Yellow Stuff

For all beautiful things have their moment of newness. They rise and set. They grow, become perfect, then decline and shrivel. --St Augustine

This photo was taken in August. The flower is long gone, but what a show it put on while it was here!

Linnaeus

As a member of PAQA http://www.artquilters.com/ I'm entering a piece in the upcoming challenge: Art and Science.

Considered the Father of Taxonomy (science of classification) Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus published his first edition of Systema Naturae in 1735. His mantra: “God created, Linnaeus organized.”


The images of Systema Naturae and Linnaeus's signature are printed on June Tailor Quick Fuse. The edges are burnt to add to the illusion of age.

The surname Linnaeus refers to a linden tree. In the 1700's most Swedes had no surnames. According to Scandinavian tradition, Carl's father was known as Nils Ingemarsson (son of Ingemar). When Nils attended the University of Lund, he latinized the name of his family's ancestral lands, Linnegard, and adopted it as his surname for registration purposes. The name Linnegard was derived from an ancient small-leaved linden tree (Tilia cordata) which grew on the family property. Nils gave his son the name Carl Linnaeus.

Background fabric is stamped with linden leaves (from my neighbor's yard) skeletonized by Japanese beetles.

After pressing the leaves in a dictionary I painted them with Lumiere Metallic Olive and stamped them on white fabric. After the stamped images were dry I put a light wash of color on the fabric using diluted Tsukineko all purpose inks.

Yellow Stuff

Earth laughs in flowers. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Get out and listen for the laughter today!

Construction Techniques

How is a pictorial quilt like In the Quiet constructed? Basically I used two techniques.

First, the main quilt is put together using the applipiecing technique I learned from Caryl Fallert at her Soaring Compliments workshop. She also offers a workshop on CD at:

http://www.bryerpatch.com/cgi-bin/Store/store.cgi?cart_id=4345959.9400.s0&product=HowTo&productid=sc&sales=0&lastmenu=


This involves drawing a full size reverse-image pattern on freezer paper, a detailed construction plan, starch, a hot iron and assembly with tiny zigzag stitching. My main quilt includes the walls, fireplace, bookcases, floor, rug and chair.

Second, many of the smaller details (picture, sconces, cat, flames, teapots, plant, book, etc) are fused with Wonder Under. Raw edges are finished with a small zigzag stitch.

Shading is worked with fabric paint and pens. Even the choice of thread enhances or detracts from the overall image.

A quilt with this much detail requires a similarly detailed construction plan. Usually that's a result of trial and error on previous quilts! It's always helpful to start small when trying a new style or technique. There's no substitute for just diving in and seeing how it goes.

See my post "In The Quiet" in July for a couple more images of this quilt.

Yellow Stuff

Life is like riding a bicycle: you don't fall off unless you stop pedaling. ---Claude Pepper

How's that for YELLOW? Saw this outside a shop in Geneva, IL.

Pennsylvania National Quilt Extravaganza

Many thanks to Lisa ONeill for her pics from PNQE. Check her blog at:

http://www.athreadfromtheedge.blogspot.com/

Winner

Another winner . . . Hybrid received Best Use of Color in the Innovative Category at Pennsylvania National Quilt Extravaganza. The show runs today through Sunday, 9/16-19. Check details at:

http://quiltfest.com/


Also, see my Hybrid post in August.

Winner

Quilt Expo in Madison, Wisconsin ran September 9-11. Although I was not able to attend the show, I entered two quilts. They just returned home with some good news.

Fandango received third place in the wall applique category.

Fragrant Memories received first place in the wall pictorial category.
What a great way to top off a lovely day here in Chicagoland. This calls for a little celebration. I see a McDonald's hot fudge sundae ahead. (yeah, cheap treat, but a tasty favorite)

Orchidaceous

Orchidaceous was made for a special exhibit at the Miami Orchid Show.


The shapes are fused with Wonder Under and edge finished with a small zigzag stitch. The exception is the orange wavy line. If you want a 1/2" wide finished strip, cut bias strips 2" wide, joining them with bias cut edges. Fold the full length strip wrong sides together and stitch just slightly wider than 1/2" from the folded edge. Trim close to the stitching line and iron with the stitched area down the middle of the strip. This will be hidden as it is the back side of the strip. The bias cut makes it flexible enough to bend into the desired shape. Pin at close intervals before stitching very close to the edge on each side.


To coordinate the quilt top and back, I often use up fabrics leftover from the quilt top. Each back is unique and more intriquing than a one fabric back. Of course, that's great, too, if you have that much yardage, which I rarely do.

Yellow Stuff

Flowers seem intended for the solace of ordinary humanity.
~John Ruskin


Enjoy them now. The season is winding down here in the midwest.

In Memory

Made in memory of my father-in-law, this small quilt is constructed with his ties.


Ties are often made of slippery fabric and cut on the bias. I cut the pieces on grain whenever possible and stabilized some that were too wiggly. For some tips on working with ties:

http://woofnanny.blogspot.com/2007/12/sewing-with-neckties.html

Yellow Stuff

When working on a quilt, I keep the threads for the project in one of my many fabric bowls.


These bowls are addicting to make. I've got them in various colors. I found you can also manipulate them into a shallow shape, more like a dish.


The following link gives written and visual instructions:

http://www.craftstylish.com/item/33825/how-to-sew-a-fabric-bowl

Hybrid

Created for a special exhibit at the Miami Orchid Show, this is my interpretation of a hybrid orchid.
To finish the fused applique edges a varied satin stitch width adds interest.


Several small orchids are quilted in the background. I drew the orchid on tracing paper and pinned it to the quilt as a template.


After quilting, I tear away the paper, then place the work under my magnifier floor lamp and use a good tweezers to pluck away any stray bits of paper. There are a lot of magnifier lamps on the market. I ordered a Mighty Bright Floor Stand Magnifier Lamp through Amazon.com.

Yellow Stuff

Today my husband and I enjoyed the annual Concours d'Elegance in Geneva IL where over 200 vintage and new cars of distinction are on display. Here's a sampling of the bits of yellow:





Our favorite was a 1926 Packard Roadster.

Heartburst

Machine pieced and hand quilted, my first competition quilt made its debut at World Quilt in 1999. David and Peter Mancuso, of Mancuso Show Management, host this and several other quilt competitions. From my experience with quilt shows, their contest rules and entry forms are the most streamlined and easy to follow. You can get show info and entry forms, plus view prior year winning entries at:

http://www.quiltfest.com/ The heart theme is repeated in the background quilting.

Yellow Stuff

Yellow and blue is always a winning combination.


I inherited these vintage Dutch boy and girl salt and pepper shakers from my husband's aunt Jean.

The first written reference to salt is found in the Book of Job, recorded about 2,250 BC . . . From ancient times to the present, the importance of salt to humans and animals has been recognized. Thousands of years ago, animals created paths to salt licks, and men followed seeking game and salt. Their trails became roads and beside the roads; settlements grew. These settlements became cities and nations . . . Salt has greatly influenced the political and economic history of the world.

--from http://www.mortonsalt.com

The history of the spice trade is, above all, the history of pepper, the ‘King of Spices’. Pepper has been moving westward from India for 4,000 years. It has been used in trading as an exchange medium like money and, at times, has been valued so highly that a single peppercorn dropped on the floor would be hunted like a lost pearl.

--from http://www.theepicentre.com

Into the Deep

One of two small quilts made for the PAQA Water Challenge. See the entire collection at:

http://www.artquilters.com/

The history of the anchor dates back millennia. The most ancient anchors were probably rocks and many rock anchors have been found dating from at least the Bronze Age . . . The ancient Greeks used baskets of stones, large sacks filled with sand, and wooden logs filled with lead . . . Such anchors held the vessel merely by their weight and by their friction along the bottom. Iron was afterwards introduced for the construction of anchors, and an improvement was made by forming them with teeth, or "flukes", to fasten themselves into the bottom.

--from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Anchor

Yellow Stuff

Part of my stash. One can never have too much fabric. Especially yellow.

Lady in Red

I'm a member of PAQA (Professional Art Quilt Alliance.) Occasionally we participate in a small quilt challenge. You can view several of our challenge exhibits online at:

http://www.artquilters.com/

Modeled after a hydrant next to the Lutheran church in town, Lady in Red was one of my submissions to the PAQA Water Challenge.

Here's some hydrant trivia by Curt Wohleber.

The ancestor of the fire hydrant is the even more humble fireplug, a term often still used. Fireplugs date back from at least the 1600s, when firefighters would drill holes in wooden street mains to provide water for bucket brigades. Afterward, they stopped each hole with a wooden plug and marked the location in case the plug was needed again. After fire destroyed three-quarters of London in 1666, the city installed new mains with predrilled holes and plugs that rose above ground level.

--from http://www.americanheritage.com/articles/magazine/it/2002/3/2002_3_10.shtml

Yellow Stuff

Feeding my favorite bird: the American Goldfinch.

A healthy male is brilliant lemon yellow, a color produced by carotenoid pigments in its diet.