circles

I've always been a fan of circular patterns, and this time I've used dark and light colored circles together to create different shapes visually. 

Momo 

 I have drawn Momo's name from the hat so it is Momo who will choose the next theme which will be revealed at the end of April. We look forward to knowing what it will be .   Rosemary

Shapes

REVEAL DAY

 Hello Jinnie, Momo and Rosemary.  Well we have arrived at our reveal day tomorrow and time just seems to have flown.  Looking forward to seeing all our  pieces on Shapes and as Rosemary was the last one to choose please could you draw out of the hat either Momo or myself for the next piece for the end of April.  Looking forward to our next challenge.  

MYSTERY CARVING

We have lived in our house for over 30 years. In the early years we had an elderly gardener called Phillip. The house came with a built in braai (barbecue) area and one day we decided to sort out the wood storage area. In amongst the broken packets of fire wood we discovered this carving. 

Unfortunately this was discovered after Phillip had passed away so we are still no wiser to this day as to the origins of this carving. It does have an uncanny resemblance to Phillip and I treasure it. I made the mosaic stand that is mounted on the outside of the house where he sits looking out over the front garden.

This is my tree piece. An Andy Warhol influenced tribute to Phillip. Simple but happy with it.

Colmers Hill

Better late than never.  The thing was I knew straight away this is what I wanted to feature but just didn't have the time.  The pile of fabrics and design has cluttered my working surface for months!  But what a great way to start a new year by completing something!

Colmers Hill

Colmers Hill is an iconic landmark about 30 miles west from where I live.  It is clearly visible to all motorists driving along the coastal road.  It is open to the public with a permissive path up to the top. During the First World War, the woodman to the Colfox family, John Sprake, planted Caledonian Pine on the hill, and more recently, the family have added Monterey Pine which together gives the iconic silhouette so loved by photographers and walkers.

I decided to use the shibori dyed pieces of fabric I created many years ago in a workshop with Jan Myers Newbury, thinking along the lines of work by Elizabeth Barton where she used this type of tie-dyed fabric (her fabrics are so much more vibrant than mine but I am not about to add to my stash!).  

Elizabeth Barton

It is raw edge applique, fused to felt wadding and machine quilted.  There is minimum quilting as I thought the fabrics should speak for themselves.  The edge is satin stitched and the piece measures 20" x 15.5".  I am cautiously happy with it although I see the trees are slipping down the hill!

Maybe one day I'll make this image up - love the wild flowers!

Happy New Year everyone - may you all find time to be creative!  Hilary

 Autumn

   Last year I did an online course (Making connections. Mark Layer and stitch) with Cas Holmes and Fibre Arts Take Two.  Cas uses wallpaper paste on the fabric instead of a stabiliser when doing machine embroidery.  I used this technique at the end of the course to make a sample, which worked out really well, and which was the inspiration for this piece:-

  However, this time I thought that as I was doing the freemotion on the  background and wadding it would work,  but the free motion quilting was so dense that it distorted the background to the point that it would have been very difficult to quilt the rest into submission. So I had to cut out the tree, cobble together a new background from the scraps left, then appliqué the tree to it. At which point I discovered that I hadn't quite caught all the background under the applique and had to apply a little glue in one or two places. The quilting has taken longer than anticipated, as I decided to add seeding to give more texture to the background.  It's a little smaller than planned as a result, but despite all the problems, I'm pleased with it. The photo of the sample gives a truer idea of the colours. The weather has been very overcaste here, and not likely to  change in the next few days, so I've not been able to get a decent photo. Will I be able to change it later?

Shapes

Using any combination of shapes (any shape such as triangle ,rectangle ,hexagon or a created shape) construct a quilt of whatever size you wish.

Roots

 

Regarding the theme of the quilt, “Trees”, I used Van Gogh's painting “Tree Roots” as my inspiration for this quilt.

How to present Van Gogh's characteristic brushstrokes in a quilting way? I thought about it for a long time! I decided to try to use crayons(oil pastels)and fabrics for the work . It's like painting, coloring and pasting layer by layer, it's a fun way to make this quilt.

Momo 

 Teaser

    I am afraid that mine will not be ready in time. Earlier in the year I made a sample, a tiny portion of which is in the photo, and wanted to develop it further. The original worked, but for this quilt I made a few changes and it has been nothing but trouble. I had to cut part of it out, and cobble together the background from the remains plus the scraps that were left. I took it on holiday with me, intending to do the quilting, but found another major problem, which had to wait until I returned home to sort out. I am now quilting and hope to finish it maybe next week... unless it has any more surprises for me!

tree

This is my imaginary tree. It was fun to create and I enjoyed doing all the free motion stitching.

Rosemary
 

Weeping Willow

 In 2007 my UK family took me to visit Normandy in France.  We stayed in a lovely house near a small village (the name eludes me now) and at the side of their garden was a small river and Willow trees.  It was a magical time we spend there and brings back many wonderful memories.  I thought I would try and capture those memories in my piece.  It took quite a long time to put together but I really enjoyed the process.