Doll quilt in progress

I'm learning that making a small version is a fast way to try a technique.

This month for A Lovely Year of Finishes, I promised to make at least one doll quilt from my friend's sweet granddaughters using these selection of purple and green fabrics.

I pieced two tops, but along the way decided that I wanted to make one bargello quilt.  I had read the directions for making a bargello quilt several times, but have never made one, until my false start before this one (to see that click here).  Then I thought I would give a simple description of how to make a bargello quilt.  Here goes:  I selected a nice range of purples and greens to coordinate with the multi-color prints originally selected by Gracie.  More fabrics (both greens and purples) were added and arranged to create a nice wave of color.  Using my rotary mat, cutter and ruler, I sliced my fabrics into strips 1 3/4" wide, with the two multicolor strips each being sliced wider, 3.5" and 2.25".

I arranged a pleasing order, from light to dark, starting with green and shading to purple with a few multi-color prints sprinkled in.  Next, I stitched the strips together in the order of my layout.  After pressing all seams to one side, last of all I stitched the outer two strips together to make a tube.  I like to call this piece a "tube-strata".

The next step is to slice the tube into several varying widths.  Carefully align the tube on your cutting mat and slice.  My slices ranged in size from 3/4" to 2" wide.  Cut as many as possible from the original tube-strata.

The next step is trickier.  Carefully separate each loop (fabric ring) into an open strip again.  The tricky part is that you open these at different seams.  I was planning the wave pattern as I separated each loop of the sliced strata.  Narrow strips show a steep incline/decline in the wave, wider strips make the wave more of a curve.  I arranged the strips below as I opened each one.

 

Last step is to carefully stitch each row together.  I started with the two to the far left, stitching them first.  Be sure to nestle the seam allowances, pushing the seam allowances on every other strip to the opposite direction so that they nest and snuggle together nicely with the seam allowances on the previous loop/strip.

The above view of the back side of the top shows the seam allowances nestled in the alternating directions.  Below is a partial view of the finished quilt top.

Voila, the full finished top!  It is a tad narrower than the doll bed, so I will either piece one more row to add to the right side, or I will add a simple border.

This is one of three three doll quilt tops that I am making.  It was fun to make in the bargello fashion, creating my own wave pattern.  I hope you can follow these steps easily and make your own bargello quilt.  You can make mini quilts, mug rugs, placemats if you do not need a new doll quilt.  Or slice wider and longer widths of fabric to end up with a larger quilt.  I may make a larger sized bargello quilt one of these days.  But for now, I must decide first how to quilt this one ..... any suggestions?

This is my completion of February Lovely Year of Finishes challenge!  I've pieced three doll quilt tops -- hoping to finish them eventually -- but my challenge was to get at least one top complete, which I have done.  Click here to see the others who have completed their February goals and posted links.  I am linky #116.  On the Goals for February page, I am linky #115.

getting started

My friend Gracie has asked me to make three doll quilts for her granddaughters and I am especially pleased that they will go with the handcrafted doll beds made by Dennis, the proud grandpapa, for three American Girl dolls?  (hint: I'd love my own American Girl doll one day ....).  

Gracie and I selected fabrics for the quilts (she had told me to use any color scheme! yikes! far too many choices, so I made her narrow the field).  We combined our shopping trip in early December with an afternoon watching her granddaughters dancing in the Nutcracker Ballet - a marvelous performance!

 

Even with the fabrics to play with, I remained stumped for several weeks deciding on a design for the long narrow quilts.  I pieced one in diagonal rows, similar to the first step of the scrappy trip around the world method taught by Bonnie Hunter on Quiltville (be sure to look at her website: http://quiltville.blogspot.com/). Here is the first quilt top.

Even before I finished piecing this top, I realized I wanted to try a bargello pattern! Bargello directions are similar: piece strips together, stitch into a tube, then slice and restitch.  This was a spur of the moment decision made after the tube was stitched (which I like to call a tube-strata).  Here is my quasi-bargello quilt top:

Both quilts are long and skinny to match the dimensions given by Gracie, and neither really look or feel very bargello-y.  Stay tuned, I plan to try making a 'real' bargello quilt soon -- and I will take time to plan the fabric layout more carefully!

Temporary ... now gone

I can remember driving down Montrose a few years ago and discovering this curious structure being built.  I loved it and loved watching it grow and continued to wonder how long it would remain ... after all, it looked so temporary!

I wanted to walk under it and photograph it from many angles.  Imagine my surprise when I happened past it two days ago and discovered that it was being dismantled!  How can that be?  I never took my photos.  I never walked under and around it.  I miss it now as they were taking it apart.

Here are the only photos I have of the "Funnel Tunnel" created by artist Patrick Renner.

This end points to Inversion Coffee House (I should try their coffee one day).

 The skeletal remains are bare and remain.

This is the ghost of a former sculpture, or the bare bones.

Funnel Tunnel once thrived on the median, starting at the intersection of Willard and Montrose and snaking down Montrose.

I did find one article online telling more about the creation of this intriguing sculpture.  Click here to read it and enjoy these two photos from that same article.

Somehow I missed the opportunity to paint one of these wonderful yardstick-like pieces.  Now there is a sign at the corner where this sculpture used to stand stating that these very pieces can be purchased! hmmmm..... I decided to do a little more digging ....


Here is a conceptual drawing back when the idea was germinating ...

Click here for more on the story telling the beginning of this idea.

Click on these links for a few more photos and stories behind this Funnel Tunnel sculpture that is no more.  Click here for installation news, also here, and here and even here, oh, and here too.  There are probably many more websites featuring photos of this unique sculpture (try researching Funnel Tunnel by Patrick Renner, Houston, TX).  Please share them with me!  Before I end, below are a few favorite photos to represent the very photos that I never took the time to take myself.  Lesson learned: Be aware of procrastination!  It will likely bite you in the end ....

I love this photo by Barry Tse (above) 

and

the two below, both by Pablo Gimenez Zapiola.  

This one is fantastic, which is a still from a video from Houstonia Magazine, which I pulled from a website - click here to see.

One question remains - why was it dismantled?

I have not found that answer .... yet .... do you know why?

February goal

The new year is rolling along, gradually picking up the pace, which means we are into our second month, February and it is time to set my next goal for the "2015 A Lovely Year of Finishes" challenge hosted by

Shanna of Fiber of All Sorts 

and

 Melissa of Sew BitterSweet Designs

My February 2015 goal is to piece the top of at least one of three doll quilts.  My good friend Chela has asked me to make these doll quilts for her granddaughters, to go with their American Girl Dolls and the beds that her husband (their grandpa) has hand crafted for them.

In December, before watching her granddaughters perform in the Nutcracker (they were fabulous!), Chela and I went shopping at Quilter's Emporium looking for fabrics to inspire the doll quilts and this is what we found...

I added more purples and greens, and will possibly add a few more, once I've settled on a pattern or design.  But here we are, aready in February and I am still stuck and waiting for inspiration to hit ... so this will be my month's challenge.  I plan to piece at least one doll quilt (and would love it if I finished it completely!).

I hereby declare that this is my February goal for A Lovely Year of Finishes, 2015.  Now won't you join me with this motivational group?  The challenge is to finish the very goals that you select each month (something I do need help with).  I am linky #115 on February's Goal Setting page.


P.S.  I love that the fabrics coordinate so nicely with this year's logo for A Lovely Year of Finishes.  Don't you?

Day 5: FB Art Challenge

This is my 5th (and final) Day of the FB Art Challenge.  

I was nominated by Pam Biswas.   Thank you Pam!  For my fifth and final day of the challenge, I am sharing three more favorites, two are my most recent quilts while the last one is an older fiber art piece.  I hope you enjoy them.

Not everyone has a "Vanna White" to model with their quilts and fiber art.  Fortunately, our smart dog Andy thought he'd give it a whirl......

How did he do?

This quilt was made in the Spring of 2014 as part of the Fourth Annual Modern Quilt Guild challenge sponsored by Michael Miller Fabrics.  See their website: https://www.michaelmillerfabrics.com/.  The line is called Petal Pinwheels and has a fun, light, summery look, plus the Michael Miller fabrics all have a wonderful feel.  Click here to see the full line of Petal Pinwheels.  These are the six that were used for this challenge.

Of the six fabrics distributed for this challenge, I selected three to use (petal pinwheels, petal garland and pegs a plenty) and added two solids: white and gray.  I knew I wanted to make a quilt large enough to be a baby quilt or a lap quilt for someone.  I had great fun playing with many design options.

I call this quilt "Candyland" ... well, actually, my son helped with the name.  One evident fact is that I must practice my free-motion machine quilting.  I must confess that I do prefer to design and stitch the tops of my quilts, then find a friend to do the quilting.  Click here to see an earlier blog about "Candyland".


Many fellow members of the Houston Modern Quilt Guild also participated in this 2014 Michael Miller challenge.  Everyone (or many) brought their finished (or near finished) challenge pieces to our July 19th HMQG meeting and posed for this group photo.

Since I was teaching my first quilt workshop that day (Quiltville's Scrappy Trip around the World, with my Modern Scrappy Twist version as an option - which I may still blog about someday...) it is now surprise (to me) that I was in the early stages of making my Michael Miller challenge piece and did not bring these beginnings to share with the group.  I did some fast sewing and quilting after our meeting to meet the challenge deadline on July 25, 2014.  Click here to see the three winners and their amazing quilts and here to see a few more that were also entered.


Michael Miller announced a new challenge for the Modern Quilt Guild members for the 2015 Quilt Con in September 2014.  This new challenge featured eight solids from the Michael Miller Spring Couture line. The MM Spring Cotton Couture challenge colors are:

Opal

Breeze

Spa

Spring

Blossom

Creamsicle

Candlelight

Soft White

The rules of this 2015 challenge were straight forward: use only Michael Miller fabrics, and only solids on the front of the quilt.  Once I found the darker Cotton Couture solids (at High Fashion Fabrics), I knew I would use the "Pot Pie" pattern by Thangles.  I had to resize the pattern as it called for fat quarters but I had only fat eighths of the challenge fabric to use.  Click here and here to read more about the making of this quilt.

 

"Mmm, Pot Pie" is the name of this quilt.  The name is a spoof both on the yummy pattern name as well as being a play on Michael Miller (Mmm) fabric line.  I love the simplicity of this pattern, especially the random mix-matching of the solid colors but I especially love the quilting too.  Pam Biswas did a spectacular job with the quilting this time, didn't she?

I especially love the spiky spirals - they make me think of roosters (not sure why, but they do).  Can you see the spiky swirls on the yellow/burgundy block above? 

My last piece to share is my valentine-y fiber art, in honor of the chocolatey sweet holiday that is fast approaching.  

Presenting a glimpse of Hearts A'Flutter....

 

I dabbled in a variety of surface techniques when making this piece.  I finished in time to exhibit in Beyond the Borders, the first fiber art show at the Copper Shade Tree Gallery in Round Top, Texas held in February 2007.  My very first post when I began this blog features this fiber art piece.  Click here to read it.

Happy Valentine's Day to everyone ... especially to you!

I nominate Mona Keegan to join this 5-day Art Challenge by posting three photos a day of her artwork, and nominating another artist to carry the challenge ever forward.  Mona, I look forward to seeing more of your lovely art!

Day 4: FB Art Challenge

This is my 4th Day of the Art Challenge currently circulating on FaceBook. 

I was nominated by Pam Biswas.   Thank you Pam!  For this fourth day of the 5-day challenge, I am sharing more of my favorite quilts and mixed media/fiber art pieces.  I hope you enjoy them.

This first piece tells the Legend of the Bluebonnet.  A quick summary is:  In days long long ago, during a severe drought, a young girl sacrificed her most prized possession, her doll, to the tribe's fire, following their leader's request.  The gods were happy and sent rain that night.  The next morning, when the little girl and her people woke up, they discovered the fields were covered with blue flowers, the same blue of the doll's dress.  These were the first bluebonnets and they return every spring, remembering the little girl's love that was so pure.

This story quilt was fun to make.  I explored a variety of mixed media/fiber art techniques including: painted hot glue squiggles (the bluebonnets), overlayed sheers (the sun and the rain), torched and painted tyvek (flames of fire), new fabric made from stitched threads and fibers (the doll's dress - both the tiny doll in the girl's hands and the center doll burning in the fire), and couched fibers (fields of bluebonnets). 

This piece was my entry in the 2008 Journal Quilt Project at Houston's annual International Quilt Festival.  That year, quilt artists were asked to make a quilt portraying the four elements (earth, wind, rain and fire).  Most chose to focus on one element however I decided to touch on all four elements in this little story quilt.  Sadly, my quilt was rejected from the actual exhibit, though it was in an virtual online show (with several other rejected quilts).  Click here to see "Braving the Elements".  Thank you Linda Teddie Minton for coordinating this special show.  Click here to see my entry in "Braving the Elements" which includes the poem of the legend of the bluebonnet.


This next quilt is called "American All-Stars" and is my first quilt to travel in a national exhibit and is my first entry in the annual Hoffman Challenge, specifically the 1996 challenge which featured "Old Glory".  My quilt did not travel to Houston during its year on the road.  However it was on display during the big Paducah quilt show in the spring of 1997.  I cancelled my plans to see my quilt in Paducah, as I was expecting twins.  In the photo below, my children are one year old wearing special outfits made with the "Old Glory" Hoffman challenge fabric to celebrate both the return home of my traveling quilt and the July 3rd wedding of their Uncle and Aunt.  Aren't they precious?

 My next quilt is my current all-time favorite quilt and is hanging on my living room wall.

"Red Summer Baskets" is a quilt that was a gift to me -- well, the pattern and many of the fabrics were given to me by Mary Beth Hayes, my friend and founder of Thangles.  She gave this cute pattern to me in the summer of 2012 during my visit to Wisconsin and her studio.  Click here and here to learn more about this quilt.

 

My artist nominee today happens to be Mary's sister, Wanda Eichler!  I met both sisters years ago when Mary and I were in an internet round robin group, and both traveled to Market in Houston.  We met for lunch and kept talking for three hours that afternoon.  I look forward to Mary and her husband Pat coming to Market and Festival every year.  Wanda came a few times as well.   

When I was helping Wanda with her booth, Graywood Designs, in 2010, we were delighted to see how close we were to the Make It University area.  We had fun taking turns participating in the one-hour classes they offered.  I made the four ATCs (Artist Trading Cards) that you see below.

I nominate Wanda Eichler to join this 5-day Art Challenge by posting three photos a day of her artwork, and nominating another artist to carry the challenge ever forward.  Wanda, I look forward to seeing your lovely art!

Day 3: FB Art Challenge

This is about my 3rd Day of the Art Challenge currently circulating on FaceBook. I was nominated by Pam Biswas.   Thank you Pam!  For this third day of the 5-day challenge, I am sharing three pieces that appeared in contests and shows, including one award winner.

This first quilt, "My Favorite Presidents", was made in 2003 for a competition held at Quilt Impressions, a quilt shop in Stafford (which has closed). 

 

The challenge was to make a quilt using the fabric with images of Washington, D.C. sites during cherry blossom season: the White House, the Washington Monument, the Jefferson and Lincoln Memorials and the Congressional building.    I combined the fabric (the blue squares in my quilt) with seven of my favorite Presidents of the United States: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, Franklin Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy and Bill Clinton. 

The seven President blocks were all made by using patterns from Presidential Redwork: A Stitch in Time (click here for a link to Amazon).  After tracing the portraits, I used crayons and archival safe pigment pens to give the Presidents a little more color.  The Presidential Seal was included.

 

This quilt is the closest to a neutral monochromatic quilt that I have made ...  (however, on my "quilt bucket list" is a plan to create a beige-cream quilt).  My Presidential quilt won first place in the store's challenge, though it was really a Viewer's Choice award.  Customers in the shop could place votes per each can of food they brought and donated to the store's food drive (I confess - I may have brought a large bag or two of donations!  Did I buy my first place?)

The next piece is simply known as "Texas" and was featured on the program cover for the Texas Museum of Fiber Arts 2008 exhibit, held in Austin, Texas.  Here it is as it appeared in the show.

Texas is a locker-hooked rug made with 100% cotton fibers in an original design of the state of Texas.  It first appeared in the second Fiber Art show held at the Copper Shade Tree Gallery in Round Top, Texas in February, 2008.  My Beyond the Borders art quilt group were the featured artists in the first two fiber art shows at Copper Shade Tree Gallery.  The fiber art show is a February tradition now, and features fiber artists from across the state of Texas.  My rug, Texas was purchased during the show, but not before Carol Ikard of the Texas Museum of Fiber Arts admired it.  

Carol contacted me, requesting permission to use my Texas rug on her program cover, and she also tracked down the new owner and received permission to borrow the quilt for the exhibit. 

Such validation that someone admires your work when they want it to share with others and also want to feature it!  Here I am at the show's opening.

This last piece is a small, beaded piece that I named "DNA Gone Wild!" and is now also in a private collection.  DNA Gone Wild appeared in a Beyond the Borders show held in the Houston Center for Contemporary Crafts in October/November 2008.  This was quite a year for our Art Quilt group!

Here is the description that accompanied my piece:

Everyone has studied the double helix shape of DNA in a science class somewhere - in this piece, DNA Gone Wild!, the double helix has spun apart (or perhaps tighter), until the spiraling ladder configuration has reformatted into a single strand with multiple arms spinning out from a single core.  This new form is preparing to venture into a brave new world.

Materials used include: batik cotton fabrics, fibers, beading and buttons.  The size is 4" x 6".

It sold at the show (Wow! It is exciting to sell your precious hand-made art!)

 

I am including one more piece.  "Cooler Days Ahead" which features beading and hand embroidery on a mono-printed background fabric.  This 4" x 6" postcard appeared in the January 2009 show curated by Susan Lenz called  Cyber Fyber.  Click here to learn more about that show.

I nominate Patricia Marek to join this 5-day Art Challenge by posting three photos a day of her artwork, and nominating another artist to carry the challenge ever forward. I look forward to seeing your lovely art!