Patched Door - December Journal Quilt

My December piece for British Quilt List Challenge is a different shape as I've made it up as my Contemporary Quilt Group Journal Quilt( 6 x 12"), saving having to do 2 in a busy month!
The technique was mosaic - applying scissor cut pieces of fabric to a sandwich of fabric, wadding and backing: stitching and quilting all in one - I like that!

I really enjoyed cutting up scraps and applying them to a photo of a Greek door printed on fabric - and it was so quick! The raggy edges of the scraps lend themselves to the textures of rough stone and wood.
As a non traditional quilter, taking part in the BQL challenge greatly added to my repertoire of skills even if sometimes the projects weren't really my thing ( thinking of these handbags for instance) But that's the idea of challenge isn't it, to do something you wouldn't normally tackle?

Now I've reviewing which group of 4 CQ JQ's I shall put together for display - doors or landscapes? I'll post some combinations and you can choose!

Razzle-Dazzle Transformation

I had a therapeutic evening yesterday firing bits of plastic into sequins to transform a piece of dyed papers started in Amanda Hislop workshop a few weeks ago(below). Embellishment isn't usually my thing but stitching wasn't enough and I wanted to test out my new toy!

This microstitch gun was the the 'must-have' gadget of the CQ summer school. Having seen it in action on pieces by tutor Karina Thompson, I had to have one. I bought one of the larger basting guns back from the US many years ago but it kept jamming and I went back to using safety pins - my favourites are the bright coloured anodised ones.


This gadget is much better behaved - the tacks are only 4mm and much softer and look like stamens in the 'flowers' of the sequins. There's also a lot of movement as the sequins are not as tightly secured as they would be with stitch.

Transformation was the theme of the BQL challenge this month with these twisted strips. I used 2 different scale black and white/cream wavy lines fabrics set into another black and white print. I decided the title of this should be 'Dazzled Zebra'

And continuing the 'dazzle' theme ,had a lovely day on Sunday with quilting friend Diane who was visiting from the US and brought these gorgeous beaded brooches for Sue and me . Only trouble is choosing which one to keep!

May Journal Quilts

Both my Journal quilts for May have a sea theme. 'Bexhill Pixels' ( CQ 6 x 12 inch) is a souvenir of my birthday outing , based on photos manipulated in Photoshop inspired by the Susan Collins 'Seascape' installation at the De La Warr Pavilion, particularly the projection of images onto a window framed by real seascapes beyond.

Susan Collins: Stokes Bay 08-09-27 14.13

My favourite digital print at the exhibition (detail above) contained bright splashes of colour: "Pixel interventions where ships, yachts, people, birds, windsurfers etc pass in front of the camera when a pixel is being captured."

Using Neocolour II crayons, I ruled lines of colour on a used colour catcher, lightly sprayed with water to diffuse the colours then painted with acrylic medium to seal the surface. I found half a shirt from a charity shop (imitation ikat print from Mauritius), perfect for the background. Stitched with variagated threads by hand and machine. I was aiming for a less regular size to the hand stitches to indicate the pixels but it's so hard to be random! Back to the drawing board.

The indigo back (below) has possibilities.


The BQL Calendar Challenge for May was trapunto ( using an additional layer of wadding stitched behind the letters as stuffing) Following a workshop with Angie Hughes on lettering, I've used words from an August Strindberg quote in a couple of pieces so continued the theme using 'sea' and 'sky' in 'Jazztext' font size 400.

Having got carried away looking through my indigo stash for something suitably marine, I neglected to read the bit in the instructions about choosing PLAIN fabric. I tried to make the letters stand out a bit more with some FMQ and some hand seeding stitches but it's decidedly subtle. Only by taking photographs at a jaunty angle then cropping could I emphasise the shadows.

I'm afraid I'm just reverting to type - in our family we consistently applied the principle:

'If all else fails, read the instructions'.

April Challenges

My April Contemporary Quilt 6 x 12 inch Journal piece is based once again on old peeling distressed doors, in this case on the remnants of paint that pick out the patterns of woodgrain in this photo from Greece below.

I used a woodgraining 'rocker' tool from a decorating shop to make patterns in acrylic paint on a piece of plastic and then took monoprints using a variety of fabrics - silk noile worked particularly well

Love the patterns it made but after quilting between the paint lines, it looked a bit anaemic so added more paint with a palette knife afterwards.

The BQL challenge for April was quite different. Handbags aren't really my thing either in real life or in quilts so this challenge was well outside my comfort zone (but Good-For-Me)

But having discovered this very large African waxprint of purses to use as backing (for scale, this is 12 x 12 inch), I decided to use scaps of African fabrics and other wild prints, embellished with beads, buttons and ribbon.

The handbags were pieced from strips of background fabric around a central 'handbag' cut using a template, and then trimmed to size. I wish now I'd introduced some 'wackier' angles in the style of Gwen Marston - I used to really enjoy improvisational piecing and taught workshops on 'wacky stars'.

Ian and I were woken at 7 this morning by the arrival of pallets of paving stones , gravel and sand - the challenge for the rest of the day is to trundle these through the house into the back garden without doing our backs in!

March Machine Maintenance

I've been enjoying participating in the BQL Calendar Challenge ( continuing to to apply the 12 inch square format I used last year for the CQ Journal Quilts). The challenge for me is to stick quite closely to the instructions supplied but make it interesting and relevant to my current work. This months challenge was to print a photo on fabric and surround it with grid of squares cut from 2 inch strips of fabric. As I'm currently working on a larger 'Weir' piece, I used a photo of that and the strips were the trimmings I'd cut off the edges. It's a long time since I've done much accurate piecing so I was relieved I could still make (most) corners meet.

For many people doing the challenge , it was the first time they had attempted printing on fabrics using the computer and I've been interested to read the comments. I've been using C. Jenkins 'BubbleJet Set' solution and preparing my own sheetsfor several years now so I was interested to try the 'Miracle Fabric Sheets' which are made by the same company. I have to say that I wasn't very impressed -the results are much lighter and duller looking than with my own sheets despite all the usual tricks of increasing saturation and contrast of image (to the point it looked garish on the screen) A commercially available sheet that worked really well, with bright colourful images, were those available from craftycomputerpaper. Their only downside is that it's quite a thick, tightwoven material, not easy to stitch by hand. I now use these when I want to print on a white background and save the'Bubblejet Set' for dyed fabrics and organzas which are not available commercially (or very expensive).

I also spent some time cleaning out and adjusting my sewing machine. I was having terrible problems with looping of thread on the back which persisted despite changing the needle. Just as well I have a back up machine (or 2)! So I invested in a can of air used for cleaning computers and after a few puffs of that, quite a bit of of lint flew out despite diligent use of a brush. I also retrieved 2 pins using forceps and tightened the screw on the bobbin case. With another new needle , it now works like a dream.

Not so much time in the garden this weekend apart from laying out a hosepipe to get an idea of where we want the edge of the gravel area ( we have plans to remove the lawn later in the year) and buying a hazel hurdle to screen the compost area.

Last weekend , I bought some twigs of Forsythia in and the buds opened out in the warmth. As the buds are beginning to break outside, time to consign these to the compost.
I like the combination of the yellow and the blue of the art glass 'cornucopia' which I bought as a present but kept for myself as it was too heavy to post.

Colour Catcher Constructions

I've signed up for the BQL (British Quilt List) Challenge for 2009. This is for a perpetual calendar made up of 12 x 12 inch or A4 'Journal' pieces and the first design by Kandy Newton uses raw edge applique circles. Still being in recycling mode, I decided to use up some of my 'Colour Catcher' stash. These sheets have a similar quality to vilene or interfacing - a non-fraying, non- woven fabric with some of the absorbancy of paper ( and the tendency to show needle holes when stitched - no mistakes or 'unsewing' then !) I built up layers of circles using bondaweb and stitched the squares together with zig zag using variegated thread. Once layered up with wadding and backing and machine stitched, the circles were rather satisfying plump biscuits ( or sugared almond mis-shapes -Ian's suggestion). I thought they looked more like Lithops ( 'Living Stones' Cacti )It's not the first time I've used 'Colour Catchers' - I used them in my September Take it Further Challenge piece on lists, printing a scored out shopping list onto them using 'Photoshop'

Alas, neither of these pieces has made much of a dint in the stash, some of which is pictured above. The sheets are very efficient at 'grabbing' loose dye in clothes when washed. The main palette is greys (of a purplish tint) although I look forward to when Ian wears either his green or red Indian cotton shirts (before 'Colour Catchers' the result of washing was pink pants). The trouble is , as with many a stash, is in using it up rather than admiring it (especially with the more unusual colours - I know I'll be continually adding more greys).

At least it makes doing the washing more rewarding. Sometimes if the sheet folds up in the wash it 'dyes' unevenly , with a 'shibori' look. I also rather like the crumpled effect (this was lost in ironing on bondaweb, the resulting texture was more like a suede).

I've also found the 'colour catcher' sheets absorb paint well in monoprinting with acrylics. These examples are for extending and replacing sections of the piece I started in a Cas Holmes workshop. I wasn't happy with some of those printed on paper which have become even more crumpled after 18 months up on a design board - the colour catcher sheets seem like a good compromise