Morning Make November 2020

Well this one was way out of my comfort zone! Just the way it should be.

Partly meditative, full of exploration, a lot of learning, and some very cool results at times. November Morning Make was some playtime with block printing. Thanks to my neighbourhood friend Julie who inspires me with her detailed reduction prints. Baby steps for me, as my one and only experience with block printing was a 2 hour class years ago where I recall being bored and distracted like a child in history class..

So I set myself some boundaries but gave myself free reign to try many things. I started with 3” blocks of the pink lino cutting material available in any art store. My daughter happened to have a lino cutting tool (I think it was a birthday present). I bought Speedball fabric printing ink, which the tube says was also fine for paper. Each morning I would carve a block then stamp it on paper in a 4 patch and then on fabric in a different 4 patch. Different patterns for the different materials simply to have two ways to see how the pattern of the block interacted.

Sometimes I did patterns that linked within the 4 patch. These were more or less obvious depending on the block. Sometimes I did a graphic motif that stood on its own, like a single stamp, so that a repeat was interesting, but not the most exciting. Sometimes the ideas worked, sometimes they did not.

The blocks above are probably my favourites of the whole bunch.

There were quite a few times where I wanted to print a number more repeats, to see a larger interaction. Or maybe mix a few stamps together to see the intricacies of the patterns created. Thankfully, I have the blocks still so I can always do that!

For the fabric I chose a slubby linen I had in my stash. I really don’t know if it was a smart or a stupid choice. I think my application of the ink on the stamp was a bigger concern than the fabric I used. I struggled to get it coated without being too thick or thin. Without doing much research - I didn’t want to use my phone while I was in the middle of Morning make but would forget as soon as I left the studio - I’m thinking that it is something that comes with feel and probably varies with the products used.

A friend pointed out to me that many of the things I’ve been exploring this year have potential to be repeat fabric designs. While I can’t argue with that, let me be clear that it was not my intention. I have been a quilter for 22 years and playing with prints that whole time so it isn’t exactly shocking that it would come out that way. Who knows? Maybe I will explore that a bit more in the new year? For now, though, I am just really having fun playing.

Morning Make October 2020

On October 1st I had a grand plan that I was going to make this symbolic improv quilt. A stylized version of the date, counting up with an interruption of a different colour every time a kid in the house was affected by Covid in terms of learning or having isolation requirements of their own. On October 2 I scratched that plan and decided playing was a lot more fun than getting symbolic with a quilt. Especially now.

Especially now.

So each day I woke up and padded to the sewing room, with the sole purpose of making an improv doodle. This isn’t totally new to me, as long time readers will know, but my approach this time was definitely different. Instead of making a block each day AND THEN figuring out how they might all work together, I decided I would make, compose, and build the quilt as I went. Each day the block was sewn next to the previous day’s block. After 5 days I had a row. After 10 days I sewed the two rows together. And onward.

None of the rows are the same height, but I did get them all the same length - some with trimming and some with additions. The height of the row was determined by where I stopped sewing with the first block, then all were made the same.

Composing on the go like this is a definite challenge. I just didn’t want it to look like 31 distinct blocks or have a grid. I can look at the finished quilt top and see some things I would change. Oh well. But I did eventually get in the groove and could see lines I might extend or places where it would be fun to change directions. I repeated a few motifs and the whole thing has multiple techniques used again and again.

I do think it finishes with a fairly well balanced composition, so that makes me happy.

Watching the quilt grow was indeed a marker of time. It marked an improvement in my mental health as opposed to a marker of my stress, which would have happened if I stuck with my initial plan. That also makes me happy.

I’ve got a plan in mind for quilting already and found the perfect fabrics in my stash. I almost basted it last night too, more welcome distraction in very stressful times. Hopefully it will happen in the coming days because I am in the mood to quilt! Plus, I am not sewing for November Morning Make so I need to get at my machine!

Rocky Road to Kansas With a Vibrant, Modern Twist

When you don’t have enough fabric to make a quilt you make pillows.

When you have an idea that won’t get out of your head you make something.

Back in September, when I was painting traditional quilt blocks fo Morning Make I painted one particular block: Rocky Road to Kansas. It’s quite a cool design. Even Barbara Brackman doesn’t say much about the block’s particular history, but it does have a long one. The block is seen in quilts nearly 130 years old, in variations more like a crazy quilt or a string quilt. It is definitely a block that can read extremely modern too. Like most quilt blocks, it all depends on the fabric you use.

In my case - once the idea borrowed itself in my creative consciousness - I went with a collection of hand dyed fabrics and some charcoal linen. The hand dyes came from two sources. The vibrant colours were a gift from my husband and daughter 5 years ago. At the culmination of a epic road trip to Whitehorse they came across a quilt store and shockingly, went in for me. They came across some vibrant fabric that was dyed by a local. Well, that local, it seems, now lives in Fiji so I think these tropical colours make a lot of sense now! The rest of the fabric was a collection of precious scraps from Debbie Aruda. I met Debbie teaching at The Workroom. Using natural dyes she was manipulating fabric in gorgeous ways and she gifted me with some. The combination of luminescent and subtle colours works so well together, I think.

To make the quilt block I drafted a freezer paper template. That way I could get nice, crisp lines and, hopefully, matching points. It was also useful as I was working with a limited supply of fabric. Each block is actually a four patch. Together they make a 24” square.

I probably had enough fabric to make a total of 10 corners. Of course, I could have augmented the blocks with other stash fabric too. At one point I entertained doing a whole deconstructed thing. You know, one block with 4 corners, one with 3, one with 2, and then just 1. That would have got me a decent size quilt. it would have also got me a quilt top that likely would have sat for years before being finished. So, pillows it is.

My husband actually hates decorative pillows on the bed and I hate laying in bed for anything other than sleep and well, sex. But these pillows are on the bed and they look pretty good there too. I guess they will be purely for show and I am not complaining one bit!

In March I played with making marks with watercolour. That led to further watercolour explorations. That led to sewing these blocks. This project is a perfect example of creativity begets creativity.

Morning Make September 2020

Another month of painting. More focus this time.

With the kids returning to school I really, really needed something both a bit quicker than my doodles of last month but also still meditative. I decided to draw and paint a series of quilt blocks and turned them into cards.

My knowledge of traditional quilt blocks is not terribly deep so I pulled some classics off the book shelf for inspiration. I still used my quilting ruler, but wielding a pencil instead of a rotary cutter. My trusty watercolours and a black marker for outlining rounding out the supplies.

For the most part I limited myself to just a single block in the painting. Sometimes, however, you need a few repeats for good effect. With each block I played with colour in my paint choices, but not really anything fancy. I am no watercolour artist, but I am definitely improving. At the very least I am capturing what I want and that makes me happy.

Now I have a collection of 30 cards!

Which really means, now I have a collection of letters and notes to write. Would you like one? We could all use some happy mail these days.

The first 25 people to send me an email to cheryl@cherylarkison.com with a return mailing address and a short request will get a card. Please include a bit about yourself or your online presence so I can truly personalize these.