Rags N Quilts

While work on the “Queen” continues on during the day, at night I’m knitting.  Having been on a sock frenzy the last few months, I decided I wanted some shawls.  While the climate here is quite mild in the winter, sometimes,  I could use a light wrap in the evening.  I really don’t like the look of triangular shawls, but I do like the rectangular ones.  So I thought I’d try lace knitting.  I bought a feather and fan lace pattern and then ordered yarn.  Having never used lace yarn, I was unsure which to get, so I bought three to try. They are all from Knit Picks and really pretty.

This is “Shadow Tonal”…100% Merino wool. The color is ‘Gypsy’

This is “Shimmer”  a baby alpaca/silk blend and it is sooo soft! The color is ‘Bayou’

And the last one….I just fell in love with and had to start with it! It’s “Aloft”…a mohair/silk blend.  Much finer than the other two, and a little slippery on the needles, but just gorgeous. The color is ‘Cranberry’

Of course red is so hard for some reason for the camera to focus on…you can see the ‘fans’ in the pattern pretty easily, but the feather ridges really don’t show up.  But I love it…the pattern and the yarn!

Even when I’m tired at the end of the day after quilting for hours, I still look forward to sitting down to work with this yarn!  And this afternoon with all the thunderstorms around, I can’t quilt so I get extra knitting time

Slow but sure is the the name of this game. Every day I am working on the Queen.  Though I am a little further along than these photos depict, I thought I’d share this much.  More will come later. I still have tons to do, but I love seeing this quilt come alive with the stitching! Pretty much what you are seeing in the main motifs is the outlining…the details are yet to come.  All of the outlining is being done in black thread…Bottom Line to be specific.  It’s nice and thin, but still adds that finite line.

I am quilting the background in it’s entirety as I go.

And the Queen as the outlining begins… though this is not the true color…I think the overhead lights washed it out a bit

Never fear, the thread tails have since been tied,buried and clipped.

Work continues…more pictures later this week.

I had a productive weekend working on the “Queen”  The smaller of the two rock formations is complete

And I got a good start on the large one

a little more detail

And this is what my helper was doing while I worked…

Hope you had a good weekend too!

Quilting,quilting,quilting the day away…

Time for a break!

Yesterday she got loaded onto the frame

and the quilting began

This is what I’ll be doing for the next few weeks !

Yippee!  After finishing the painting with the dyes and acrylic paints, dry pigments and inks, I gathered my paintstiks, stencils and rubbing plates to add the final painted textures and details. I like doing this as the final step because it not only adds visual detail and texture, but also adds quilting guidelines that I don’t have to remove later !  An added plus is the shimmer from the iridescent paint… it makes the best bubbles!  The rest of the details will be added with the quilting.

So, now the whole quilt top has cured, been heat set, washed(to remove the chemical residue from heat setting the oil paint) and laid out to dry on the studio floor.

I also squared up the top and marked that, but did not cut it yet…I’ll trim it  along my marked lines after quilting.  She measures 92 1/8 ” x 94 6/8″  before quilting.  I’ll lose a few inches due the dense quilting,but she’ll still be quite large.

Now to the pictures…click to enlarge them. I know the angle is weird from taking the picture on the floor…

some of the detail from the rubbing plate on the rock formation

I used this plate

and in the water from this plate

and I made some”wave” stencils

and used them randomly in the background

and commercial circle stencils for bubbles

here

and here and all over

for texture in the sand this rubbing plate

and this piece of torn card stock and some shell stencils

Tomorrow, she gets loaded onto the frame and the real fun begins!

Like most people, there are colors I’m drawn to over and over. For me, it’s bright, clear colors and I have a particular fondness for the blues and greens.

I finished my color wheel challenge piece today, with some dubious “help”. No photos of the quilt until the reveal on the 15th, but here are some of the “help”

You want me to move??? No!

Are you hard of hearing? I said NOOOOOOOOOO!!!

I think I’ll take a nap right here…

Or maybe, chew on your favorite rulers…

or use your side clamps as a tightrope…

Or walk on the belly bar..

oh no…….I think I’m gonna fall!

What a klutz that boy is!

Come over here and lay down before you hurt yourself!

That’s better!

I really look forward to working on my Fiberactions challenge quilts. I look at these pieces not only as meeting the given challenge, but also as opportunities to just let go and work in a much more relaxed way.

That is probably the biggest challenge for me. So much of my work is for competition and that requires a very meticulous approach from creating the design, choosing the colors,methods of construction,quilting and everything in between. Technique is critical; I plan and mark every step. I am very slow and methodical in the execution from beginning to completion.

But in these challenges I am free!  This challenge is a color wheel challenge, and you all know I love color…and lots of it!  I’ll even give you a sneak peak…

and another…

Raw edge applique, and the quilting… no marking (except for the edge cutting line and the frame line), scribble quilting…no rulers or templates. High contrast thread. No plan other than the frame and the basic applique. All things I would never do on show quilt. Flying by the seat of my pants…not worrying about keeping lines straight or perfect backtracking.   But I’m having fun. And while I love doing competition quilts, this is a different kind of fun.

So be sure to check in on the 15th to see the end result, I’m headed back to the studio to play some more!

I’ve been hard at work back in the studio since the new year began, and boy does it feel great!  While I’ve got several projects in the works (as I usually do ), my main focus right now is finishing the “Queen”. Currently, I’m painting the highlights, shadows and textures in the sand and water…the last of the painting!  It’ll soon be ready to load on the frame for quilting.

Since I haven’t shared any progress on her in a while, here are a few more sea critters.

The next photos you see of this quilt will be snippets during the quilting process.  And then  I’ll share a photo when it’s completely finished…but don’t look for that one for a while …. as the quilting is going to take a good chunk of time.

As for Bouree and Chloe…well they’re doing what they do best

Have a great evening!