My Creative Journal
March 2
Keep calm and quilt on
I'm in the last stages of quilting this quilt. I've been refering to it as the Birds quilt because the shapes remind me of birds. It is a little tedious to quilt all these straight lines over and over but I love the visual effect they create and the texture is wonderful. There's a few times that I stop to just pet my quilt There are times when I'm bored of sewing line after line after line... but I try to focus on the finished product, put on a podcast, get a cup of coffee and keep going.
March 6 - 12 Return to top
On Vacation
My family and I planned a vacation to Spain this week but due to problems with the airline, we had to cancel our plans We spent time in NYC, Atlantic City and Philly instead. Here are some photos.
I have realized that I am drawn to patterns, especially patterns on wallpaper. In the two hotels I stayed at, I took pictures of the wallpaper. I have done this in the past. We went to the MET in NYC and I bought a book of Islamic patterns. In my mind I always hear "can I make this in fabric?" I took the photo of the gray wallpaper because that is what I'm thinking with my thread sketching, lines over a pattern.
March 13 Return to top
Practice makes progress
On my quest to get better at thread sketching, I tried to copy this sticker I got from the DCMQG Spring Retreat goodie bag. It is an illustraton by Justine Gilbuena. I think it came out pretty good. These thread sketches are pretty quick and easy to make. They may be good gifts to make.
March 14 Return to top
Squaring up
Finally finished with the quilting. Today was spent squaring up the quilt and starting to bind the edges. When a quilt is at this stage you are so close to being done yet there are still so many other details you need to do before you are officially done and ready to start the next quilt that is brewing in your head.
Here's what I do:
- Block and square the quilt.
- Sew twill tape around all the edges to keep it from stretching.
- Make and apply binding strips all around the quilt.
- Make and apply a label.
- Make an apply a hanging sleeve.
- Take final pictures for entering exhibitions.
- Make an entry in my quilt database of the finished quilt details.
- Add it to my website.
- Post it on social media.
There is a lot left to do...
March 17 Return to top
Fly High
Yeah! Love finishing a quilt. It is 32" x 24". I realized that it looks good horizontally as well as vertically. It is like two quilts in one. I made hanging strips to hang it either way.
March 18 Return to top
Getting back
I removed some of the ligther pink in the background. I think it looks better. The dark area on the right will be the neighbor's house that will be outlined with the quilting. The left dark area will be trees. I'm ready to start quilting it!
March 20 Return to top
Peace for Ukraine
While I'm quilting, I listen to news or podcasts. This past month all the news have been about the horrible things happening in Ukraine with Russia's invation. I wanted to make a quilt to donate to the SAQA Spotlight Auction this year. I have Ukraine in the brain so this little quilt came out. I'm enjoying the thread sketching and plan to add it to other quilts. For now, I'll keep practicing...
March 21 Return to top
Starting new phases
Today I started quilting the corner house quilt and cutting out the windows. It is a little scary to cut up a quilt you have been working so hard on. What if your scissors slip? What if you cut the rong thing? What if this whole idea of cutting the windows does not work? Anyway, too late to turn back now.
March 22 Return to top
I win!
I just got this in the mail and it is very exciting! I won an honorable mention at the Light and Shadow Exhibit from the Maryland Federation of Art. It is the first award I get from an art exhibition as oposed to a quilt exhibition. I'm happy to show everyone that quilts can be art and not just blankets.
Today I also tried out different colors to put in the windows of the house quilt. I chose the last color combination.
March 25 Return to top
Lights, camera, action!
Almost done with the house quilt I put it against the window to see how it would look with light coming thru the windows. I'm glad i did. There are some seams an pieces of fabric that look bad. So I unsewed some windows, trimmed some extra fabric and resewed. The result may not be perfect but it is a lot better.
While visiting Annapolis with a friend, I decided to take my quilt Fly High and do a little photoshoot. I think they came out great.
March 27 Return to top
2 Clarke Place, Frederick, MD
Finished! I am so happy with the result. I anguished a lot over this quilt. I went changed the colors, unsewed and resewed and even had an artistic existencial crisis but now it is done. I had to find the correct address so I could give it a title and stop calling it "the corner house". While researching the address, found a few interesting think about Clarke Place, the street where the house is. It was one of the first paved roads in Frederick. People werent use to the street noise of horses galloping on cobblestones so Clarke Place became the first gated community in Frederick to keep people from riding their horses on the road.
