small works

I recently decided to make some small quilts, and try some different things: here are two of them. One is 24 x 18, the other 24 x 26, so they are a good size for trying different designs and quilting. I would like to do more with machine quilting and doing more minimal lines. I had trouble with the curved lines and the fabric getting more puffy than I would like. But with a small quilt, you can go on to something else, and try again!

Structure 5

I have a few quilts in a pile in different stages of being done. One I have to wait for more thread to be sent so I can finish the quilting, another has the quilting done, but not the facing, another, just the top is done! I have experimented a little with the quilting on some. I really do like sewing close together, which really flattens out the fabric like a canvas. This quilt is 28" x 33" W. I have decided to try a suggestion from another blogger, and write about each quilt after it is done. It helped me see the T-shapes in this quilt-the challenge was in sewing it together after I had it up on my design wall. I like a good sewing challenge!

Structure 4

This quilt is smaller than the last few: 36"H x 40"W, so finishing it went a lot faster. I also decided to shorten the name of this series, even though Structure is commonly used! I keep trying to add too many shapes and colors, and then I am not happy with it. when I subtract what I don't need, and find something interesting to focus on, it works for me.

New Work

I worked for 2 weeks, I made several quilts, some small, some larger, but I didn't like any of them. I folded them and put them away. I kept thinking about what I was trying to do with this series, which is to go back to a basic shape, to make the focus straightforward, and show the beauty of a few colors. In this quilt I used a gray and white as a background. Something unusual catches your eye, but there is sense of harmony.

Anatomy of a Structure:II

I sometimes wonder how I get to the end result? Art is really a process: trying different fabric shapes and colors, and making decisions: what helps me in what I am trying to say in this quilt? I know the process, but never know what the end result will be. I don't have a picture in my mind of the final quilt, but work on each step, one at a time. I like the 'solidness' of this quilt, its sparseness, I think it makes a big statement-it is 45"H x 75" wide! And it took a whole week to quilt. Now I am ready for #3, three shapes have been on my design wall for a week.

New Work

This quilt is big: 38" H x 57" W, and yet to be named. I found myself loving the way the long, thin quilting lines look on a quilt, yet on a quilt this size it takes a long time to do! It became the perfect thing to do during the busyness of Christmas and New Years. To me they look like pencil lines: not perfect, done by hand. This quilt came from wanting to use big shapes, and since there are fewer colors each shape becomes important. It feels like the ships at Lake Superior! massive, structural. I just finished another one, so I had better think of a name soon!

Organized Space, organized mind!

I have made another quilt in my square series, but found myself constantly being distracted by other shapes. I tried other quilts, but nothing worked out the way I wanted, so I am going to keep that shape in the back of my mind for the future. I am finding it so interesting to work with squares, and simple quilts. I can see myself sticking with this series, and staying away from other distractions for awhile. I was never able to stick with one series at a time, but now I see how I can work in a series, and just concentrate on that one idea. Going off into another idea seems to result in a less focused effort.

I have made changes to my studio space, and have moved the futon out to another room. I had space to put in a separate cutting table, and I love having a table that is taller and bigger, and I can cover it with cutting mats. I bought plastic containers for all my scraps, and have a separate one for each color: how organized!