Tag: EQ7

Turkey Tracks: September Mt. Battie Modern Traveling Quilts

Turkey Tracks:  October 1, 2017

September Mt. Battie Modern Traveling Quilts

The “reveal” at our September meeting was so much fun!

The quilts are so full of life and energy.

Here’s what Becca Babb-Brott made for the quilt she was working on.

Here’s Becca’s contribution alongside other blocks in this quilt.  The owner asked that someone start to link up the blocks now.

Vicki Fletcher made a village green for Margaret Elaine Jinno’s quilt.  It shimmers with life, doesn’t it?  This block could become a strong unifier for this quilt.  Good job Vicki!

Nancy Wright made this block for Becca’s quilt.

This block is adding a whole new element to this quilt.  Becca wanted to join all the pieces herself at the end.

Tori Manzi added the lower blocks and the color wheel on the right to Lynn’s quilt.  Wow!  This quilt is going in a very interesting direction with the work of Nancy Wright’s sewing machine and Tori’s blocks.

Lynn Vermeulen these words to Joanne Moore’s quilt.  They are PERFECT!  I like the way Lynn used blocks to separate words.

I worked on Vicki Fletcher’s quilt.  I made her a “tree of life” block, and, as she homesteaded in Alaska, I gave her a forest and a cabin in a clearing in the forest.  Vicki has an abiding Christian faith, so I thought the “tree of life” would be nice for her.  The small trees are from Janeen Van Niekerk’s Craftsy shop, Quilt Art Designs, which features her foundation piecing designs.  Other trees and the cabin came from my EQ7 program.

Here’s the label I made for Vicki.  We are each making a label for whatever quilt we worked on.  AND, we are giving ourselves two months per quilt now.

LInda Satkowski added the row of “x” blocks at the bottom of Tori’s quilt.  And the flower on the right–English Paper Piecing, bias tape, and applique leaves.  Tori’s theme is “color,” so we are having fun with bright colors in this quilt.  It is on my design wall now, and I am thinking about it.  Linda’s additions are going to be a hard act to follow.

So, that’s it for now.  I’ll have a separate post on the Mt. Battie Show and Tell.

Turkey Tracks: My Improv Paper Piecing Designs

Turkey Tracks:  April 13, 2017

My Improv Paper Piecing Designs

I can’t quite believe it, but I designed some quilt blocks–thanks to Amy Friend, author of IMPROV PAPER PIECING.  AND, it seems two quilts.

(See the post before this one.)

I drew and colored on EQ7–which is both fun and frustrating as I have a LONG way to go before getting some proficiency with this program.

Here’s one design–which I learned to “export” to my photos, but from which I forgot to remove the blank border feature.

Oh well…

“Dawn Winter Trees”

There are TWO blocks here, because if I set them without a sashing strip, the tree trunks would make one long line down the quilt.  So the second block’s trunks are off-set from the first.  And the stained glass background has all mixed up color–no set pattern there.

I have shot cottons for the pieces–all in soft “dawn” colors.

The first block I made is beautiful.

AFTER the workshop, I started thinking about a more modern setting.

I like both settings.  Which one will I make?  I will play around with the stained glass blocks before deciding.   But I am drawn to this second quilt.

It will be a wall hanging.

I can also see hand quilting with pearl cotton in curving lines across the horizontal–but NOT across the lavender trees.

I drew this star point block in the drawing part of our workshop.  When I got home, I drew it on EQ7 and learned how to rotate it to make all four pieces of the big FUNKY star.

I always saw it with a solid charcoal background and the low-volume Cotton+Steel fabrics.  I love the big dark whirl-a-gig that has formed.  And the partial diamonds of its fans.  And the suggestion of an octagon come undone around each star.  I love it so much I think I will keep the traditional grid setting.  It’s something like 60 by 72–so a nice lap size.  There will be no borders–and probably just a charcoal binding.  I’ll decide that later.  I don’t want anything to distract from how the quilt is just as it is now.

Here’s my block done at 6 inches–to make a 12-inch block.  I can see right away that the center whirling star needs to be more defined.  Imagine it in one of the darker low volumes.

AND, I’m now wondering about making it at 8 inches…  It would be bigger, more dramatic, and could show off more of the low-volume fabrics.

Big blocks have never drawn me much, but I seem to be changing a little…

There are a lot of cat fabrics in the Cotton+Steel fabrics have.  Hmmmm.  That could be dangerous.  A friend of mine here drew a black dog and one came into her life about a year later.  Cats are a whole different ball of wax from dogs though.  And I do not have a logical space for kitty litter in this house.  And they can scratch furniture…

 

As I said, my brain is spinning…

Turkey Tracks: Mid-March Project Update

Turkey Tracks:  March 21, 2015

Mid-March Project Update

Ironically, today is the first day of spring.

And it is warmer, but it’s also snowing outside.

Though it’s wet and dreary, my heart has been warmed by Kathleen Nixon’s visit for my birthday.

She was to have come yesterday, but the storm grounded flights, so she arrived bright and cheerful at noon today.  We had a sushi lunch at Mr. Wat’s, a coffee at Zoots, and will have what will be a wonderful dinner at the Hartstone Inn (thanks to Gina Caceci).  Tomorrow we’re going to a special showing of the uncut version of LAWRENCE OF ARABIA at The Strand in Rockland, Maine (where we’ll have some POPCORN).  Afterwards, we’ll have an early dinner at Mirandas in Rockland–a favorite place for both of us.  I have to let her go on Monday, but will take her down to Portland and will do some errands on the way home.

I have been working on the big quilt this past week.  It just needs one more border:

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Which is almost done:

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This is a VERY BIG quilt…

Here are some close-ups:

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AND this one, which shows how much of my focus fabric I’ve been able to use:

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It’s interesting and inspired by Kaffe Fasset’s low-contrast style of quilting.  AND by the American Patchwork and Quilting Magazine’s low contrast “quilt along” of last year.

This year their challenge is to work with four patches–and the above quilt actually uses a lot of four patches.  BUT, I am much more intrigued by the four-patches on point that Bonnie Hunter is making for her part in the magazine’s challenge.  So, these patches have become my current leader/ender project.

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I have no idea how Bonnie is going to set hers, and I’m hoping she will do a “reveal” on April 3rd, the end of the challenge.  If not, I’ll open my EQ7 quilting design program and get to work.

Here’s a close-up.

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I have 20 blocks done now, but truthfully, I could just disappear from the world and sew these fun blocks until I drop.

Remember that I have a whole box of two-inch squares that need using…

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Maybe I’ll do a marathon session and sew these into light/dark four patches…

Meanwhile, the chickens are out every day now and hang out at my quilting room windows where they try to talk to me:

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Barb Melchiskey challenged our group to complete one UFO for our May challenge meeting.  I have a handful of planned quilt projects all folded up together.  This one is at least nine years old:

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And it’s pretty fabric that I still like:

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It wants to be a quilt for a male person…

And I have one in mind…

So, I will start it when the big blue quilt is…quilted.

Happy spring everyone!