CURRENT

I'm afraid my quilt  won't be ready until next week. It would have been on time if Father Christmas hadn't brought us Covid for Christmas. In the meantime, a happy New Year to everyone.

flower bloom current

 

I'm not really inspired by the theme this time, even though it's a bit more open-ended!

However, since I've been obsessed with macrame lately, I decided to make something with macrame as the theme!

This time, I used fabric to make a rope to weave a flower basket, and I left a space in the basket unsecured so that I could insert flowers made of fabric!

This is a work that allows the viewer to interact with it, and depending on where the flowers are placed, the work will have a different look!

   Momo 

AIR CURRENTS

 As torn and tatty these prayer flags so often appear I always find them colourful and quite joyful especially against the stark backgrounds.

My flags were stitched onto a cord and then stitched onto the background. They were too perfect so I needed to get them 'weather worn'. I frayed them and used dissolved water soluble fabric to manipulate and distress them.  Unfortunately my yellow fabric ran slightly. I have tried to fix it as best I can.  I can live with the result.

Piecing, applique, paint, quilting covers the techniques used. 

Electric current

 I chose an electric current  . Lightening bolts create an electric current as they hit the earth . I used 2 different fabrics for my "bolts" which gave it some interest ,and fully quilted the background. I edged  the bolts and did the binding in black in order to make them stand out against the white background.

WIND AND OCEAN CURRENTS

I had fun with the sea and wind quilting and the subject was a little challenging but I got there in the end.

I decided on a sailing boat as that did help with the subject.  Patricia.

Next theme

 Sorry for the late topic, my mailbox didn't give me a timely reminder!

I'm going to make this one a little easier for all, so I'm going to use "Roses" as the theme, and you can try your hand at making flowers in different ways!

    Momo 

NEXT PERSON

As we enter the silly season with many other things going on in our lives I thought I would draw the next name out the bag to give the person time to think of our next theme.

And the next person is........... 

                                               MOMO

Cosmo

 This work is inspired by the universe and is presented in an abstract way, so the name of the quilt is cosmo.

This time I also used macrame and quilting. I used fabric strips to make a rope and then knitted it to make a macrame flower. As to how to combine the macrame, I was a bit puzzled. I tested it many times, and then I did the boldest way - openwork inlay! I dug holes in my quilt and embedded the macrame flowers into them.

Momo

Fountain of Youth

 I am an Art Nouveau person, so my first reaction was 'Oh no, not another Art Deco piece'.  But I have to say, this was way more fun than I expected, and I'm really pleased with the end result.  I guess being able to include curves helped.

Fountain of Youth

I have struggled to get a decent photo.  White (and black) are notoriously difficult to capture perfectly.  It is a brighter piece.  The fabrics are all commercial cottons, including the gold strips.  This fabric was a challenge to work with because a hot iron turned the shine into matte.  So, all the ironing had to be covered with a Teflon sheet - tricky when you are trying to bend the strips around curves.  All fabrics fused.  Gold strips raw edge and edge stitched.  This was a second challenge - using metallic thread.  It measures 16" x 23".  Machine quilted.

Thanks, Patricia.

Hilary

Abstract Art Deco

 

Abstract Art Deco

   I wasn't sure what to do for this challenge until I found some of the fabric I had printed and that was left over from the New York Art Deco challenge. I decided to do something simple, especially as I got mixed up about the reveal date for this challenge, thinking that it was at the end of October, so I reused the shapes that I used for my deconstructivism quilt (Chetham's  Deconstructed 12 By the Dozen) and my Klee quilt ( Dotty about Klee 12 By the Dozen: DOTTY ABOUT KLEE) It looks like I have a series! Thank you for the reminder Hilary, as I have just managed to finish it on time by concentrating on nothing but my quilt for the last few days!

TWO HEADS ARE BETTER THAN ONE

 I can't really say what inspired me except as I started the design I thought to use a bit of surrealism in my piece hence the two heads.  I wanted to swirl fabrics around them and this piece evolved as I was drawing it up.  I had a lot of fun even though it entailed a lot of work.

WINGED SUN by BETH

 

Durban has quite a few beautiful Art Deco Buildings. I was inspired by one that has these huge birds on top. Summer on its way is the inspiration for the inclusion of the sun. I started with a quilted background and then added appliqued tulle and shiny gold fabric. 

LANDSCAPE - ABSTRACT ART DECO

My colour choice is not typical of Art Deco but these fabrics popped out when I was scrounging amongst my stash. I found the lines between Art Deco and Abstract Art Deco blurred and confusing. I first pieced my design using the simple lines and forms of Art Deco. Now to quilt. To make it more 'abstract' I then went with the simple geometric, formalized lines and shapes on top of the piece. 

Abstract Art Deco

This design wasadapted from a design seen on an elevator door in an Art Deco building in Chicago.I found that this was an enjoyable theme to work on . Rosemary

THE WITCH'S HEART by BETH

 

Made with sheer fabrics.  I am going to stick it on my window with double sided tape.

From Beth. 

Beth apologizes for the delay but she works with an apple device and is having the same issues that Rosemary initially had hence the reason the post is from me. We will be getting together after she returns from a break in the berg to hopefully solve the problem. 

The next theme is........

                      CURRENT /S

This can be used as a noun, or an adjective or maybe play around with the synonyms!

Do I know what or where I am going with this......no.  What is a challenge if it was not a challenge! 

Have fun. 

THE NEXT PERSON TO CHOOSE OUR NEXT CHALLENGE

Thank you Hilary for reminding me to choose the next person.

 The next person to choose for our next challenge is:

PHIL

Looking forward to our next challenge Phil!

Cocktail

 

I was attracted to the colours of cocktails when this topic was chosen, so I decided to use a colourful piece of hand dyed fabric  that was left over from when I made the quilt in 2019 for the Mary Pratt challenge. I had used a cold wax resist to make 'bubbles' on pieces of hand dyed lemon cotton and silk organza at the same time, which I then overdyed with gradations of orange and red. I thought I would keep my cocktail quilt simple, with the outlines of the cocktail glasses and  a hand stitched  background.

  My apologies for being so late with this, but despite starting early and spending at least an hour most days for the last two months doing the seed stitching, it still wasn't ready on time. I seriously underestimated the amount of background stitching that was needed, and it seemed to go on forever. Remind me not to do this again, although I have already said that more than once!

NEXT CHALLENGE

The next challenge is : 

ABSTRACT ART DECO

I know we had "Art Deco in New York City" as a subject during our Architect challenges but there are so many stunning ideas of paintings, colour and vibrancy I am sure we can produce something totally different and unique this time around.

Enjoy and we can look forward to seeing what we produce at the end of September.

NEXT PERSON IS

                                        PATRICIA

Beth has asked me to apologize for the delay. She is away at a Quilt Retreat at the moment. Phil

Our next challenge

This series is proving to be fun in that the theme is wide open for each person to choose.  So, Beth, would you please draw a name 'out of a hat' from the following names:  Jinnie, Phillida, Momo, Patricia, Hilary.

Please post that name on this blog soon so that they can announce the theme for pieces to be revealed on 30th September.

Hilary

High Ball

 Apologies for mine being very simple but it came to me early on and I shared it with Dianne, so I stuck with it.  I'm sure I'm not the only one who thought - feathers! - when they first read Beth's 'cocktails' theme.

Very cheeky.  There is a definition of what a highball cocktail is and how it is served, along with a list of familiar and not so familiar highballs, and a highball glass with cocktail and ice cubes, all quilted in the background.

Raw edge applique, free machine quilting, satin stitched edge.  18" x 12"

Thanks for a fun theme, Beth.

Hilary

RUSTY NAIL

 My original idea was squashed when I came across by accident all my stash of rust dyed fabric which cried out 'rusty nail' so here is my inspiration....... 

Pieced, applique and paint formed the composition of this piece.  For those that don't know the cocktail Rusty Nail (like I did not), there are a few stories as to how it got it's name e.g. the drink mix was stirred with a rusty nail / after the rusty nails holding the Drambuie boxes together / the golden tones of the finished drink. 

So happy that I have used up some of my fabric which is a mix between what Hilary and I had fun creating and what Alison had dyed and gifted me. 

HAPPY HOUR

 Instead of placing an orange or lemon slice on the side of the martini glass I decided to place a music CD on the edge as I wanted to give it a bit of a twist hence the music notes above.  So what more can we have but a Beach, Sunset and music!  I used angelina for the CD and found something for the glass - I can't say it is fabric but something I was given for my stash ages ago and so at last it has become useful and works well to depict the glass.

Cocktail

 

This is my cocktail work . Inspired by dirty martini, I used the dyed embroidery threads as the background to create the atmosphere of a bar, and the blurred fabric to present  the drink - dirty martini.

Cheers~~~         

                         Momo

Cocktails

I chose Tequila Sunrise as my cocktail hence the yellow background against which I placed the cocktail glass cherries and orange pieces . The glass is covered with netting in order to get a shine. I felt it needed to be outlined in order to show up more. Here it is:

Cocktail Teaser

    

I'm afraid my quilt is going to be a little late.  I've been working on it most days, but despite that, it's taking me longer than planned. At the same time I've been doing a course with Cas Holmes via Fibre Arts Take Two over the last two months, and I have been really enjoying it. It has enabled me to overcome my problems with freemachining: I will probably be freemachining everything in sight from now on! I gave up on using my newer machine, as I've never managed to get it to freemachine for me and in fact it had put me off. Instead I dragged out my old mechanical machine, which had been stuck in the attic for the last 16 years. I didn't think it would work after not having been used for so long, but with a good oiling it's working perfectly.

THE NEXT Challenge from BETH

My choice of theme is "Cocktails". Be inspired by the colours, the shape of the glasses and even their names. I look forward to seeing the results. 

Regards

Beth

Book Titles

Book Titles

I am having to do my comments in this unusual way as I cannot get the blog to accept my comments in the usual way. So here goes.

Jinnie. The Hidden life of trees by Peter Wohlleben

I thought that your muted choice of colours very effective in creating a mystical feel to this quilt certainly enhancing the "hidden life " aspect .

Hilary. Fifty(-ish) Shades of Grey by E.L .James. The greys were contrasted very well with the yellow background and your placement of the grey pieces excellent . I think you are amazing to start and finish a quilt so quickly. I would be in a complete state of anxiety with so little time ahead . It became a very interesting piece.

Beth. Tequila makes her clothes fall off by Cara North . I have never heard of this author  or book before but it sounds like good fun . You created some fun with it showing the unclothed back of your lady in the picture. Your background quilting seemed to emphasise her.

Momo. Fantasy Flowers by Keigo Higashino. This was a delicately created design so very suitable for the book title . It had a feeling of restfulness about it which I really enjoyed . Flowers are so good to interpret in a quilt and you did it really well.

Phil. The Last Beekeeper by Siya Turabi. Only you could have had the energy to create a book of quilts  for this theme. Very clever to be able to peel away the layers (pages) and have a different quilt exposed each time . Very apt for this theme.

Patricia. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. I loved this book when I read it and you have made it come to life . I love the painted vines of flowers which you created instead of just ordinary kite tails. It really makes the kite fly . What a super piece and you must have so enjoyed making it.

The hidden life of trees

  At first I was daunted by this challenge, until I remembered reading the book "The hidden life of trees" by Peter Wohlleben several years ago. I was fascinated to learn about the symbiosis between trees and mycorrhizal fungi, the trees receiving essentials nutrients from the soil and the fungi receiving sugars and fats from the trees that trees derive from photosynthesis. Most of my sketchbook work, printing and sampling I have done in the past couple of years has been to do with the trees I have observed in our neighbourhood. I thought this would be the chance to actually make something other than a sketch or sample! I printed the grey fabric with a piece of loosely and crazily interwoven natural fibre of some sort (no idea what it was as a friend gave me a scrap of it) that was perfect for the mycellium. I used silk organza for the tree roots, and a fabric that I printed and cut up for the forest floor. I used bondaweb, which didn't bond very well despite it not being that old, and I had trouble getting the forest floor to stay in place. When I had finally attached the tree trunks, I realised that I didn't like the arrangement of the branches of the tree on the right. As the bondaweb wasn't sticking very well, I thought that I could remove one of the branches, but of course that piece stuck perfectly!

Fifty(-ish) Shades of Grey by E L James

Sorry, Jinnie, that's just me being chaotic.  I actually landed on my title ages ago but all the other projects that I get myself involved in seem to crowd in and demand attention.  Like you, Beth, I decided to have a bit of fun - and no, I haven't read the book, but it was a bit of a cause celebre. 

One downside of leaving it the last minute is that I had to piece the yellow background.  The piece measures 16" square.  The wadding is acrylic felt.  The icons are raw edge fused and the quilting is machined with a variegated thread.  The edges are satin stitched.  All fabrics are commercial cottons.

I will have to go back to the library and show the ladies the finished piece.

Roll on the next theme!

Hilary

TEQUILA MAKES HER CLOTHES FALL OFF

 

Book title:Fantasy Flower

 I chose the title of the book: "Fantasy Flower" by Keigo Higashino.

This time I am going to try quilting + macrame again, a combination of both techniques. Therefore, the background is made of plain silk blocks to support the main character, the flowers. The shape of the flower is based on the spring flower, cherry blossom, and the macrame weaving method is used to weave four different degrees of flowering - bud, slightly open flower, blooming flower, and fading petal - in order to present a mood of flowering and flowering.

The most tiring part of doing this work is the knitting of the flowers, the 4 different knitting methods really made me think out of my mind!

What I am not so happy with is that the color of the flowers is different from what I imagined, maybe a lighter color would have a more fantasy feeling!

And the background may also need to add some knitting, so that the flowers will be more integrated! 

Overall, I've gained a lot from doing this quilt !

                                                             Momo 

THE LAST BEEKEEPER

 

I had just finished this book when the challenge was put up and I immediately knew what I was going to do.  Although the challenge was to use the cover as your inspiration I still wanted my piece to represent a book hence there are three layers to my work. The 'back page' is 3 layers and fully quilted. Whole cloth, applique, paint, crystals and stitching. I have corded the edge. The next layer is a cut out held together by a grey netting. The cut out is avalon, painted, appliqued and stitched. The final layer is painted lutradur and using a soldering iron and scissors I cut out the design. I would have preferred something more delicate but this was the most I could do to keep some of the structure. The left side is bound and the three layers are held together with a button. 

The top pic is the complete 'book'. The next pic is with the top 2 layers opened and you can see the back of the avalon cut out supported with the netting. The final pic has just the top layer of lutradur turned back.  The middle layer edge is also corded.  I have used the 'peebles' again which I used in my previous challenge and so have included a pic of them. 

I thoroughly enjoyed this challenge, so much so, I think this was a record for me finishing it with a full month still to go. 

THE KITE RUNNER

 The book title I chose was "The Kite Runner".  I liked the idea, but after starting it I would have to give it a bit of a twist, hence the flowers which I aimed to give the impression of floating out of the two sides.  As I had chosen "flowers" I then decided that instead of ribbons or string at the sides of the kite I would turn them into vines for fun.  Patricia

Book Titles

 My choice of book title was Lucinda Riley's " The Butterfly Room " and here is the finished piece which I really enjoyed making. Rosemary

 Before we all post our Book Title quilts onto the blog on the 31st March I thought I would pull a name out of the hat as to who would be the next person to choose a theme . Beth Barkus it is you ! So we shall all look forward to the postings and also to learn what our new theme will be . Rosemary

We have a new member!

 Welcome Beth.  Beth is a friend of Phil's and lives in Durban, South Africa.  I will let Beth introduce herself to you all, but here is a lovely picture of our newest member.

Incidentally, how are your Book titles progressing?  Mine is yet to be started, but I do have a title and 'a cunning plan' (apologies to Baldrick).

Bestest,

H xx

Blog theme : Book titles (design to relate only to the book title and not necessarily to content of the book )