IQF 2014 in Photos Part 2: Coloursssss

For my last day in Ireland, a dull, grey, miserable, rainy day, I've decided to look at the quilts popped into my Coloursss category! Colour is so subjective, so I don't for a second expect these quilts to necessarily appeal to all of you. I did an interesting exercise for myself a month or so ago. I went through my Inspiring Quilts pinterest board which has over 250 quilts on it, and asked myself which ones would I actually consider putting on my own bed. I came out with only 14 quilts. I couldn't believe it but my personal style, which I couldn't have described before this exercise, is for lots of colour, almost always includes shades of pink, and shapes I find relaxing (it is a bed after all). That's not to say I wouldn't choose the other 200 odd quilts for inspiration if they weren't going on my own bed, but I wanted to know about my own very personal aesthetic. I know I've spent most of my time so far making quilts for others so their style has always been the primary concern. Something to maybe think about for yourself?

Anyway, back to Festival!

Yellow Sky by Shirley Gisi

I can't find a website for Shirley Gisi but I did find an interview she did at Festival for Quilt Alliance talking about a different quilt, you can watch that here if you like! I love Yellow Sky, Shirley describes it as depicting scenery from the Southwest with an abstract landscape and geometric quilting shapes. It's entirely machine pieced using freezer paper piecing and then home machine quilted. I've included it here in my colours section but honestly the shapes draw me in just as much, the juxtaposition of awkward angles and big round curves combined with those rich deep colours completely envelop me each time. The darker outer border which is a continuation of the quilt is so clever as a frame, effective but not at all distracting! I haven't even begun to wax on about her use of light and shade, that river! Suffice to say, I love this one and the skills are something to aspire to for me.

Maui Gold by Karen Donobedian

My photograph doesn't do justice to the beautiful colours of Maui Gold by Karen Donobedian. Someone else I've failed to find online, I'll never get a job as a private eye at this rate. This quilt is inspired from a public domain photograph at NOAA which Karen decided to render at sunset rather than the daytime it was taken in. Raw-edged fused applique, with painting and threadwork to define the colours of the ocean and sky. Applique is something I want to explore a lot more this year and it's interesting to see the range of output that can be achieved from the technique. I want to learn more about quilt painting as well - does it render the quilt only useable as art? Can you make a fully functional bed quilt that's painted? I know you can buy inks and dyes that can be heat set, but can you achieve this level of blending and nuance with them? So much to find out :)

Identity Crisis by Suzan Engler

Suzan Engler specialises in digital painting and artistry, she then prints her paintings onto fabric and quilts them with variegated thread on her home sewing machine. I love the result. I would buy this calf and hang him in my apartment if I could afford him. The colours, his eyes, his shiny nose and those big ears. I wonder why Identity Crisis though? Because she straddles several worlds of artistry and creation, maybe? Or does the calf have a back story I don't know? Either way I've toyed with the idea of printing out some of the maps my husband makes at work onto fabric and quilting them, I always want to start bed sized though. Maybe I need to do some small practise ones first!

Tutti Frutti City Skyline by Susan Bleiweiss

Sue Bleiweiss had a couple of quilts around Festival and I think i took a picture of each of them. They are part of an on-going series using hand-dyed cotton, raw-edged fused applique, and machine quilting. Sue describes them as whimsical and the word that comes to mind for me is jaunty. I particularly like the billboard which shows a paler version of the same type of buildings!

In a similar vein is Prince Charming's Shoe Sale by Pam RuBert which really made me laugh.

Prince Charming's Shoe Sale by Pam RuBert

Finally, is Life After 40...From Constriction to Creativity by Betty Hahn.

Life After 40...From Constriction to Creativity by Betty Hahn

The quilt is painted and machine quilted. I think this is my favourite every time I see it. It feels so wild and free and the colours are just fantastic, that deep yellow with the peachy pink and cool bluey-greens - divine. Then you read the thought behind it and for me it gets so much better!

"After all the rules of the years before age 40, the 40s, 50s, 60s, and 70s have been                 wonderfully freer and more creative. The lower left corner shows a happy creative life with       rules. The rest of the quilt shows an ever freer sense of creativity."

Maybe by seeing this quilt I can begin to shed my reliance on rules and having the right way or the right answer sooner? Maybe we have to journey through the rules in order to successfully shed them? I don't know, but I love this woman's journey and I love this quilt.

International Quilt Festival Fall 2014 in Photos - A Series; part 1

International Quilt Festival Ruby Jubilee Exhibit

Possibly the worst blog title ever! I love it. I know Festival happened at Halloween and it's now two months and a few days later, but I really wanted to share some of the quilts I saw there. It was hugely overwhelming and we only got there on the very last day. Next year I might go for two visits, so I can spend proper time with some of the more mind-blowing quilts. Mind-blowing to me anyway!

Christ in Gold by Laurie Tigner

This was my first ever quilt show. Way to start with a bang! The hall is enormous and I still don't fully understand the background to all the various exhibitions. Another reason why visiting over two days would be better next time, or a smaller show, or maybe I need to be more clued in to things? All three?? There are sections you cannot take pictures in, one was the traditional quilts section and it was amazing. Seriously amazing! And I have nothing to show you, I didn't spend half enough time wandering that part but I did see it all and I still, now while I write this, wish I could go back and see it again.

Mere Color by Julie Scribner
Machine pieced and quilted

I've been pondering lots this last year. The move to Houston has been more difficult than we expected, and every part of our lives has changed with it. Sewing has fallen aside a bit with all this and I've found it unappealing to just make things because I feel I need to keep up or should use that fabric. Even making for others became exhausting. So I've been thinking about sewing things too, why do I quilt, my aesthetic and style, and where do I fit in ,do I even want to fit in? I think the answers are I need a creative outlet, I'm still exploring, and essentially no.

Selfie by Kristin La Flamme
'...a portrait of the artist as her stash'

Festival was awesome for this, though not straight away because it's so overwhelming. There are so many styles and forms and representations of what you can do with some fabric and thread. It's all amazing. It's not all for me, it's not all something I want to try, but the scope is fantastic. And that's what I want to share here over the next several weeks. I'm going to have vague themes pulling things together (either by exhibit where I remembered or arbitrarily). Don't expect sterling commentary, my grounding is firmly in science but I'll attempt to rise above 'ooh the pretty colours' occasionally!

She's A Wildflower by Joanna Wilczynska
Graphic by Gracjana Zielinska
Raw-edge applique, painted, and free-motion quilted

The pictures scattered throughout here are tidbits from all categories, some you'll have seen a lot of already and others not so much. I recorded the quilters details when I took pictures, Paul however was snap happy and mostly went for the colours so I'll do my best to figure out attributions but I might fail. I'll try and link to more information about the quilters where I can, in case you get interested by a technique or piece. We'll see how it goes :)

Dizzy Miss Lizzy by Nysha O. Nelson
A wholecloth, painted, trapuntoed, and machine FMQ'd quilt from the
Inspired by the Beatles Exhibit

My plan is to post this each Friday between now and mid-February. You'll have the weekend to peruse the pics!

Eithne's Retro Flowers

Hi all! Long time no see, on here! I've been slow on the old sewing front for the last couple of months, and set myself one big finish for Christmas. I started this quilt in summer 2013 after learning to sew curves.

The fabric is all Anna Maria Horner's Field Study, in one of the colour ways. It was bought over two years ago now a brief google of my email tells me! The solids were from Simply Solids stash club that I took part in last year, and I think they just happened to be the colours that had been sent out at the time I started the quilt! I'm starting to reach now, but I think that the background is Kona Butter.

Yes, that is leopard print binding :p

The pattern is Retro Flowers by the Sometimes Crafter. I bought it as part of the Curves Class I did with Rachel over at Stitched in Color.I adapted the layout a bit, so as there is a sort of central medallion to make the best use of the fabric amounts I had to hand. I love the finished product and the shapes of those petals! However, I've discovered that I detest following quilt patterns. Clothing patterns I love, I feel like I'm learning something new with every step, same with bag patterns. But I railed against following a quilt pattern.

I guess I can't tell if this is innate to me or particular to this pattern as it's the only proper pattern I've ever followed. My guess is that it's innate to me, but also that after a good long break I'll probably attempt some other unlucky pattern just to make sure... ;)

This is the photo that shows the truest colours.

I didn't measure the finished size, but it was 61" square before I quilted, but I basted badly and had to trim after quilting. So my guess is that it's now 59"-ish square. And, OH, the quilting! I started with a double grid around the blocks which was so boring to do and I nearly gave up and unpicked it and tried to FMQ my first ever quilt. But it was less than a week to my flight home and that was too much insanity even for me. So I stuck to my original plan, but once I'd added on the planned diagonal lines they looked kind of skimpy, so I started adding more. I probably could have kept going except for deadlines and flights and the need for binding...

Hodge podge backing which I ended up loving!

This quilt is for my sister. It's always been for her, before I even started. So every pin that stuck me, every curve I sewed, then unpicked and sewed again, every instruction I followed badly, they were all done with her in mind. I'm glad I followed some random pieces of advice I got early on and cut all my blocks in one go, mammoth task that it was, but I would have given up if I had to cut in between blocks. Those curves nearly got me. But they taught me in the end, I learned that for me no pins are the curvy way to go!

Eithne loves it! Yay! So much it actually got stuffed into her tiny little suitcase and brought straight back home after Christmas - it's not every Christmas my presents can claim that joy! I managed to snap a few pictures of it in daylight the day before she left, though I was still working on the label so she'll have to brave sewing that on herself. I don't have a good or daylight picture of that yet, so next time or instagram! Promise!

Happy New Year!!!