monday Making 
Friday Foto Fun

Quilt Reveal: Love and Happiness

I made a commission quilt and have delivered it, so now I can share it with you!

I told you that I was showing my mini book of quilts to everyone in the office who might be willing to look at it and my friend and coworker asked me to make her one. I bet you can figure out her name!  I normally don't do commission quilts, but she wanted one that I enjoyed making (The Earth Laughs in Flowers), so I said yes.

She then decided that she wanted one that was more customized and fit better with her available funds. I thought it was a little easier than the one she originally wanted, so it would be a little bit less time consuming. It has some repeat blocks, but not too many.

I wasn't keeping track of my time since I was charging her a flat price, but it took me a lot longer to make than I estimated. This quilt was fun to make, because it has the bright happy fabrics that I enjoy working with, and there is a variety of blocks that keep it from getting boring.

It uses batik and regular cotton fabrics. The blocks are all made with raw edge applique. I used some embroidery stitches around some of the hearts.

 I like the wording on the plaque to go with this quilt.

My family asked me if I wanted to go for a walk in this park. I had already been there earlier that day to deliver the quilt (I didn't get Debi's message that she wanted to postpone).  I came with the quilt and roped them into being the quilt holders and turned their innocent walk into a photo shoot.

Linked to:
UFO Busting
Off the Wall Friday 
Finished (or not) Friday

Quilt Reveal: Eyes

When my calendar said it was time to post the Mini of the Month for May, my first thought was to delete the reminder. After all, making a mini a month is optional, and I can just skip it this month.  And I didn't have any ideas. But it didn't take too long to come up with ideas and requests for compromises.  What if I make something quick, something out of the material that was on the table without looking for anything new?  How hard would that be?

Then I remembered the Sacred Threads challenge to make a quilt with eyes. They had a specific size requirements that was a reasonable amount and they gave a reasonable amount of time to make them, but of course, I didn't manage to make the quilt in time.  Since I hadn't planned on actually submitting my quilt, the deadline was pretty arbitrary anyway. And with the Mini of the Month challenge, the size was pretty arbitrary also.

I had a strip of fabric cut for the yo-yo circles I decided to use for the background and a strip of something (Tmtex, Kraftex?) that could serve as a batting.  I chose the fabrics but didn't get around to actually making it until today.

 I decided to make the eyes simple, without any eyelashes, no hair for the face or ears either. I used the reverse button to make the eyebrows.

That triangle insisted on becoming the nose. The quilt looked better with it than without it.

The pieces were cut out and sewn on, pretty much like I make my 365 circles. No glue or pinning required.  If the pieces move, they were meant to move.

I folded over the backing to the front to make the binding.

It was a fun quick project.

Quilt Reveal: Vintage Holiday

As you know, I have been working on the Vintage Holiday mini quilt. I missed the deadline for Project Quilting, and decided to take my time and hand stitch the binding. It looks much neater when I hand stitch because I don't have a lot of practice machine sewing the binding.

 I finished putting the binding on Vintage Holiday last night, and was very proud of myself for getting it done before the end of the month. After all, it is only the 30th and there are 31 days in January. It was even done way before midnight so I was more than a day ahead. It turns out everyone else was finished before me. They apparently don't know that when something is due on the end of the month, that means it should be finished at exactly 11:59 p.m. I couldn't post last night because I didn't want to show nighttime pictures of my quilt. My pics look bad enough during the winter day. Anyway, here is my grand reveal.

So here it is the end of the month

and time to share 

 my monthly mini challenge

organized by Wendy, the Constant Quilter.

Vintage Holiday was started January 21 and finished January 30. It uses solid red fabric and two white prints. The binding is a slightly textured red print. The pattern comes from Christmas Quilts and More magazine. I used an embroidery stitch to stitch down the red background and fused the applique down.  I sandwiched the quilt, and stitched all the applique pieces down with free motion quilting. I also outlined each of the applique pieces to make them stand out.  I realized that there was a blank space on the right side, and instead of making another sled, I decided to add a dog.  So now, this quilt fits in the dog quilt category as well as the red and white, the winter, the small quilts, and the holiday categories.

The red background is quilted with windy swirls and the white background has downward sloping lines to resemble a hill. I had a great time quilting it.

I woke up one morning, realizing that the dot under the O in Season's was supposed to be the dot for the I.  I was disappointed in myself for not following the instructions or at least thinking it through, because if I had switched those two O's, they would look more like a snowman. When I looked at the pattern, it looks like I did follow the instructions. In the unlikely event I ever make this quilt again, I will move the word Seasons so that the i is properly dotted. (It is unlikely because I don't like to repeat what I make, not because I didn't enjoy making it.)

I added a lace trim just over the  top because the lace wouldn't show over the white so there was no point in it. I also added a lace garland over a tree as a special treat for those who took the time to look closely at the quilt. In these pictures, the lace on the tree looks too white. I might have to find a way to tea stain it.

I added a corner triangle on the back for a label. The backing uses the same white as the trees.  I even went outside in the frigid temperatures to get you this and the picture at the top of the post.

Linked with:
Friday Foto Fun

Quilt Reveal: Rey and BB8 (and Death Star) from Star Wars

 I have finished binding the Droid quilt. Yes I labeled it Rey and BB8 (and Death Star) from Star Wars, because sometimes people need help figuring out what the quilt is about.

 Since you have seen the front so many times, let's take the time to admire the back, shall we?  The two shades of orange add a nice contrast and interest to the expanse of blue.  Did you notice that it is in a straight line and in a vertical position? That little flap of beige quilted down nicely without getting tangled and lets me add the labeling without any hand stitching.

Random picture of the day from the archives: Birds

linked to:
Off the Wall Friday

Quilt Reveal: Winter Scene

I have a surprise quilt reveal for you today.

This quilt was made for the Seasons Quilt challenge at Persimon Dreams.  The challenge is to make a quilt, from start to finish, in one week.  Yes, you heard that right.  It takes me an average of two years to make a quilt from start to finish.I have a spreadsheet that says so, although it is not accurate since it does not include quilts that have not been finished yet, so the average is actually much higher.  I - someone who takes an average of more than two years to finish a quilt - made this one in three days.  This quilt will really help with my average, so thanks for this challenge!

In order to make a quilt this quickly, besides dedicating a lot of time to do it, is to go with the first idea that popped into my head. I drew a picture, found some fabric (mostly non-quilting), used up a lot of my recently-purchased fusible, and quilted them down. I folded under the front and folded over the back to finish it. I made the drawing on a back of an envelope and then remembered I now have a notebook for such things

I then put away the drawings and just used my memory and fabric to recreate the scene. I chose non-quilting fabric in an effort to use them up. I put the tree up before the windows, and messed up the perspective of the house. Oh well, that's what folk art quilting is all about!

I like the sparkly velvety tree fabric. It looks like snow sparkles.

I quilted down the applique.  The needle became gummy and the thread kept breaking, but I kept on going.  The quilting added a lot to the folk artsy nature of this quilt. I hand embroidered the faces on the people, the dog and the snowman.

The size of the batting scrap determined the size. After carefully trimming the batting, I trimmed and folded the  background fabric to the back to keep it from unraveling. I then trimmed and folded the backing up and machine sewed it down as a binding.

The fusible did not stick to the wool very well, hence the pointy toe.

I guess it is fitting that the winter weather keeps these pictures so dark.  I used white boards to back light it, opened the window blinds, used a flash camera, and auto-lightened the image with an image editing program. 

It's about 13 inches square.

Please vote for my quilt in the challenge.

Linked to:
Linky Tuesday at Freemotion by the River
Let's Bee Social #109 
Scrap Quilt Challenge