textures quilted and washed

I logged in to write a new post after so long away from this place and found these photos waiting without words. 

So, here they are as a little note to myself on materials and process - that crinkle of the crispest cottons after a wash and dry.

A whole new year is full of expectations, and making the first mark on a new canvas is always a little intimidating, but here we go. Hello, again.

State of Flux

Meet State of Flux, completed in April. Inspired (among other things) by discoveries of ambiguous creatures whose life cycles may metamorphose into something that could consume every leaf off of the tender plants I have so carefully planted and nurtured, or...be the awkward beginning of something beneficial and beautiful. Inherent or instinctive behaviors can be very hard to identify by outward appearances.

Making something 3-dimensional was challenging and inspiring. I look forward to working on something like this again and applying what I learned this time around.

State of Flux is currently at the Indianapolis Art Center as part of the Curio Cabinet Exhibition until August 5. I found the theme behind Curio Cabinet so inspiring -  "examining the role of art in inspiring curiosity, mystery, intrigue and wonder".

patchwork yardage by color

I am trying to work on organizing the studio for a new year and new intentions, trying to make sense of what stays and what goes. I have been thinking it might be worthwhile to piece together fabrics of similar colors into larger cloth.  Hoping this will be easier than dealing with all the loose scraps and starting from scratch for a cloth base for every new idea. Nothing too fussy but maybe lining things up now and then if it makes sense. Not a new idea to work ahead this way, but new for me especially at this scale. I hope to go big.

I think it will smooth out my process a bit if I can work on these larger cloths now and then, preparing base cloth for more detailed stitching. I can cut from them as needed and continue to add to them during the in-between.

Piecing the bits together is a wonderful process in itself, not thinking too hard about what goes where, choosing fabrics based mostly on their color and pressing seams as I go. I have found fabric I forgot I had. I am really hoping this bit of working ahead will help me dive right into an idea with the cloth piecing bit already under way.

sensitive edge

This is a little whole cloth quilt - leaves hand stitched and stars machine stitched - with a bit of flannel for batting. I made one very similar and then this one to work on a few things I learned from the first one and so I will go towards the next ones with what I have learned from this.

I am really so excited about this edge. A sensitive edge maybe?

But for today - my biggest sweetest boy is eleven.  We will be busy preparing and partying these next few days.

More stitching next week.

sharpening points

So much better for me to work in rows towards these stars - and adds a few more possibilities.

starry light

Sorry for the delay, all is very well - and this is where I spent my extra hour this morning.

just that forgotten work shirt I have been saving for years...

This woven cotton work shirt finally made it a few steps closer to what I have been saving it for. I have been thinking of adding detail to cloth with cloth that already has the elements I like and with a little reconstruction - will create the patterns I want.

The back is so nice with the extra interest made by the allowance lines - flipping the angle the other way again. No striped work shirt is safe now, forgotten or not.

late winter daydream

hand + machine

I started machine quilting this yesterday then today finished the rest of the machine stitching and the washed and dried it. I just needed to see how it would all turn out.

I love shaking it out after drying and seeing the crinkles and wrinkles for the first time.

The results are encouraging. A few minor things on this one and then move on to a few things with a bit more green. Although it's fitting to be finishing this one up now - we are having a few cold and cloudy days here.

sparkle marks

The more I try to finish this the more stitches I want to make. Funny how that can happen.

At some point soon I will add some machine stitching. A way to include as many stitches as I would like but also actually finish it. So I think I am maybe postponing this machine step by prolonging the hand stitching. I don't want the machine stitching to change it too much, just compliment. I want it to be a structural background element, still a part of the design.

I added just a little bit of color - a warm orange/brown - to the underground.

For all the careful planning on the front, I really like the little path of sparkle marks showing up on the back.

back to a late winter daydream

 

I am spending moments between everything else stitching on this to try and get this one done. It has a bit of a wintry feel to me and I find myself wanting to stitch or splash some bright green in here somewhere, but I won't. I mean I will try not to. The seasons have changed faster than I can stitch, but this quilt is still a late winter daydream.

I have been working out the ways this will come together in the end and am anxious to see how it all turns out. All these connection blocks will be pieced together and finished out for hanging in a  similar way and I just want to know it's all going to turn out alright. At the same time trying not to rush it. The momentum of spring coming to life outside is very motivating. Go go go.

timeline chatter

I am trying to work out some of the construction for the connections blocks I am still working on.
I have it all worked out in my head, but none of it has really been tested. I snapped a few photos of some starting steps this morning, so I can keep track of what has been done and to see what works out. Reference.

and for my own future reference and the sake of personal timeline:
Along with all else here there's so much of my boys on my mind.  Little one younger than he seems -always wiser than his years keeping up with best friend big brother. Big one the first at everything new to us at the front of it all and all involved and expected in that. Suddenly 3 years between them feels like a lot again, which I have not felt since they were tiny. Having so much fun with the things we can do because they are so big but then again a tiny bit sad that not a lot of the little left. Really honestly it's all wonderful - they both amaze me every single day and I am so excited for summer. All of this tangled up in all the budding leaves, singing birds, bike rides and all things fabric and thread.

un square

I go back and forth about how to treat the edges of things. For things that will be put to use and need to be washed I want a finished edge - but when it's done I find it often seems too harsh. I experimented on this one with finished edges but I didn't square things up and I think it helped soften it a bit - and then even more with the fringe. There's lots of room to explore in the area of not so square edges and I am thinking on that.

It has made it through the first washing and the crinkle! I think the crinkle makes it a quilt.

Fringe

I made fringe with a scrap of osnaburg fabric and I am so pleased. I hope it will last through a washing. I thought this little cloth needed a softer edge. Now I need to make another strip of it for the other end. I am trying to finish a few small things before I start something new.

and I may be moving things around on the blog for a few days. It will all

settle out soon.

Stitched and Drawn

Construction

I have been thinking a lot about the ways I build a quilt in order to make covering a cloth in hand stitches from edge to edge manageable. Working on a small scale has been helpful and I love the look of the all over stitches. I love the meditative process of sewing the stitches and the feel of the finished cloth.

These last few weeks I have been working and daydreaming of ways to include areas of dense stitching as a design element and strengthening element but changing the construction a bit to allow a cloth to grow into something that can keep my children and my family warm and cozy. So I am going to try working towards building bigger - one block at a time.

This red and yellow shoofly block given to me by my grandma. It was likely given to her by her mother or maybe a friend.