It's been a looooooooong month since you last heard from me. But, don't fret, I've been keeping busy when not limping through gout troubles. :)
Here are some of the most recent projects I've been creating.
First up, I was reading in this book (Quilt Masterpieces or something of the sort) and got inspired by an Amish quilt there. Sooooooo, in two days, I whipped up three tops, then the next week, I whipped up another. Here they are in the order I created them:
This one's around 30" x 30", and I dig the sparkly blue watery fabric. The whole thing's very...spicy!
Next:
I'd wanted to do a silk piece before (entirely silk), but hadn't. So, I figured, Why not?. Actually, the brocade in the center isn't silk, and neither is the green, if you must know. BUT HEY, it's mostly silk. It reminds me of Superman. It's roughly 30" x 30" also.
Then:
The previous two felt fairly contemporary, so I wanted to give a shout-out to the old ways, but in plaids. I dig the blue/brown combination, and the plaids really give it life. It's maybe 16" x 16".
Finally:
I had this awesome superhero fabric, and wanted to make an Amish quilt say something through my fabric choices, so, here I've mixed lady superheroes with Nursery rhyme characters in an Amish quilt design in contemporary (not typical Amish) colors. I think it's cool. It's maybe 24" x 24".
After the Amish thing, I needed to finish a piece for a challenge a friend and I gave each other. We were to use silk ties in the piece, and it could be as large or small or whatever style we wanted. Here's mine, which combines the electric blue silk and silk ties in the paper-pieced squares. I left the large open spaces for lots of quilting.
I also wanted to continue the "Self as..." series, but using kids' clothes. I'd gone clothes shopping at Goodwill when they had a great sale, and got some cool stuff. So, this is the result of one of my adventures in kids' clothes:
It's only about 24" x 24" and is titled, "Self as Sapling Silhouette." I dig the brand name of the kid's shirt in relation to the rest of the fabrics' meanings.
I also, for whatever reason, got inspired to make another Bargello quilt, but one which I'd had planned in my quilt journal for a while now. This is only a portion of it, but when it's done, it will be comprised of four exactly repeated quadrants cut at a 45 degree angle, sewn together.
Finally, I've enjoyed Julia Graber's work ever since I first saw it at the Pine Belt Quilters' Show in Hattiesburg, MS about five years ago or so. She's a member of SAQA and the MS/AL/AK/LA regional group as well, and I got a chance to see more of her work and talk with her in person at one of their meetings.
Rena Krol, a friend and fellow quilter from Bay Oaks Quilt Guild, had completed a piece she made in a class Julia taught. I loved the techniques in the quilt and knew I wanted to make something using the same process.
Unfortunately, I don't have a photo of Rena's piece, but here are two of Julia's, which you can purchase at her site (linked above at her name):
So, here's the start of mine. It'll end up having a water lily, a water lily leaf, and a dragonfly. I chose the dotty green fabrics to mimic the roundness of the water lily leaves and the yellow striped background illustrates the sun reflecting off of the water.
I think the piece is about 20" x 30".
Well, folks, that's about it for this long edition.
You might be thinking, Wow! He's been busy! But, I did make it a goal to complete one quilt top per week, and to completely finish one quilt per month for 2015. I'm on target so far!
I hope you're doing well and that your creations are delightful.
For now,
M
