Kristin's Peace Flags

Last summer I posted these pictures of flags that Kristin and I printed.  They hung in her yard all winter.

This is what they look like now.  Not too bad.  But it looks like they have done their work.  Interesting how the red and fuchia have faded to nearly the same color.

New Work, May 2012

This is a post about what I have completed since the first of the year.  I usually have several pieces going at any moment, and I tend to wait until I have a few pieces to quilt before I switch the machine over.  Even if I practice before I start on a quilt, I find that my stitching gets better if I do several in succession. My intent was to enter them in the Crab Festival Art Show, but here I sit with no way to deliver them, or pick them up on Sunday, so they will wait for another day to be shown in public, but I will show them here. I broke my ankle a month ago, and although I expected to be on the mend by now, that is not the case, and I am still not able to drive.

Crab
14" x 12 1/2"

This quilt actually came after the one that follows.  I ended up with more of the border squares after I had tried out some different layouts, and I had one more of the crab prints from a print session last Fall.  The quilting on this one is very simple, but I like it.

The King
20" x 15"

This is the first of these King Crab quilts that I started.  I tried a few different settings for the border squares before I finally settled on this.  I wanted to have room for quilting on the border.  You can see the quilting in the close-up picture that follows.

Three Kings
34 1/2" x 19 1/2"

I wish that I had used a heavier thread.  This was done with trilobal polyester variegated thread, which I love.  I am trying to be more bold with my machine quilting.  This light weight thread is great for texture, but I would have liked to have seen a bolder line here. I just ordered a set of Sulky Blendables-30 wt.  It was spendy, but now I know I have all the colors.  I have a problem remembering what I have when I order thread!

Three Kings closeup

There are two red quilts in this batch of work.  I was just having too much fun with the rich reds, and I probably overcut as I often do when i am working on a strip piece.  The idea was to put cross strips in as I built the strip pieced fabric.

Reeds
23 3/4" x 16 1/2"

Reeds-fish closeup

Reeds-border closeup

I am still stuck in the red zone with this next piece but it is the accent fabric.  On this piece the goal  was to build the stripped fabric around the prints-very improvisationally.  There were a few times that the plan shifted-to get it all sewn together.

The River
24 1/2 x 34"

This last quilt is probably my favorite in this grouping.  This piece started with two fairly large pieces of stripped fabric.  I then cut panels from each, offsetting the strips in opposite directions to get the zigzag effect in the background.  This piece hung on my wall, with freezer paper depicting the circles for a long time.  The fish were not tightly packed enough on the original piece of fabric, so I added some fish. You can see before and after in this post: http://sallysartquilts.blogspot.com/2012_03_01_archive.html.

Streamside
34 3/4 x 13 1/2

It took me a long time to get the color of the ink correct that day.  For some reason, I thought that I had used more blue ink, so I had to do alot of printing to use up all the ink I had out!  I was pleased with the addition of more fish.  

Streamside closeup

I faced both of the red quilts, rather than applying borders as I normally do.  It is a good option that I have never before utilized.  Sometimes you want that extra bit of color that the binding can provide, but as these pieces show, sometimes you don't. 

Streamside back

All of these quilts started with prints that I did from my own handcarved stamps on fabric that I dyed.  I love handdyed fabric, but I also love the combinations you can achieve from commercial prints-texture, texture, texture!

Repurposed tablecloths

I had these three tablecloths that were destined to be disposed of when we start packing up our house sometime soon.  I had dye left in the refrigerator from dying the fabric for Kristin's wedding flags, so I decided to dye these tableclothes and see if there was anything worth keeping.  This one I really like alot, and the light colored areas were a surprise although I did suspect that part wasn't cotton. 

Closeup

napkins

 This one turned out wild and crazy but I like it.  If I decide it is too much for the table I have some ideas for cutting it up and using it in quilts.

 I was going for a gradation on this one-dark in the center to light on the edges, but it wasn't working so I did some rubber band binding and overdyed in Cerulean blue.  It is still green in the center, but the edges blend better than they did after the first dye bath.

I did the quilting on this piece today.  I used heavier thread than I normally quilt with and am happy with the results.  You can see a closeup of the stitching below.  The water was stitched with Signature variegated quilting thread-40 wt, I believe. The red section was stitched with Sulky Blendables, 30 wt. Unfortunately, I don't have many spools of heavier thread, but I have lots of trilobal polyester!  Oh joy, another thing I need to collect!

   

So, now I am down to one more piece that needs quilting.  Although it has not been a joyride fracturing my ankle, I would never have gotten these 6 pieces quilted.  Bindings, labels and sleeves and they are done.  Oh yeah-naming the, too. I don't enjoy naming my quilts!

New things

This is what I have been working on.  I have been trying to find new ways to use my prints in my work.  I was lazy with the pictures.  I have a quilt hanging in my kitchen that has become my preview wall.  I pin pieces that are partially finished to this quilt for comtemplation. 

 This is a project that I am working on with Livie.  We took a picture, I rinted it om the computer, I traced it onto wonderunder and did the ironing before I turned it over to her.  She did ther cutting  After I looked at these pictures, I  pulled back the weird bit of hair and trimmed it off.

 A closeup where you can see the stitching that Liv is doing.

Another crab quilt.  Alll of these are in need of binding, but I am not sure if they are done.

Carving Tool Pouch

My daughter Ingrid and I made pouches for our lino-carving tools last week while I was visiting in Anchorage.  Above you can see the pouch rolled up and tied.

We put denim on the inside because it will hold up the the sharp blades on the tools.  We alternated the slots for the individual tools so they will nestle up next to one another.

This is the outside of the pouch.  It was an experiment in piecing that wasn't right for the intended project, but perfect for this.  I had two experimental pieces so Ingrid had a fancy outside for her pouch too.  Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture of hers.

We also made this shower curtain for her bathroom-a Pinterest idea!  The intent was to use fabric that she had on hand, but it didn't work out that way!  She want it to match the artwork that she had in the bathroom which was blue and red, colors that she was missing in her stash.  I have sent several boxes of fabric to my daughters recently, in the process of trying to decrease my huge stash, but not alot of red, and most of the blue went to Kristin, for wedding projects.

I also printed 117 wedding flags while I was there.  I had previously dyed blue and purple fabric for this project.  It was 10 hours of printing, done in three sessions.  A productive week, I would say.

I have several quilt tops that are ready for quilting.  I am trying to get several projects started before I pack up my supplies, in anticipation of moving out of the house and being basically homeless for 6 months.  I know I will go crazy if I don't have things to work on but I am going to be without the majority of my supplies until I move into the new studio.  This way, I can pick beads and embellishments to complete the things that I have going.

Print Day

This is where it started.  I tried cutting circles out of the long piece in the photo above and there were too many gaps between the fish.  Then I got up this morniung and had to face the prospect of making a plane reservation for Nick, my husband, who really didn't have a plan.  Not to mention that I can't go on this trip for various reasons.  So I was in a funk.  Art is a funk breaker so I set up a table and went to work.

It took a long time to get the ink right.  I though I had printed with way more black, but I think the match is adequate-once it is cut up and stitched.

A mandela arangement of the salmon stamp.

Another killer whale that I am not too happy with.

Humpback which I totally love-I plan to cut circles out of this piece.

Humpback Mandella

The best of the first set of killer whale stamps.

Another new less than perfect Killer whale-getting better though!  Like I said-art is restorative.  Even though it is not perfect work, I am feeling much better!

Whales

My daughter wants Alaskan flags for wedding decorations, so here is the start-purple and blue fabrics were dyed on Tuesday.  I always have some trouble with these colors-the dye doesn't blend as I would like, but for the intended purpose, these fabrics will be fine.

I needed more images to print on the flags so yesterday I carved these whales.  I am happy with the humpback, but I think I can do better on the killer whales.  Below you can see the stamps that I carved.