Tuesday, January 10, 2023

 HAPPY NEW YEAR

I have been busy 2022 even tho I lagged behind on blogging.



Progress on my version of Yoko Saito's Imaginary Garden which maybe I will name Garden of the Honeybees.  About 75 of them have been hand appliqued on the quilt. All that remains is to finish the quilting part.  I have sewn around all the elements and am faced with the quandary of how to fill in the background. ????  All I can think of is a stipple.  Any ideas???


Some sample areas of the applique......

No more quilting is actually needed in terms of stability but rather for enhancement of the applique.

NEWEST PROJECT begun in November:

Fields of Flora by Verna Mosquera

Eight blocks are completely finished tho I have not cut them all to size (8.5 x 10.5)

The fabrics are 50% Art Gallery fabrics, 40% Tilda by the lovely Norwegian designer  Tone Finnanger, and 10% miscellaneous.  





I had a wonderful time collecting fabric for this applique.  I spent many happy hours on research on etsy and on line shops.  I came to appreciate Art Gallery Fabrics-they have become some of my favorites for the modern look, their sense of color, and their lovely hand.
I have not been in a store or restaurant in 3-count them-3 years of covid.  I am not sure if I ever will now that I know how easy life is without them.  We always wear masks in public tho not many people do.
I use only 100 wt Kimono silk thread for the applique.  It is so fine and lustrous and the colors are beautiful.  I had some Yuli 100 wt silk thread but it was coarse in comparison.  I have all the colors of the Kimono thread.
It took forever to find two of the blue prints in this block.
Here is the design wall with the 8 blocks removed.  All are basted and 6 are ready to applique and the others still need some tweaking before I am happy with them.



A PROJECT FOR LAST JANUARY


The wonderful Helen Godden offered a free you tube class which you can still access if you are interested.   Based on those ubiquitous flower panels, we free motion quilted the petals using a black background.  She is the best teacher in the whole world not to mention a lovely person.  We began in the center and worked outward.   After we all got the hang of what we were doing, we took off in individual directions of quilting.  A lot of the designs I choose were from the time I took up drawing Zentangles.  Helen then painted into her quilting designs for a real WOW ending.  I did not do this part as I am 75 and time is of the essence.  You have to pick and choose and I love to pick up little bits of fabric to make designs.






The front-really a big blah.

AND, NEARING THE FINISH LINE.....
The Caswell quilt sat around for a couple years while I got involved with other projects and waited for inspiration to come regarding a border for this applique.  My brain dredged up all kinds of ideas which I vetoed and finally settled on this simple arrangement which I think complements the complexity of the the design nicely and leaves it to be center stage.  I used wool batting.  The applique is all basted and ready to quilt.  When I assemble for the quilting process, I use pins but this time, since I am not sure how long this job will be in a holding pattern, I hand basted the layers and removed the pins fearing rust if I left them in.  I have not worked out the details of quilting yet but I think it will be a random pattern using the motifs as the main inspiration.  For instance, in the lower right side a red bird is singing.  The quilting there will be a music staff to incorporate the notes.  I know I will quilt in insects and leaves and them probably pattern around that BUT who knows...not me for sure!



AND A FINISH...
This is another project which languished in a state of un-being.  Below is a photo of what was supposed to be a completion but I knew it was wrong-I just could not see how to make it right.  So it sat and I stewed.  I don't consider projects in the state to be UFO's because unfinished project implies one has abandoned it and these were never abandoned.  They were constantly in my head while I worked on other things mentally trying out ideas. I am very pleased with how the design spoke and resolved itself but, as you can imagine, lots of work was required to make all that 1/4 bias tape and hand applique it onto the seam of the border and body.  And before anyone asks, NO, I no longer have the pattern.  People email me often asking if I will sell the pattern-it is long gone.   
Well, that is 2022 done and dusted.  I could say alot about this past year, good and bad, but probably no one wants to hear it.

AND NOW....YOUR MOMENT OF ZEN
Two for today since it has been so long in coming

Camera flash on a spider's web by Ben Spurs Miles

AND
Fractal beauty of the mundane purple cabbage

I am linking up with these generous quilt makers and hostesses

Slow stitching Sunday https://kathysquilts.blogspot.com/
Patchwork and Quilt at www.quiltingpatch.blogspot.com 
To Do Tuesday at https://quiltschmilt.ca/
Midweek Maker at www.quiltfabrication.com
Needle and Thread Thursday at http://www.myquiltinfatuation.com/
Peacock Party at https://wendysquiltsandmore.blogspot.com/
Brag About Your Beauties at https://frombolttobeauty.blogspot.com/
Finished or Not Friday at http://alyciaquilts.blogspot.com/ 
Off the Wall Friday at http://ninamariesayre.blogspot.com/
Whoop Whoop Fridays at http://confessionsofafabricaddict.blogspot.com


15 comments:

  1. So much quilty beauty in this post. So, so much lovely stitching. Garden of Honeybees is a triumph! As is the quilt you say languished for a bit. It seems your new year will continue with fabulous stitching. Love your flowery new pretty.

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  2. Wohoo! Ypu must have know I popped into your blog a couple of days ago to check I hadnt missed anything! Well, this post was certainly worth waiting for - lots o stunning beauty to share. So from the top - your Yoko Saito is just gorgeous and I do think a stipple would make the flowers stand out beautifully. Your new flower project is lovely - such a great collection of fabrics. Not much mask use here in UK either even though covid numbers - and flu - are up this winter. Plus queues of ambulances waiting to get into hospitals - you would think people would take more care. And I watch people walk straight past the sanitiser when they enter stores. Your quilting is amazing - I will never master machine quilting, no patience for it I am afraid! Caswell is just beautiful and that tiny green border on your finish is perfect, really does make all the difference. xx

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  3. Hi Pam. So many beautiful projects in this post. I enjoyed every single photo. I just started doing handwork this past year and after seeing all of your treasures decided I need to do more. Your appliqué is perfection to my mind. Thank you so very much for linking with To Do Tuesday. Enjoy your week of fabric fun 😉

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  4. WOW! Your quilts are beautiful! I especially like the border of Sweet Surrender, so much prettier than the original that was on the pattern. Your applique is so beautiful, you are so inspiring, happy stitching!

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  5. I have been sitting here drooling over your wonderful quilts. Everyone is a piece of art.
    Queenie Patch

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  6. Awesome "Garden of the Honeybees" or imaginary Garden. The photo looks like a piece of floral fabric and I wish I could see all your wonderful applique closer. I'm glad you love applique. All are fabulous.

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  7. Your quilts are beautiful. Your appliqué skills amazing! It’s fun to see you put your own spin on things. We are still staying in quite a bit too. We get out occasionally though and classes are in person again. Ceramics doesn’t seem so close up though. I’m sure that is wishful thinking.

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  8. Oh Pam — I don’t even know where to begin! Gush gush gush! Drool drool! Just one of those floral applique blocks would be more than enough of a treat, but as I read and scrolled through your post the goodies just kept coming and coming!!! Just exquisite workmanship!!

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  9. Your applique is beautiful. I too am in awe of your skill set. As for quilting, you could stipple, you could quilt small leaves, you could quilt pebbles, you could echo quilt. . . you could do all those motifs and more. What ever you choose, it will be enhance your stunning applique.---TerryK@OnGoingQuilts

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  10. Oh My gosh!!! this is such a great quilty post - there is SO much!!! your appliques are amazing, and your flower quilting - wow!!! the sugarloaf finish!! you have been working so hard!

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  11. Wow Pam, these are beauties! I love your finished Garden, cute little bees!! And these new appliqué flowers are gorgeous.
    Thank you so much for sharing, and linking up!

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  12. I keep coming back to this post just to admire your beautiful work... one more time. Absolutely gorgeous!
    Julie, from Canada

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