Category: art quilt

Going in Circles

We left home to run a few errands and I grabbed some quilts.  The day wasn’t especially light filled, but I’ve learned that if I don’t have a camera and quilts, the perfect stage presents itself.  

We visited Seventh Street Salvage in their downtown location…and what did we see but a cart sitting in front of circles?  Well, well, well….I just happened to have a few circles in the car.

Even though I had written about 108, I wanted a photo of it in an outdoor setting.  I had grabbed it and a couple of other quilts with circles and thrown them in the car.  

After we did our shopping inside (the garlic/olive artisan bread is delicious, by the way), we got permission to snap some photos and brought out the quilts.

I love the stars in the circles, the repetition of them in mass (like quilt blocks that way), and I am descended from Wheelers, so there’s that, too.  The stars in the circles are impressive, as well.  I may need to find some quilts with stars to bring back to this spot.  And, make a quilt with stars inside circles???? oh, my, the ideas just won’t stop!

The lone magenta quilt is one I haven’t written about before, Going in Circles.  In 2018, our guild’s challenge was “2”.  We were challenged to make a quilt using only 2 fabrics.  As always, I explored several options, experimented with a couple, but decided to do something totally out of my normal “look”. 

I spliced thin strips of a multicolored batik in a modern sort of piecing layout with a Cherrywood solid fabric.  I drew intersecting circles all over, planning to quilt each defined area with a different motif.  But when I got the circles stitched, I liked the clean look of it, so decided just to add some pearls at the intersections.

To continue the clean modern look, I didn’t bind the quilt, instead faced it with more of the graphic batik.  The backing is a hand-dyed fabric in soft muted colors.  

This quilt hangs on a rack in my sewing room and I see it every day.  But writing about it makes me realize that I need to do more of this kind of piecing.  It was fun – and I love the graphic result!  

I’ve written about the quilt in the center, Dots and Vines, before, and linked to it recently.  But in case you missed it, its story is here.

And, the blue dots on brown is my previous post, 108.

Seventh Street Salvage has appeared before in photo shoots, too.  Here, and here.

A note about the photos. My signature appears on most of these photos, but it is a collaborative effort at our house. I have learned to take photos and do a bit of post processing. But sometimes Jim and I swap cameras depending on where we are standing and which lens we need….and sometimes we forget who took what. And now there’s the issue of a new camera whose photos won’t import on his older computer. But I don’t have some of the processing software he has …so on this shoot more than ever, we’ve passed digital images back and forth to make this wall and the quilts impressive! His masterful touch in the digital darkroom makes everything look good!

Painting on Fabric

As promised in the last post, I have outlined the processes I use to paint and write on fabric. 

In the many examples you’ve seen with blue overalls painted on a black and white photo, I’ve used various products and processes.  Depending on the size of the project, the fabrics being used, the paints and markers at hand (perhaps in a specific color I need), and the mood I’m in, the process changes.  Also, as time goes on, I learn of new products and incorporate them into my repertoire.

For the photos on art quilts:  once the image is printed on the fabric, I leave the fabric adhered to the freezer paper to act as a stabilizer.  In the photo above, I’m using Neocolor II  water soluble crayons and a paintbrush.  I make a puddle of the crayon on a corner of parchment paper, then apply the paint with a small brush.  I use a very small amount of water if I want the color to “stay within the lines”.  

In the case of the oceans on the map in the photo above, I used the same watercolors, but used more water so the color flowed.  Note:  this is on a fairly rough linen fabric with a loose weave – it behaves oh so differently from quilting cottons. As always, testing first is very important.

In Walker’s Pasture, I don’t even recall what paint product I used, but I’m including it to show why I sometimes paint.  My original intent here was to appliqué the windmill’s framework – but the scale was so small that I looked for another way.  So I used the freezer paper template I had created to mark its outline, then inked it in with something…

An example of painting on an otherwise traditional quilt is in the Christmas Garden quilt above.  I wanted my initials and date on the front, and the phrase Mistletoe and Holly, to be relatively small.  A result of painting gave a transparency to the letters, letting the details of the background fabric show through.  You don’t get that with appliqué.

The selection of markers for the Christmas quilt was quite complex.  I went to a local art supply store and bought one of every type of “fabric-safe” marker available in red.  I came home and tested each, recording the results in my sketchbook; before and after washing.  I ended up using a Prismacolor marker.  You can zoom in on the photos above to see my notes about each.

Since that experience, I’ve learned about Fabrico markers by Tsukineko and now have them in multiple colors.  Their fine tip is great for outlining the shape…the thicker one fills in nicely.  

To transfer words to fabric, I sometimes just write freehand.  I did that on A Tree Grows in Gondor – using a mixture of Sharpies and Pigma Micron Pens.  I wanted different weights and thicknesses, hoping to convey the idea that different hands wrote the quotes.

Lettering in a large format is not my forte…so when I want larger words or numerals, I print them first on paper, then trace them to the fabric using my lightbox.  I outline the figures with a fine paintbrush or marker, then fill them with a larger brush or tip.  Above is a photo of the Christmas quilt on the lightbox.  

When filling in such a design, I use sandpaper, freezer paper, or a silicon baking sheet as stabilizer. Above, you see that I used the margins of the photo on fabric to test the colors I was contemplating.

Though it isn’t necessary with all markers and paints, I usually set the color using a dry iron and pressing cloths after the paint has dried.  For one thing, I can’t remember which products instruct me to do that and which ones don’t.  Safe is better than sorry.

Note:  I have not yet written about the Christmas quilt or the journal quilt (the one with the Gulf and Atlantic painted).  

Some of these markers are available locally, others from online vendors.  I don’t know where I bought some of them; it’s been so long since I’ve been shopping, things have changed…Google is your friend to locate sources for these.

Printing on Fabric

One of my favorite types of story quilts is to print a vintage photo on fabric and enhance it with stitch and color. I’m frequently asked to describe the printing process I use.  Here it is – I use an inkjet printer, by the way.

Commercially prepared fabric is available for purchase and I’ve used several of them.  In the photo above, you can see that I wrote the names of some projects where I used each type.  That reminds me of how that product worked and if I want to use it again.  Some proved to be difficult to stitch though by hand, so I reserve those for machine stitching only.

Government Bird Going for a Ride is printed on silk.

If I plan to transfer a color photo and do all stitching by machine, I love to use the prepared silk fabric.  It produces clear images with brilliant colors, and quilts up beautifully.

When I am transferring a vintage photo like the one in Four Brothers, above, I like the vintage look of an old piece of cotton or linen, so I prepare my own fabric.

A good source of linen is a vintage tablecloth (stained and ragged is okay) or napkins.  This photo shows what a bargain such napkins can be.  For $5, I bought six linen napkins, each larger than an 8 ½” x 11” sheet of paper.  This is less expensive than the packages of prepared fabric.  

First, I press the fabric (here I used a piece of a linen bedsheet – gray, so you can see the paper against it), then cut a piece about 9’ x 12” ( a bit larger is okay).

There are many brands of freezer paper sheets available, I have used many and have no preference – this is just what I have on hand today.  I know I can cut my own sheets of freezer paper to 8 ½” x 11” from a roll; I find the precut sheets to be easier to handle.

I iron the freezer paper (shiny side down) to the fabric.

Using a ruler and rotary cutter, I trim the fabric exactly along the edge of the paper.  A sharp blade helps prevent ragged edges – I don’t want loose threads to get caught in my printer.

I load the fabric on the freezer paper “carrier” sheet into my printer, taking care to be sure that the fabric side will be receiving the ink.  I often print black and white images (even if the original photo is color) to give a vintage feel – then highlight some feature by painting it.

Here is a “man in overalls” fresh from the printer tray.

I sometimes put more than one photo on a page, depending on the desired finished size of my photo. 

I paint the selected portion of the photo while the fabric is still adhered to the freezer paper.  This adds stability and seems to help prevent bleeding. I use some of the surround space to test my paint or markers, as you see above.

I use the same process to print words on fabric. Yes, that’s printing on linen that’s been overdyed with indigo.

In my next post(s), I’ll discuss my painting and quilting processes for these art quilts.

The story of the quilt pictured at the top of the post, the man with the bicycle, is here.

Trees at Smithgall Woods

Earlier this week, we found ourselves roaming around some of the mountains in north Georgia.  We ended up having a picnic lunch beside a creek at Smithgall Woods State Park.  The parking area was bounded by these fabulous trees – some species of pine, I think – so I was glad I happened to have some quits in the car.

This tree quilt is one of several I made many years ago, adapting a pattern by Caryl Bryer Fallert.  The tree is appliquéd to a batik background fabric which still pleases me.  The quilting is minimal stippling with an invisible thread (the early part of my quilting life, remember?)  and I never gave it a name or attached a label.  I actually made a couple of these as gifts; this one is still hanging around.  I think seeing it perched on a fence under those trees is worth the years of storage.  It measures 40” square.

I had another quilt in the car; one I’ve written about before.  But it is a showy quilt and wanted to nestle in the branches of one of these trees.  So we tossed Remember Me up on a limb and snapped some photos.  Details of the story behind and construction of this quilt are in an earlier post here.

My loyal companion helping with placement and photography. Life is oh-so-wonderful with him!
We weren’t the only ones enjoying a bite of lunch in this bucolic setting.

First Date

Their first date was at a church gathering for an all-day-sing. 

They grew up in the same county, attended the same high school, but it was a long commute between their homes. Twelve miles represented a fortune in time and money – in the early 1930’s, times were tough.

So they wrote to each other.  And one heard about a sing that was going to be at High Hill Church, in a far corner of the county – some ten more miles from each of their homes.  But families took Sundays off and went to such gatherings.  They planned to meet up at the sing, and the courtship became official.

They married a couple of years after that sing and went on to live and prosper in that same county…the “til’ death” part lasted 52 years, all spent in Turner County.  Prosperity didn’t come quickly – there were hard times on the farm – but happiness and contentment flourished.  My sister and I benefited from two loving parents.

This art quilt I call First Date tells a story of their lives in Turner County and includes evidence of many memories.

I found a map of Turner County printed in the 1930’s in an antique store and transferred it to fabric.  The colors in it and in the photos of my parents from that era dictated the whole piece.  (And ya’ll know I lean toward browns….)

I made a legend for the map depicting the church where they had their first date with a heart shaped button.  Other beads and french knots show the location of their homes and church home.

I included do-dads from a milliner’s supplies (my mother was one of the last to give up the habit of wearing a hat to church), bits of tatting, lace, buttons.  

There are remnants of one of Daddy’s suits, a bit of lace from one of Mama’s dresses.

A fabric flower is made from barkcloth much like the living room drapes we had when I was a child.

I made this and mounted it on canvas several months ago.  I haven’t shared it before because I’m not quite happy with it on the canvas…I keep looking at it, wondering if it’s best that way.  I may add a frame or may remove it from the canvas and finish it more like a quilt.  But …here it is, as it is.

Update…since writing this post, I found a couple of relevant photos..

A photo of my parents shortly after their marriage in 1935.
A photo of High Hill Church made in the 1930’s shows how the church would have looked on the occasion of that first date. It also reveals how appropriate the name is.  In the flat terrain of Turner County (average elevation 407 feet), High Hill sits at a dizzying 420 feet above sea level.

Blue and Brown

I love blues and browns and I especially love them together!  

Mother Nature loves blues that go to brown, too.  Look at this hydragangea in different stages of its blooming life this summer.  The final brown bloom hanging on is just as beautiful to me as the most cobalt of blues!

I recently made a slow stitched study in blues and browns.  

It started when I made this notebook cover as a gift.  The colors were so rich and entrancing that I wanted to use the leftover bits in another project.

The linen background came from some yardage a friend brought to our quilt guild from her mother’s stash.  The mother was downsizing and moving – we benefited from the clean out!

The bits of blues and neutrals were from my collection of old and new bits of fabric and lace.

The hexagons led to a bee theme of sorts.

I experimented with various weights and colors of thread, added beads and buttons.

This format, the rolled up collage, is a favorite of mine.  I used a thin layer of batting under the brown linen while doing all the stiching.  For a backing to cover the messy seed stitching, I added a bit of an indigo overdyed linen sheet.  I attached this with a tiny seed stitch with a fine thread; going only through the layer of blue and the batting.

Cousins

Jane and Susie were not just cousins.  They were first cousins.  They were not just first cousins, they were double-first cousins.  

Their mothers were sisters, their daddies were brothers.  They were two years apart in age, and shared not only all their relatives, more than the average common DNA, but many experiences.  This early photo (about 1940) conveys the closeness they shared.

This photo was taken at the home of their paternal grandparents.  Many family photos were set on this porch, on these steps, actually.  Imagine a Sunday afternoon after church, adults visiting on the porch; maybe other cousins playing in the yard, neighbors dropping by.  These two almost sisters (later, they would have other siblings, but not yet), forging a lifelong bond.

I printed the photo on vintage linen, and added red French knots as buttons on Jane’s dress.  The bow in her hair is a found earring.  

Layering the photo on wool batting before densely quilting the background adds dimension to the girls. The oval “mat” is a vintage linen embroidered placemat layered on commercial quilting fabric. Beneath all this assembly is a layer of thin cotton batting. Shells (repurposed from an old necklace found in a thrift store) were attached using red seed beads to anchor them.  I hand quilted all the layers together using a seed stitch with tatting thread.  This thread is a new discovery for me (found in a bag of sewing supplies from an estate sale).  I’ve never tatted nor made lace, but the size 80 cotton thread created for these crafts is perfect for a lot of the hand stitching I do. 

Note to quilters:  that seed stitch leaves a messy backside, so when I use it, I don’t have the final backing on the quilt.  I attached another layer, the piece with red cross stitch on it, using the invisible baste stitch I learned from Jude Hill.  That’s really a seed stitch, too, with just a dot of thread showing on the top, the longer stitch on the “back” nestled in the batting, not coming through to the other side. 

That backing with red stitching is a section of an old tablecloth.  I found it on an antiquing plunder and was drawn to the cross stitch, of course.  The tablecloth has some stains and had a hole in it – making it less than desirable as a tablecloth.    But I rescued it and put it to work.  It’s very desirable as a component of art quilts!

The final quilt measures 16″ x 23″.