CMYK - Another New Start

Another new quilt start. Smitten from the beginning.

The Mighty Lucky Quilting Club is running again this year. I am signed up for a turn hosting in a couple of months. This year, however, the Club will work together to make an entire quilt. That is, each month plays well with each other and the whole thing is designed to give you a quilt top at the end. Still regular challenges, but with a different end goal in site.

The other difference this year is that the entire thing is about colour. So by the end of it you will have a quilt top and a deeper understanding of colour for all your other work. All without making a colour wheel.

Carolyn Friedlander kicked things off in January with a discussion about creating a palette and translating colour inspiration to picking fabric. I love her piece. I will admit, however, to be to being stuck on what I wanted to do. I've never been stuck for picking a palette before! New territory for me. But I didn't stress. Instead I pet some fabric and lived my life, confident that something would tickle my fancy eventually.

Enter the latest issue of Uppercase Mag. Devoted to CMYK - Cyan, magenta, and yellow. The base colours for printing. As with all issues of the magazines I had to wipe up my drool as I read it. Then I knew exactly what I was going to do for this Mighty Lucky Quilting Club challenge.

So I picked a stack of fabric in these intense, pure colours. Not stressing too much about whether this pink perfectly matched that one. If I went that detailed then there would be no point to piecing! You need a bit of contrast in value, texture, and hue to have some depth to your piecing.

Then I printed off the templates for Carolyn's rows. She is a paper piecing master and it was good to work with her pattern. Pretty straightforward as paper piecing goes. Do not be intimidated at all! It takes me about 45 minutes to make 1 block. A beginner would probably take about an hour or more. Don't stress, just do it one seam, one block at a time.

While I usually like to use freezer paper when I paper piece, this time I used Carol Doak's Foundation Paper for my templates. They print right on my home printer, are thin, and are easy to remove. The print at home factor was big as I didn't want to draw out the templates for 12 blocks. (No affiliation, I just like it.) 

In a week I have 6 blocks done. I will plug away on these then start the next round - it's improv!

To sign up to receive the bimonthly challenges, and the templates for this particular block, check out Mighty Lucky Quilting Club. It is $50 for the annual subscription. 

Ripples - A New Start

I literally woke up with this idea.

We all know I am a morning person, rising to practice Morning Make. I've never confessed that it is still tough to actually get out of bed. So I take a few minutes to breathe and think about what I want to do as soon as my feet hit the ground. If I haven't prepped my Morning Make the night before I decide what mood I am in that day in those few minutes. Sewing? Sketching? Writing?

A few weekends ago I had the pleasure of participating in The Creative Jam in Prince Rupert, British Columbia. Wonderful people, the ocean, and a phenomenal creative spirit. It was an incredible weekend. Total bonus for me was my morning walks. The rain and fog held off each morning and the ocean was still. I could watch herons, seals, boats, and the fog roll in like a quilt being pulled over a sleeping baby. 

The morning after I got home I woke up with this idea. Ripples. 

Two rough 4'' squares layered right sides up. One light blue, one dark blue, value being relative. A wavy cut with my good scissors. Sewing opposites together. Square up to 3.5'' x 4''. Repeat and repeat, a meditation. 

How could I not, with this as inspiration?

Tangential Creativity

One of the best things about having a large list of Quilts Under Construction (currently at over 40, but I don't know the exact number today) is that I can never get bored. The other great thing a large list affords me is the luxury to not give a hoot about having a large list. So if I want to start something new, I will. And I will never feel bad about that.

Being open to inspiration and being inspired to act is one of the key reasons I quilt in the first place. Because I want to create, I want to explore, I want to try new things.  And with quilting I can do that with pretty much zero danger (compared to rock climbing), a minimal investment (compared to travel), and no ick factor (compared to trying some exotic foods). The idea hits and I can run with it and the only thing it impacts is my stash.

Last week a friend in the neighbourhood popped by with a beautiful gift. A stack of unique kimono fabrics direct from Japan. Her mom, a new quilter, was visiting from Japan. One morning they came over and I shared my quilts with her. We talked (via my friend, translating) inspiration, style, fabric, what we knew of the Japanese quilting community, and making in general. It was lovely visit and I wished her well as she left, a bag of scraps and some books for her to carry home for new inspiration. I told her to come by next time she visited Canada and we would stitch together. The beautiful fabric was a wonderful, and unnecessary gift. It sits on a shelf, where I pet it and smile - for now.

But, the colours reminded of another stack of gifted fabric. This one given to me by my mother in law over 5 years ago after a trip to India. I had to look up just how long ago she gave me these treats! Thank goodness for having a 10 year old blog.

Back in 2012 I think I made 4 blocks with the fabric. Just to play. Those blocks, and the fabric, sat in a bin with all my other materials for teaching Circles. A few times a year I dusted them off and never thought of them again. That kimono fabric got me thinking, my hands got twitchy, and a few days later I already have 50 quarter circle blocks sewn. With enough background fabric for maybe 40 more.

Oh no, I have too many quilts on the go I couldn't possibly start another one. I'll have to park this idea and put the fabric back in the bin until I finish a few more quilts.

Yeah, that's not me! I relish the opportunity to see the tangent and take off down the path it opens up. I realize that not everyone is this way or that even reading about this might cause twitching in someone else. I knew that if I didn't embrace the idea right then and there I might never go back. And if it wasn't for that kimono fabric I might never have thought about these Indian cottons. If, if, if. I don't want to live a life of what ifs, I want to see what happens when I respond with Okay, now what? 

Who knows how long the kimono fabric will sit and be admired, or tucked away for safekeeping. I could try something next week or it might be 5 more years. I'm good either way.  One day it will make it to the Quilts Under Construction list. 

Quilts from The Creative Retreats

Wow. Wow. Wow.

At The Creative Retreats on my Australia trip I had 12 students in each retreat create some amazing work. They were tasked to bring an idea - an image, a feeling, fabric, a concept - along with fabric and a willingness to play. We started with a warm-up exercise to unleash our sense of play and went from there. Over tea and a wonderful cookie called an Afghan Biscuit we developed our ideas and then people got sewing. And sew they did!

Original ideas ranged from an homage to a family property and the Outback, a trip to French cathedrals or Eastern Europe, simply wanting to play with colours or a specific block, showcasing a fabric. We could have started all with the same idea and ended up with 24 different quilts! The creativity and the creating was intense and fun.

As a teacher I worked with each student on technique, layout, and design difficulties. I spent as much time with each student as possible to make sure they were happy with their own project. It was all about each student creating the quilt they wanted to make. That being said, I was totally impressed by how they each pushed themselves to try something new - whether that was improv, a colour grouping out of their comfort zone, or a different technique. Their spirit was infectious! 

Because we were in a space where we could sew all night if we wanted to, our every need was met by our awesome host, Jules, and the laughter was contagious it was just as much fun to hang out as it was to sew. There may have been some champagne (and margaritas and scotch) along the way. To be able to spend three uninterrupted days (until I made them go for walks to see birds or the beach) was a luxurious treat for many and we made the most of it.

Thank you to the wonderful women in both groups. You came from Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne, Ballarat, and Perth. You brought your humour, creativity, and sense of both adventure and play. I returned home totally inspired and excited. 

If you would like more details about any of the quilts or their makers leave a comment and I will try to point you in the right direction or answer any questions.