Thursday, 20 February 2014

Journal Quilts from scraps - something out of nothing

Red Scraps 2014
 This years Journal Quilt challenge for Contemporary Quilt is for an 8 inch square with a line from side to side across it.This size is a bit small for my  usual practice of using journal quilts as samples for larger quilts and it could be a bit testing ensuring it doesn't end up  looking like a potholder or 'mug rug'! So I've been thinking a bit over the last few weeks about how to  get the most out of this years challenge.   
 
Last week I gave a talk ' A Journey in Journal quilts' to Guildford Quilters and as part of the process  enjoyed the process of picking through 1l years worth of JQ's to  identify themes, bringing back memories of  making them , like looking through a photo album or sketchbook.  
 
I talked about  telling stories through JQ's; trying out techniques such as Photoshop, monoprinting, acrylic painting, stitching by hand and machine, embellishment;themes and joining in with challenges; finishing techniques  and display options.  
What I found when I chose my examples were quite a few where I'd used scraps and leftovers  and  remembering how much I'd enjoyed making something out of nothing! Some of these are shown below. Rather than repeat the methods I used, I've linked the JQ's to the relevant blog post.
 
So that's my theme for the year  and my first example above is a sample testing stitches  for my Cwilt Cymru 'Connection' pieces. Well I did say I'd used almost every last  bit,but  the scrap basket never seem to deplete despite the number of bookwraps I made last year!  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 

 

Cyclopean Walls 2006
 



 


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