2021 CQ Journal Quilts : INDIGO January to April

 I've been making  Journal Quilts every year  since 2003 ( and with Contemporary  Quilt  of QGBI   since 2007) .  This year  they are  to be of a  theme and shape(s)  of your own choosing  but designed  so that at the end of the year they  can be joined together in some way  for possible exhibition.   My favourite / most successful   set of  JQ's   is from  2013 when I chose 'Indigo' as my theme  so that is what I've chose to revisit  but deciding on size/ shapes  took a lot of pondering on graph paper!  I decided in the end on  a combination of : 8 x 8", 10 x 10" , 8 x 10", 10 x 8"   which  I hope will give me enough scope for experimenting.   So far I'm on track , having completed  January  to April  and  May's the current piece of ' trainstitching' 

January ( Jellyfish Bloom ) is wet bulb thermometer wicks stitched onto shibori dyed section of old quilt.

 February ( Hidden Depths)  is monoprint of net on silk layered with indigo dyed wadding and linen tablecloth , kantha stitched.

 March ( StitchResistRipples) Stitching back into a piece of Mokume ( 'woodgrain' ) shibori was almost as time consuming as doing the stitch resist ! Combined with a monoprint and a small scrap of Ndop stitch resist indigo from Cameroon.

April ( Thunderbolt Pier ) A couple of years ago  the ' Edgy Stitchers' ( CQKent)  had an outing to Chatham Historic Dockyard  as inspiration for  our exhibition later in the year.  This is  a recycled sample based  on photo of 'Thunderbolt Pier' , manipulated in Photoshop, printed on fabric  and  fused  to background of quilted silk arashi shibori.

Surface, Structure, Stitch at City Lit Week 8 (and February Journal Quilt )

   CQ JQ  Feb20   Mussel Holes 

   Week 8  of Surface, Structure, Stitch  and  the start of our 5 weeks working on our own project .  Each person shared their ideas and I showed  my 'homework'  from Glenthorne

 When I was talking to  Louise ,  we looked  in particular  at the multiples I'd produced  ( the stack of colour catcher shapes disintegrated   as she handled it as I hadn't  secured it sufficiently, beads everywhere! )  suggesting overlapping strings of them, perhaps using  an acrylic box from  Muji  to display them. I went at  lunchtime to have a look , what an array of  possibilities.  

 I put together more ' sandwiches'  of  indigo fabrics with bondaweb between  but then  started playing with the 'holes '  leftover  from  cutting them out , putting together  9 inch journal Quilts  using denim from jeans in the scrap basket.   

 The  stack of colour catchers with holes in was particularly  exciting  and Louise had some ideas about  stitching them  together. Many people weren't familiar with the potential of  used colour catchers ( or what they were )  but I've been using them for years including  the start of daily drawing practice in 2013 ( tho it didn't get too far )  

  I've even used the holes before  in this  Journal Quilt  from  2009 

 I was also reminded  how much I like the shapes  and limited colour palette  in Paul Feilers work 

  Back at home,  I followed Louise's  suggestion of  quilting from the back with  a heavier thread in the bobbin

 Now I just need to  sort out what I'm doing in tomorrow's class....

Surface, Structure, Stitch at Cit Lit: Week 3 ( on vacation)

 I missed the 3rd session of  Surface, Structure, Stitch   at City Lit as  I was on holiday for the week in Weymouth( our 13th visit).   I'd had a discussion  with Louise the previous week on  how I might approach adding handstitch to my   machine quilted piece so I'd brought lots of supplies with me to do my homework, spreading out on the dining room table  in the cottage.  My mum was an embroiderer  but my stitching so far has been  very plain, variations on straight stitch,   so  I spent time on the train studying  my mum's copy of  Anchor pamphlet ' 100 Embroidery Stitches' ( Price  6p!)  and a more recent purchase of  Constance Howard's  Book of Stitches ( which  cost rather more  than  secondhand )   

 A lot  of restaurants and pubs were closed during our  stay for either holidays or refurbishment  so we had several meals  at old favourites the Cove House Inn in Chiswell, Portland and the  Taste Cafe at Chesil Beach Visitor Centre overlooking the Fleet lagoon.  Spending nearly a whole day there   on  Ian's Birthday, we were aware of the tides and the effect on the screened views from the underwater cameras ( which I drew  in my sketchbook)

 On the Wednesday when I would have been in my class, somebody posted work on Instagram  at lunchtime  so I could share  in what  other students were doing  . Several were using embroidery hoops so   I had a practice on a bit of old shirt sleeve  of some  new stitches - I particularly  like the 'wave' stitch in different  types of thread .

I then had the confidence to add  these to the machine quilted  piece I'd started  the previous  week 

When I got home, I cut it down to 9"  square, the format for this year CQ Journal Quilts  which has to contain a piece of  something repurposed , having had a previous  life.  My theme was going to be  " Assemblage"  but " Scavenged Scraps"  might be more appropriate since most of the fabrics came from the wondrous  collections of  dressmaking offcuts  and recycled  materials in the  City Lit textile studio  scrap boxes.   

 I'm also taking  part in an invited   Facebook group  challenge posting  a year  of  daily black and white photos " Small Reflections  2020" which  certainly  makes you look at the world differently. 

Daily Drawing: December

The last  daily drawing sketchbook  of 2019: Washing machine filter  with colour catchers (!) African textiles and jewellry; maps of impossible journeys; pots ; prints; coins: shells; seaweed; journal quilts; Xmas decorations and food; Iron Wharf abstracts .

Back to prompts in January  with #30daysketchbookchallenge, excited but rather daunted after doing my own thing for 11 months.  

CQ Journal Quilts 2019

Been catching up on my CQ Journal Quilts for September to December  and then looking through  my  blog posts realised I hadn't posted any of them here ( though I did post them on the dedicated albums on Facebook page ). Bad blogger ! 

The ' rules' this year  were A4 :with different patchwork/ sewing techniques Jan - April; alternative ' fabrics' eg paper May- August; different surface design techniques: Sep - Dec. I mainly repurposed old  or part started samples  

January 'Pebbles'  ( applique )   

February 'Spiral' ( logcabin) 

March 'Woodgrain' (chenille )

April ' Choppy Seas' ( pieced offcuts and trimmings )

May ' Meanwhile 1' ( Abaca tissue and paper) 

June ' Meanwhile 2' ( Abaca tissue and paper) 

July 'Frottage 1' ( Colourcatchers) 

August 'Frottage 2' ( Colourcatchers)

September 'Monoprint' 

October 'Iranian Door' ( printed photograph and monoprint) 

November 'Limpet Stack' ( appliqued photograph on fabric ) 

December ' Limpets: interiors/exteriors' ( appliqued photograph on fabric)