Working on Quilts Through Several States

 My on-going quilt projects. 

Teddy Bear Baby Quilt. This is a multi-color Teddy Bear baby quilt, as you can see.  I was inspired to make it by a Teddy Bear quilt I saw in a quilting book. Below is a picture of it after I finished the Teddy Bear face appliques, done by hand, and pieced all the blocks together.  Now I am in the process of quilting the three layers, by hand. The backing is of the same black and white material that is used in between the white Teddy Bear squares.  The binding is of the same hot pink used in the tiny squares in the center corners between the white Teddy Bear squares and between the black and white strips.

I've got the center strip of Teddy Bear squares quilted.  If you look closely, you can still see my hand basting that is holding the three layers together.

 Below is a picture of the Teddy Bear quilt before I'd finished hand appliqueing the Teddy Bears and before I basted the three layers.

If you look close, you will see all the Teddy Bear face applique pieces are held on with applique pins.  They work OK, and definitely better than the large straight pins, but they still snag on things.  I later read in one of my dozens of thrift shop/used book store-purchased quilting books, that an alternative way to hold appliques in place is with children's glue sticks.  It holds well enough to keep the pieces in place, doesn't show or stain, and washes out.

 Below is a closeup of hand appliqueing the eyes, nose and mouth, using black fleece.  I wanted texture for these pieces, but the fleece just didn't seem like a good choice as I worked with it - too loose and hard to "grab" with the needle and thread. Thus, I went round and round by hand, and hope it holds.  Maybe I'll try wool next time.

I used fleece to do the eyes, mouth and nose.  I hand appliqued it very carefully.  I am not sure how it will wear though and I won't use fleece again. 

Sewing in Various States and Conditions. Below is a picture of my work station in the garage portion of our RV.  I think this was done in either Montana or South Dakota last Fall. This is where I started the Teddy Bear baby quilt.

This is my sewing station in the garage of our "5-er" as my husband calls it, (our 5th wheel toy hauler trailer).  My machine was set up here where the motorcycle gets tied down when we are traveling.  Right behind my painted stool are two long-distance bicycles which ride on the back hitch outside the toy hauler when we are traveling.  The bicycles are leaning up against a floor stand holding two kayaks.  So this definitely is a toy hauler. 

Toys: Kayaks on the left, Surley long distance bicycles leaning up against them, and my sewing machine and table sitting where the motorcycle is usually stored.  As you can see, I really am a Bohemian Fabric Artist.

I sewed in New Hampshire, at my sister-in-law's lake house.  That is where I started the Sun Bonnet Sue quilts.  I also sewed in Maryland, my friend's house.  Below are pix of the room in my friend's Maryland house.  She is in Africa, Tanzania, for three months, working as a volunteer nurse at hospital operated by Maryknoll nuns. 

I took these two pictures after I put my sewing machine and cutting table away.  Beautiful, light-filled room - with fire place!!!

Sun Bonnet Sue Baby Quilts. I am in the process of making two other baby quilts. The designs are a cross between the Teddy Bear quilt and a friend's old Sun Bonnet Sue quilt made by her grandmother but badly worn and damaged from years of good use.  I "rebuilt" that Sun Bonnet Sue quilt when my quilting skills were in their infancy. 

The two latest ones are going to be Sun Bonnet Sue baby quilts but with the little cross strips ad squares used in the the Teddy Bear quilt. And rather than the 12 squares of Teddy Bears, there are 18 diamonds with little Sun Bonnet Sue's. 

The applique pieces on these two Sun Bonnet Sue baby quilts are held on with the children's glue stick.  I've only appliqued one of the Sun Bonnet Sue squares on this quilt so far and the glue stick holds the pieces on nicely.  I started designing and cutting out these two Sun Bonnet Sue quilts while at Squam Lake in New Hampshire this fall after coming back to Maryland from the Upper Midwest. So we certainly get around and so do my quilts.  I appliqued the one piece just to show my sister-in-law, whose lake house we were staying at.  We ended up being in New Hampshire for almost a month because our truck broke down.  We'd left our 5th wheel toy-hauler trailer on a friend's farm in Maryland and drove just our truck and our motorcycle trailer with the motorcycle (our son keeps the trailer and uses it when we are on the road).  It's a good thing we had the motorcycle with us because our truck was in two different shops three times, for a total of two weeks and several thousand dollars.  It did get a bit nipply riding that motorcycle though, as the temps dropped into the low thirties here and there.  Anyway, I did the applique square to show to my sister-in-law who came to her lake house on the weekends.  That baby quilt is for her recent granddaughter, my grand-niece. 

The one below is in blues and greens - mostly aqua's.

These are the pieces to a Sun Bonnet Sue baby quilt that was inspired by the Teddy Bear quilt and a vintage quilt that I rebuilt for a friend. I have it all laid out here on the backing, just to make sure I have all the pieces I need and that they are cut right. The backing fabric is facing the carpet, as it will be once I get the topper appliqued and the patches sewn, add the batting and get ready to baste. The backing is the same pattern that is on the triangles.  The binding, not pictured, is also done (in one piece and ironed) and is of the same fabric as on the long, narrow strips surrounding the squares/diamonds.

 Below is the other Sun Bonnet Sue quilt that is queued up.  This one will be for another niece's baby girl. It is in pinks and greens.

Here is everything I need, minus batting, thread, my sewing machine, et cetera, to make the second Sun Bonnet Sue baby quilt.  

 I am improving on my basting of the quilt layers.  My major error on the old Sun Bonnet Sue quilt was that I just didn't really understand how critical the basting was or how to best effect it. I had just used basting safety pins, starting in the center and working outwards, but that didn't keep the backing taut enough and I had little wrinkly tufts when I finished hand quilting.

In my quilting books (I now have dozens in the RV, and they tend to be big, meaty books) I learned to lay them on the floor with the topper face down, tape it with masking tape or painters tape, then lay on the batting and backing, with the backing a bit larger, and tape it down too. When taping, I pull the topper, and later the backing, taut, being careful not to stretch it.  Then I use a curved needle and long pieces of thread to baste the layers, starting in the middle and working outwards.  This is not easy to do in an RV.  I can handle the baby quilts OK, but for larger quilts I need to be in someone's house, with a clean, non-carpeted floor.  But even if you have a large space and a bare wood or tile floor, physically it is difficult to baste the quilt if it is a large quilt. I got stomach cramps, leg cramps and butt cramps as I crawled around.  I used a pillow for my knees as I scooted around the edges.  But in the center areas, I had to carefully put my weight onto the fabric and sit very still without scooting which would stretch the fabric and defeat the purpose. Physically, it made me think of yoga!  Maybe I invented quilting yoga! I had to hold my poses and lift my weight straight up and move very slowly.

Here is a basting job I did on a quilt I am making for my dad who had a stroke in September and is now in a nursing home.

This is the center of a single bed sized quilt when I'd just started basting the backing.

Here is the backing taped down, as is the topper underneath.  The batting, of course, is in the center.  It took me a long time to baste this.

 Below is the topper to the quilt before I started the basting process.  I rolled up the area rug in my friend's house, carefully washed and dried the wooden floor, then flipped the topper and taped it down with masking tape.  My husband helped.  Then I laid the batting on it.  Then I laid the backing over top.  I'd made sure to cut the backing larger so I could also tape it down without the tape attaching to the topper or getting stuck in the batting.  This quilt is made from flannel patches.

Brown/Black Denim and Flannel Rag Quilt

Rag quilts are pretty quick to do after you get all the squares cut. 

Denim is beasty to work with but if you have the right needle, thread, and tension settings, and go relatively slow, it isn't too bad. 

The black denim for this quilt is from repurposed jeans.  And I always have to say that I love repurposing things.  That is one of the reasons why I loved quilting from the get-go.  I started a couple years ago, making a rag quilt working with repurposed jeans, then moved on to making five memory quilts for nieces and nephews using my sister's clothing (their mother) after she died way too young. Like the ladies throughout our relatively modern history of man made fabric, I like the thriftiness that New Englanders get credit for, and the recycling that is smart for our planet, as well as how quilting is a functional art tradition that honors our foremothers. 

The other materials used in this quilt were bought new to use with the black jeans, adding contrast and softness.  The brown on the backing is flannel. This is a warm and heavy quilt but small enough that it handles well in the washer and dryer.  We washed and dried it a couple of times to clean it, of course, but the second time was specifically to encourage the raw clipped edges to unravel and to become bushy with texture.  It will continue to get bushier with each washing.

This quilt is for our son, daughter-in-law, and grandson.  My daughter-in-law loves texture.  And I was thinking it would be a good blanket that will take the wear and tear for their TV room, in a house with a growing boy and two large, playful dogs.  I envisioned it for movie snuggling in the winter, or for video games for our grandson, but of course, it is up to them what to do with it. 

Made with love.

Front

Back

The Fabric Workshop and Museum, Philadephia

Though we didn't go to Philly to see the Fabric Workshop and Museum (I didn't even know it existed), I have been thinking about it ever since we toured it last weekend.  We'd gone to Philadelphia to visit the Barnes Foundation Art Museum which has been a bucket list item for me ever since I first heard about it in the Baltimore Sun, when I lived in Maryland and had a real house.  Though I loved the Barnes Foundation artwork, and the whole story of Dr Barnes, I have found myself thinking more about Ann Hamilton and the Fabric Workshop and Museum.  I'm glad I stumbled across it.

The Fabric Workshop and Museum is a non-profit that started out in 1977 primarily for functional fabric art but morphed beyond fabric and functional. It has an artist-in-residence program and as well as "museum" items you can see via tours, all free, starting every half hour. If you like fabric, or even if you are not particularly into fabric but like non-touristy, interesting experiences or get your batteries charged by communing with someone's creative thoughtfulness, you should like this. 

If I was queen for a day, I'd add a large windowed hallway outside the artist-in-residence area so we could actually watch artists work. Also, I'd add a section where we could see and touch a variety of fabrics and other fiber-like materials, as their history was explained, though I know we couldn't touch the old materials. And speaking of old materials, it'd be nice to read about the science of decaying fabric. But as far as touch goes,  I think that those of us who love fabrics, love the feel as well as the visual. I would also love for there to be much more to see, many more items on display.  The old building is huge and could handle lots of items.  Having said that, the displays were striking, unique, and particularly so because of the large open emptiness of the old warehouse floors.  If there were more things crammed in, it would negate the effect.  But still, another floor with just fabric clutter would be cool.  Regardless, I highly recommend this experience as is.  

http://www.fabricworkshopandmuseum.org/

Ann Hamilton's habitus was on display at the museum, and her huge white cloth cylindrical drapes filled Municipal Pier 9 this Fall, though I missed that. She is a visual artist, a conceptual artist, an immersive artist.  She is known for large scale interdisciplinary sculptural works though she does lots more than that.  Her art comes from writing and sewing.  In fact, as she points out, the first four letters of textile is text.  She weaves together objects, thoughts on humanity, and other works of art such as poetry and prose, creating in concert with space and time. Her work is very thought provoking, not something you want to hurry through. When you read her writing, you'll want to read it slow.  Maybe re-read it. Chew on it. Come back to it. 

I'd love to see some of her really large scale works. I'll have to google her from time to time as we travel, to see if her work is showing anywhere. 

Below is a wool blanket, hand stitched with Susan Stewart's poem "Awaken".  I love the lighting on it as it hangs on the wall, and the shadow below it, the sepia of it.

I love the loopy cursive, the connectedness, the subtly changing contrast.

Below is a toothpick suit, called suitably positioned.  Ann made it in 1984 using a thrift shop men's suit and toothpicks.  She modeled it for a show once and kept it on the entire time while interacting with patrons. I'd have liked to be there.  In reading the flyers we have from the museum on Ann's work, as well as what I am finding on line, I like not only her art but how she thinks.  In fact, how she thinks is part of her art but I guess you can say that for all artists, good and less so. 

The porcupine suit.  Love it.  But also love that no where in Ann's discussion of this object of art does she mention a porcupine. At least, not that I've read.

 I like this piece too, below.  It is books repurposed into sculpture. This is paperback book slices, wood and bookbinder's glue.  It is called explanation lay somewhere in the breaking of the law. Once again, I love how it is displayed, the shadows.

Of course, part of the shadow in the lower left is me with my camera.  So this is an interactive display for this photo. Ha.

A picture from the other side.  I know I keep saying this but I absolutely am enthralled by the shadows.

Below is a shelf with a couple dozen or so pages of printed passages from published books and poems about fabric and clothing.  These were solicited from the public via Tumblr.  Each page was copied dozens of times and patrons were invited to take which ever ones appealed to them.  I took several. 

One of the pages I took is from Davelle Barnes' "Too Often" from Apiary, 8 July 2016.  It says this (below) and was printed as such:

Too often
we soldiers
discover
we are breakable
for the first time
in Anesthesia,
we wake up
stitched together with
the fibers
of our past beliefs.

Below is a picture of the 7th floor where Ann Hamilton and Susan Stewart collaborated.  It is Channel and Mirror.  It is a poem printed on fabric and rolling from movie reel to another, projected onto the screen in the back of the room. 

And below are some painted fabrics by some of the art students. Happy fabrics.

New Hampshire-Themed Pillows

I found the fabric for these pillows while we were in New Hampshire in October, during the glorious peak beauty of fall colors on the mountains and reflected off the lakes. We had stayed at the lake house belonging to Dave's brother and wife. The house is On Golden Pond.  Actually, it is called Squam Lake, the location where the movie, On Golden Pond, was filmed.  The loons had not migrated south yet, or at least some of them had not.  There is not much more charming than hearing the operatic calls of loons at night.

When I saw this particular fabric that I used for the pillows, while out perusing fabrics on a rainy day, I knew it was going to be transformed into pillows to line the two large and comfy couches facing each other in my sister-in-law's warm and cozy lake house family room.  I was excited about making them and would have done it right there in New Hampshire if I'd had my sewing machine with me.

Once I got back to Maryland where our RV was parked (on a friend's farm), and I could access my sewing machine, I got to work.  It was the first time I'd used the trim technique of piping.  I'd read about it in one of my sewing books, one of what is now, literally, dozens of books on fabric arts.  Most of them are on quilting, but my interests are branching out into embroidery, repurposing fabrics for other purposes besides quilting, dying fabrics, and hooking and braiding rugs...  I have a growing collection not only of fabrics, but now of trims and laces and embroidery threads, and of wools, burlap, silks, varying textures and weights.  I also just happened to have collections of old piping that came off of upholstered items.  I bought those in a fabric warehouse in North Carolina a few years ago, thinking I'd use them on the slipcovers I was going to make for our RV.  I didn't end up using them until now.  I pulled the cords out of the fabric and repurposed them into the pillow piping using the new fabric I'd purchased for the pillows.

I'm glad I found a purpose for the remnant piping pieces.  I knew I would. You might think that buying the cording would be as cheap, maybe, (I haven't priced it) and certainly easier than pulling it out of old upholstery piping.  Maybe so.  But I like repurposing stuff that could have ended up rotting in a landfill somewhere.  I like giving life in new ways to old things.  I like the adventure of it all.

I made seven pillows all told.  The backs have a solid green.  The piping is a contrasted plaid.  I just cut the seven pieces for the fronts going from left to right on the long stretch of fabric, content to have each one of the pillows show a slightly different view of the repeating design and not realizing that one of the pillows had only the two buttocks of moose, one on the left and one on the right, as the images faced off of the pillow, literally.  My husband noticed that and we had a good laugh.  His brother was the first one to notice it when he and my sister-in-law opened the box of pillows, sent to their Connecticut house (to be transported to their lake house on a future weekend).

I bought the pillow stuffing, the internal pillow forms, at Walmart.  I know, Walmart is not exactly a place I proudly call my shopping roost, but after finding Jo-Ann's Fabric prices at around $17 per pillow, and learning the hard way that stuffing the pillows with foam or batting-like wads just made them look lumpy, I knew I had to buy the pillow forms.  I found them at Walmart for $3-$7 dollars a piece, depending on firmness.  I bought some of both.

If you are wondering how I can drag around so many fabric arts books and a growing collection of fabrics and trims (and now some dyes), well, yes, it is kind of becoming a problem. Our friends in Maryland who host us and or RV a couple times a year when we come back to see our kids and grand kids, and to do our dental and medical appointments, indulge us as well, by letting us store stuff in their attic.  I have bags of varying sizes of Ziploc-type baggies filled with fabrics and piled in the attic.  And dozens of boxes of books.  Truth be told, none of those boxes of books have my fabric arts books in them.  Those are all still in the RV.  I like being able to peruse one or another on a whim.  I want them with me.  When I'm not actively sewing or blogging or hiking or eating, I am into a book, and often that book has to do with fabric arts of some sort.  Life is good.