Yes I Have Been Sewing

Yay!!

Progress on the large mystery quilt. I have the 12 blocks finished, plus the large centre panel. I have basted the quilt together and last night sat down and actually hand quilted around one applique shape on one block. I have machine ditch stitched the 16 blocks . I used a YLI 100 wt silk thread and will use this to hand quilt it. The nylon organza overlay over the blocks means machine quilting could be a problem and I feel it is easier to fudge the quilting by hand.

As this is a special quilt for somebody I dont want to wreck it.

There are 12 blocks this size with a larger centre panel with a scallopped border around the large centre panel and around the outside. Looks like I will be busy doing some quiet sitting and quilting. Glad it's winter here in Australia.

Again , Where have I been ?

Yes I know, a whole month between posts. Yes life certainly gets away when you are trying to keep up with things. Two quarterly BASes ( dont know if that is correct Aussie english but it'll do) , the usual work load of keeping up an income flow, the beginning of the hockey season for being a spectator and the usual no event sewing.

Am still currently working on the mystery quilt for August. Seems like an eternity to get this thing done. Mind you it would help if I could sit and sew for a while uninterrupted. There are some unusual problems in achieving it which can be explained later.
It's also the Bundaberg Quilters annual exhibition and I'm only going to have one or two small wall hangings to enter.
Our Mt Perry quilting group has been working on a fundraising quilt for our movie night for Cancer in October and I will have to machine quilt it also. Hope the girls don't finish it too soon.
Catch you later.

Patchwork Day Again

I went along to our patchwork day in the Mt Perry Hall last Friday. I have been working on the mystery quilt with a deadline of August 30 2008. I was expecting a visit from my daughters so had to take my decoy quilt along. Much more interesting to create than following a pattern.

Along came a friend who delights in rearranging my blocks so we had a play time .

After looking at this arrangement I'm planning on shifting a few orange centred blocks closer to the orange blocks. Then I have to think about a frame border. This is much more fun than following a purchased pattern.

More technological advances

Not much has been happening lately on the sewing front as other duties seem to always have priority. I have been reading Lisa Calls blog with much interest about her topics of staying on focus and negative people. http://blog.lisacall.com if you wish to visit. Some good advice to attempt to follow. I do not view myself as a quilt artist but more a quilter. Maybe I should.

Where have I Been?

A lousy question, nowhere except to work , home and patchwork once. Between all of that, creativity feels like a dead duck at this place. I have been struggling to keep awake, 9 days of full time work took a huge effort to stay focused on the tasks at hand. There has to be a better system of providing health care to people than expecting people to work flat out for up to 16hrs a day and still be able to work accurately and quickly. More time for resting in between shifts should be the way to go. I'm pleased I only work part time normally and do not have to show up every day for extended periods.
I have been working on my contemporary blocks to the stage where they are hanging on my poor design wall ( a sheet hanging on the bookshelf) and being looked at every now and then for possible changes. I have also gone back to revisit a shadow applique project for a very special reason. More later as the project grows.

More contemporary thoughts

I went along to patchwork today for a break from Microbiology at work. I took along my latest blocks I have been working on to do some more planning for our contemporary workshop. I asked our resident artist ( now quilter) about contemporary and modern definitions. She reckons that contemporary is more abstract and agreed that my latest blocks were in the contemporary area. I am still getting no responses as to how long is something modern for?

Now I have to keep making a few more to blend them all together. Looks like I still like my narrow strips of colour. I found the idea in an old block collection in a QNM . I narrowed the middle strip so that the 3 pieces were no longer the same size. I have even managed to make 1 mirror image block by accident when I did not think it was possible to do that with such a simple block. I really love the luminosity of my hand dyed fabrics. It was amazing that 3 of us currently share the same favourite block. ( The middle red one).

What is a Contemporary Quilt?

I have been asked to conduct a workshop on contemporary piecing in Jan 2009. I have been mulling over what exactly is their idea of a contemporary quilt. Contemporary the word itself to me means something that is modern and current in todays trends. When does contemporary become something of the past. For instance what was contemporary in 1990 may not be considered contemporary now in 2008. So what do we call the quilts made in 1990 now?

I have taught this group hand dyeing fabric and at present using these types of fabric in quilts gives a very different look to using prints. Bold colours also give a nice bright look to quilts. The free motion quilting style currently preferred by some long armers also gives a different look.

I still dont think that this style of quilting should be called contemporary.

I am thinking of teaching them how to use their traditional blocks in a different manner through their fabrics of course.

Improvisational piecing where they cut loose with their cutters and forget their rulers is also on the agenda. Watch out for the fingers. A slightly blunt blade is helpful.

There is so much scope to " contemporary piecing" where do you actually start?

This is a quilt made during the drought that some of the group wanted to make. To me is suffices their contemporary quilt concept in that it is of a simple design, the fabrics have been constructed by hand , is designed for a wall not a bed ( not really designed for washing too much) and is quilted by machine to have the quilting as a design feature not just to hold the layers together. Am I fulfilling their idea of a contemporary quilt?