Yellow Stuff

This rose grows in the gardens at the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, NC.


See what Annette Hendricks can do with velvet roses in her masterpiece, The Solace of Persephone. Here's a close up of part of the quilt.

The Solace of Persephone (detail) by Annette Hendricks

The Quilt Show posted three Smileboxes giving us a step-by-step peek into Annette's working process. Click on the link below to follow the development of The Solace of Persephone. Watch them in order: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3. You will be amazed.

http://www.thequiltshow.com/os/blog.php/blog_id/3190

Yellow Stuff

While a bit more gold than yellow, these products were worth their weight in gold to me (well, almost).


When our barely 9-year old kitchen faucet sprung an unfixable leak (shouldn't stuff last longer than that?) my husband and I went shopping for a new faucet. Found a nice one. Got to thinking, how is this perfectly polished new stainless steel addition going to look mounted on our 9-year old scratched up stainless steel sink? Not replacing the sink.

After googling some solutions that varied in price and effort, I opted for the mostly effort idea of Bar Keeper's Friend. Wow, was I impressed with the results. The majority of the scratches and stains are gone.

Directions: Take a damp sponge and lots of Bar Keeper's Friend and rub in the direction of the way the sink is polished. When one arm is about to fall off, change arms and rub some more. Repeat, repeat, repeat. Takes a lot of effort but well worth the end result. I topped it off with a final polish of Brasso.


The faucet directions started with this disclaimer: The hardest part of installing a new faucet is removing the old one. Believe it. My determined husband spent hours on this, folded up like a pretzel under the sink cupboard battling corroded, poorly designed fittings. In the end David and a drill won the day. So thanks, David, for giving up your Saturday afternoon in yet another home improvement project.

Yellow Stuff

The courage to imagine the otherwise is our greatest resource, adding color and suspense to all our life.--Daniel J. Boorstin

Speaking of color, using Prismacolor pencils lets you alter an existing fabric.

Especially helpful for shading like in the lamp base at the right of this image. Heat set with an iron.


Another option is Inktense pencils. Can be used wet or dry. Experiment first.

French Village

This fabric is called Renoir's Village. I still have a couple yards of it for another project. But really, I just like to look at it and imagine walking a narrow cobblestone street in France and soaking up the view.


The fabric is used in this little quilt, French Village, made using Karen Eckmeier's Accidental Landscapes technique based on layering and topstitching the landscape. I cut out houses from Renoir's Village to tuck into the landscape.

Check out all of Karen's creations on her website, The Quilted Lizard:

http://www.quilted-lizard.com/

Yellow Stuff

We all want progress. But progress means getting nearer to the place where you want to be. And if you have taken a wrong turning, then to go forward does not get you any nearer. If you are on the wrong road, progress means doing an about-turn and walking back to the right road; and in that case the man who turns back soonest is the most progressive man. . . There is nothing progressive about being pig headed and refusing to admit a mistake . . . Going back is the quickest way on.
--C. S. Lewis

Crystal Fire

The backgound uses two colorways of the same fabric--one yellow, one orange. To set off the border I added a couple funky yarns in electric blue to contrast strongly against the orange. Complementary color schemes are my default choice. I go for a lot of shock value. Do not be afraid of color. Color is your friend.


Some hot-fix crystals add sparkle (they don't show well in this close up.)All the applique is fused with Wonder Under. The purple twisty things are woven over/under the blue rings. Easy to do with fusing as you can just snip and tuck.

Yellow Stuff

It's soon time for a new yellow pencil to highlight passages in my favorite book, the Bible. I've always considered these verses in Job 38 to be some of the greatest prose in literature:

Then the Lord answered Job from the whirlwind . . . Where were you when I established the earth? What supports its foundations? Or who laid its cornerstone while the morning stars sang together? Have you ever in your life commanded the morning or assigned the dawn its place? Have you traveled to the sources of the sea or walked in the depths of the oceans? Where is the road to the home of light? Do you know where darkness lives? Or have you seen the storehouses of hail? Who cuts a channel for the flooding rain or clears the way for lightning? Does the rain have a father? Who gave birth to the frost of heaven? Can you fasten the chains of the Pleiades or loosen the belt of Orion? Who put wisdom in the heart or gave the mind understanding? Who has the wisdom to number the clouds? Or who can tilt the water jars of heaven?

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.