Euroa Quilt Update

Remember this one? I barely did. In the last year and a bit I think I’ve made 3 little blocks, just 3. I need 100 for the whole quilt, so that doesn’t exactly amount to much progress. Full transparency: I started this quilt in 2016. Frankly, I just wasn’t in the mood. I had other things to play with (shiny object syndrome).

Lately, however, I’ve been wanting to sit in the quiet. Maybe some music, maybe a show, but mostly just sitting still. The season for slow stitching returns. I pulled this out of the closet, hung up what I have finished, and got excited to stitch again. Sure, I’ve always been sewing, but the desire for this English Paper Piecing was gone. After those two hand work projects of 2023 I wanted more of that slow stitch time.

Turns out I only need 26 blocks to finish this. That means I am 3/4 of the way through. That isn’t that much, really. I’ve never timed how long it takes me from start to finish on one block, but I would venture that it is a few hours. That includes picking the fabric and prepping the pieces, basting, then stitching the block together. After that there is stitching block to block to block to block (I use 4 to make a larger, mega block). Then I have to assemble rows. Finally, add rows to each other. It’s all done by hand. I would guess I have at least 120 hours of stitching in front of me. Now, if I could sit down every day for hours a day, well, it wouldn’t take that long! But this, like most of my quilt making, is a side project to life.

Actually, this kind of slow stitching is life. No, I don’t mean that I am living for it. More that it is a big part of me and what makes me whole, calm, and living creatively. So yeah, it’s time to come back to this.

A Year of Stitched Self Portraits

A year of Morning Make.

Each day, before tea and clothes and the news and my phone, I make. In 2023 I spent all the time making and remaking myself. Mostly figuratively, but the process required a lot of self reflection. It can’t not when you spend a portion of your day staring at yourself, stitching and making. Truth be told, I’m kind of sick of myself at this point!

Clockwise from top left:

• Embroidered line drawing, based off a painting I did of myself based off a pic from the beach in San Diego last March.

• Skiing selfie done in Tina Tarr’s Stitched Mosaic technique.

• Raw Edge Applique on a crumb background - this one feels the most me in terms of a quilt.

• First one I did, based off of the headshot here on my blog using Melissa Averinos’ Making Faces in Fabric book and her process.

• Cubist applique. Saw a video about a cubist artist and felt inspired. Just freehand cut shapes and stitched.

• Based off a selfie I took on winter hike, this time I adapted Tina Tarr’s technique for improv piecing versus applique. Hand stitched the whole thing to quilt it.

• Another one using the Melissa Averinos’ technique, but playing with a black and white photo. Nailed the values, but boy do I look dead!

Here and there over the year I would draw and paint too. Nothing to share there, just experimenting and exploring. Always self portraits.

It was a great exercise in self reflection. Not only did I fall in love with the dimple I never really noticed before, but I learned to look at myself without criticism. Not necessarily with love, but without criticism.

All of this was a personal exploration. I did nothing in the way of classes or lessons. Where it was someone else’s technique for the quilts I used a book or online class. What I did not do is actually learn how to draw or look at people. I also had a number of ideas for different kind of quilt techniques for portraits. That’s why I am continuing this portrait exploration this year as well. There is a still so much to do!

Only now, I feel somewhat strong enough to at least sketch some other people. Let’s see where 2024 takes me.

Radha - An Exploration in Scale in Quilt Design

Radha

80” X 80”

Just 16 large blocks. They literally took me an hour to sew. And then hours contemplating their layout, but that is beside the point. When you want to play with scale, going big is the easiest way to do it!

To make this quilt I took roughly 2 meters of a black on black fabric and 2 meters of a white on white. I split it all into even squares. Depending on the width of your fabric that ends up about 21” on each side. (A meter is about 40” so I used a bit more than that to get them to be squares.) After making pairs of black and white I sliced through each pair on the curve, freehand. This improv curve technique is a comfort and a classic to me. After sewing each set back together I was left with 16 blocks.

Then they sat. And sat. I thought I was going to use them for one thing, then another. Then, this spring, I was hunting my stash for ideas. Our oldest nephew was getting married and of course I was going to make him a quilt! In conference with my mother in law and niece it was determined that black would be a favourite colour in a quilt. Not my norm, but I could do it. Then I remembered these blocks!

Once uncovered, pressed, and measured it was clear they weren’t all the same size. rather than trim everything down to a smaller size I decided to add some strips to make those few blocks bigger. And what better option than neon solids? I added them randomly based off of what I had available.

Then I spent hours over days trying to come up with a layout that worked. You can see some of the ideas here. In the end I went with something that felt more black. Perception is everything, right?

Continuing with the neon theme I quilted the whole thing with a bright peach thread. A few episodes of Revisionist History while on the long arm rental at My Sewing Room and it was finished. Then the mad scramble to get binding on before I left on our big summer trip. The wedding was the first weekend we were away.

Normally, I don’t get too fussed about finishing wedding presents on time. Maybe I should? That’s another story though. But I was feeling a bit guilty that my daughter and I were missing the wedding so I really wanted to have the gift available on time.

The backing is a combination of Tula Pink neons and that great green whose name I cannot remember. The Tula was perfect not only because the colour but both my nephew and his bride are big animal lovers. Now it has the black side and the bright side.

If you’ve been at a trunk show with me over the years you’ve heard me tell the story of how my first quilt was made after I found out my future sister in law was pregnant. It gave me permission to try quilting. My first quilt ever was made for this same nephew. Well, when I was binding the quilt I realized I still had 1 scrap from that very first quilt! It fit perfectly on the binding. I adore this full circle moment in both family and quilting.

Wish for Peace

Searching for peace. The world is scary and depressing and dark these days. I won't lie, it's getting to me a bit. So in a search for a dopamine hit a few weeks back I looked for a quilt to finish. I had this gorgeous block - pattern by Tamara Kate Designs - that was perfect. On theme plus a 21" square so a quick finish. It's not going to solve any of the world's problems or bring us all peace, but one ray of sunshine means I can face it a bit better and with a more loving heart.

I’d actually made the block nearly 2 years ago, shortly after the war in Ukraine started. The paper pieced pattern is fantastic. To quilt it I used a scrap of my usual cotton batting and stitched a tight grid (1/4”) on the diagonal with a random pale yellow thread I found in the sewing room. It’s probably a Presencia, if I had to guess. To bind the mini I used a purple, to complement and be a bit of a pop.