Novice Thread Painting/ July 12 x 12 Challenge

My July 2007 12 x 12 Challenge piece has been hanging behind my sewing machine for several months because it needed free motion thread painting to complete it. I made a trip to Colorado Springs to order a free motion foot for my Bernette and since it arrived I've been too petrified to try using it. I tend to subscribe to the old adage, "If you can't do it well, don't do it!" which isn't a help when what I need is "If you can't do it well, do it poorly until you learn to do it well."

I finally got up the nerve to install the foot on the machine and started experimenting. Naturally, my first efforts were pitiful. But, I began to get a hint of the idea of what I was supposed to be doing. When I took up the 10 minutes a day in March Challenge I needed to change back to my regular foot so I took a deep breath and started thread painting the July quilt.

This quilt is called "What I Did on My Summer Vacation" and was inspired by my trip to the hospital, which lead to having an echo cardiogram, the week after I came home from my high altitude July 4th camping trip to my beloved Snowblind Camp Ground in the Gunnison National Forest. The doctors decided that my problem was the result of the stress of high altitude followed by 100 degree weather at home.

Seeing my own heart beating, with the valves opening and closing, and then the brilliant colors of the doppler effect flashing on and off, impressed me so much that I realized that I had to use that image in one of my quilts. I wan't able to get a copy of my own echo cardiogram but I copied one from the internet and printed it onto fabric, which I cut into a hexagon shape and fused onto one of my photos of Snowblind which was also printed onto a prepared cotton fabric sheet. Since my printer will only print up to 8 x 12 inches I had to do some creative patchwork to make the image fill the 12 x 12 inch quilt.

I then printed the same photo of the campground onto a silk organza prepared sheet and fused it, with Misty Sheer along the edges, over the cotton fabric photo, so that the center was not attached. The organza was then slit into wedges to open, with the points fused down, to show the echo cardiogram as if it were breaking through the scenery. The front and back were sandwiched with cotton batting and finished envelope fashion and top stitched around the edge.

The Aspen trunks were outlined with pale gray thread on the sun side and dark gray thread on the shadowed sides for added definition. To give the effect of the quaking Aspen leaves twinkling in the sun I thread painted them with tight circular squiggles ("technical quilt language") of iridescent Sulky thread. A bright green thread was used to paint the spiky clumps of grass in the foreground.

I am still struggling with balancing out the stitching speed with the hands moving the fabric in a controlled fashion. I also havn't figured out how to begin and end the stitches so I don't have ugly bunches of thread on the back side. But, I'm glad I did it because I can see what it can add to a quilt's effect, and I will certainly be continuing to experiment. I really do need to find a class where I can actually watch how it should be done. When I started stitching I was scared that I would ruin the quilt but I think that it did come out fairly well for Kindergarten.

I wasn't able to get a photo that showed the stitching well, although I took photos with and without flash, etc. The organza refracts the light in a strange way and looks fuzzy. You can get a better view by clicking to enlarge the photos.

Debra, this quilt is the result of the photo quilt of a seagull on Coreopsis flowers at ocean cliffs that we saw and discussed at the Denver show. It took me long enough to try it, but I'll definitely be doing more of this type of quilt. "Sitting Pretty" by Barbara Merrick McKie.

I'm glad I finished this yesterday because today (more cold, light snow) I am feeling yucky with a cold, runny nose and coughing, so I have reclined, wrapped in a down throw. Too bad I didn't have any bon bons to nibble.

Nov. 12 x 12 Grandfather's Stash

For over a year I've been taking photographs of color and texture in nature with the idea of printing them on fabric to use in quilts. I have done photo transfers in quilts where the photo is an image of someone or something, but in this case I simply wanted them to be used as color and texture, not figurative. For my November 12 x 12 Challenge quilt I decided to use autumn colors and textures in a small hexagon quilt similar to vintage Australian quilts I've seen photos of and admired. Native Americans used the name Grandfather for the Creator, so I named this quilt "Grandfather's Stash".

The photos were printed onto prepared June Taylor fabric sheets, cut into small hexagons and fused onto the background fabric with Steam a Seam 2. The quilt was sandwiched with backing fabric and cotton batting in pillowcase style. A zig zag stitch around the hexagons with invisible thread was done as the machine quilting. I then printed the label and a fragment of a favorite e.e cummings poem on June Talor Quick Fuse and fused them on the back along with some leftover hexagons from the quilt.

This exercise has really sensitized me to the amazing color and texture around me and I am seeing my world in a much richer way. I'm beginning to plan a series of larger seasonal quilts, using my nature photos as the fabric color and pattern, for the coming year. These will probably be sewn rather than fused, because the combo of printed photos on fabric and the fusible material make the fabric so stiff and difficult to handle and stitch.

The 12 x 12 Challenge quilts can be seen at the Quilt Studio blog.

June 12x12 June is Bustin Out All Over

Done!!!! After all these months of struggling with this one, I finally figured out how to finish it, and here it is. I loved the photos and the concept but the methodology just took forever to jell, until I realized that "less is more." I simplified what I was trying to do and it looks much better and provides the effect I wanted.

Every June 1 I go around singing the old song "June is Bustin' Out All Over" and so naturally that was my theme for this June 12 x 12. I was so lucky last spring to get the photo of these two beautiful paint horses running through lower Beaver Canyon. The horse photo and prairie wildflower and June sky vignettes were printed onto prepared cotton sheets and fused onto the already machine quilted background quilt with Steam a Seam 2. The quilting design is hexagons separated with small triangles that I discovered from one of the hexagon quilt patterns in my collection. The hexagon photos are superimposed onto this pattern.

I am so thankful to Joe for getting my machine fixed today so that I was able to finish the invisible thread zig zag stitching around the fused hexagons.

I fused the hexagon shaped labels and some of the lyrics to the song onto the back of the quilt. Please click on the photo to enlarge it so you can read the fun lyrics. (For some reason the font I used for the label had quotation marks that look almost like the letter i.) I printed the label onto a June Taylor Quick Fuse sheet, and had a problem with the first one jamming up my printer because of the heavy,very shiny, fusible material on the back of the cotton. I then got a brain storm to choose the "glossy brochure" option for the type of paper used, and the second one ran right through and printed fine. I chose this heavy duty fusible because I wouldn't be able to stitch around them without messing up the front of the quilt.

Yesterday was one of those "perfect Fall days" and I celebrated it by visiting the Royal Gorge Quilt Council's Fall Show and the Canon City campus of Pueblo Community College. Stay tuned to Toad Haven Annex for some interesting and lovely quilts I was able to photograph. I'm missing Houston but at least I enjoyed seeing the local quilts.

My Mother Warned Me

that there would be days like this. The Boston Red Sox won the World Series, completely humiliating the Rockies by sweeping them out of their own stadium. The Red Sox couldn't do anything wrong and the Rockies couldn't do anything right. Where in the world did they find all of those unbelievable players? Oh well, it reminds me of the first time the Broncos played in the Super Bowl; we Coloradoans are used to waiting for next year. And think how many years it took Boston to win a World Series. I just hope the Rockies don't have to wait that long.

The game was not doing a good job of keeping my attention, so I went to my bedroom and started doing the top stitching on my June 12 x 12, and a couple of inches from the end there was a strange noise from the machine and the needle holding element fell off. It is rather difficult to sew on a quilt without a needle. Joe, my fantastic tool man of a husband, checked it out and thinks he can fix it tomorrow, when he is able to find the appropriate equipment out in his shop. I hope he can because the really nice Canon City man that I bought the machine from, passed away a couple of years later and, as far as I know, no one else sells and/or repairs Berninas or Bernettes locally. How could I survive living without my machine if it has to go stay in Colorado Springs for a while? Now I understand why serious quiltmakers have multiple machines.

Fran's Oct. 12 x 12 Scattering Abroad

Surprise! I finally completed another 12 x 12. For October I wanted to do a sweep of colored autumn leaves cut from a scrumptious fat quarter I found at the local LQS a few months ago. While examining the fabric I found a swag of leaves that I could cut out as a unit and use like Brodery Perse. I wanted to show the brilliant colors of the leaves and sky in autumn along with the smoky, misty atmospheric effects so I chose to use sheer fabrics over the background.





To continue my hexagon theme I decided to copy the pattern in a vintage pieced top I have where the hexagons are created with triangles. [Aren't those old fabrics great! I have a love affair with kitchen ware, quilts and fabrics from the Depression Era.] I printed some of my autumn landscape photos onto prepared silk organza sheets from which I cut the four bottom triangles. To complete the hexagon without covering the blue sky looking background fabric I cut one of the top triangles from organza and one from blue tulle. After fusing the organza and tulle triangles to the background with misty fuse I zigzagged around them with invisible thread.


The backing was attached to the top pillowcase style over cotton batting. The leaves on each end of the swag were backed with the same fabric as the backing since they extended beyond the edge of the 12 x 12 square and the swag was fused on with Seam a Steam 2 and then zigzagged with metallic gold thread.









The label with a quotation by Edwin Way Teale was printed onto a fusible photo transfer sheet and fused onto the back with two more of the cut out leaves from the same piece of fabric as the swag. (Just click on the photo to be able to read the label.)

Cutting out all of the little teeth around those leaves and then zig zagging around them was tedious work that left my neck and shoulders in knots. I did buy a new pair of small scissors that are a lot sharper than the old pair. These spring operated scissors are so much easier to use with my arthritic hands.

I'm now ready to assemble the June piece that has been staring at me from the back of the sewing table for several months and I have started doing a paper mock up of my idea for the November piece. I have virtual concepts for the July and August pieces but still have no idea what to do for September. Where has this year gone?!!

The 12 x 12 Challenge pieces can be viewed on the Quilt Studio blog.

Broderie Perse

As you can see I got that messy cutting table cleaned off and now have a new project going there; my October 12 x12. After working on this I have a greater appreciation of what Debra S. has been doing with the flower Broderie Perse that she has been doing on her Tree of Life. Debra, what kind of scissors did you use? These leaves have a lot of little zig zags that have to trimmed in and out, and I have discovered that I need a pair of sharper, more precise scissors to do this with.


I worked on cutting this out while watching the Rockies win their third playoff game against the Arizona Diamondbacks. Luckily it was not a close, bite your fingernails, kind of game. The cats all wanted to get on my lap, which is whatever happens when I sit in my recliner, trying to do anything. Precision scissor work does not mix with cats in laps. Tigger is currently sleeping on the dest next to my left arm, ocassionally he moves and hits the keys on my adding machine. It's especially funny when he lays on the feed key and the tape keeps rolling out. As long as he doesn't try to walk on the computer keyboard I can deal with it.

While it poured rain during the game in Denver, we only got cool, cloudy, windy weather here. We could sure appreciate some rain, there was a forest fire at Rye in the Wet Mountains near us because after all the spring and summer moisture there hasn't been any rain for over a month; along with the hot weather and heavy winds everything dries out and we are in high fire alert again.

May 12 x 12 Sweet Springtime Blossoms

Finally, it is done! I've struggled with this concept for 2 months and was afraid at times that it would be stillborn. Using paper mockups of the flower photos I tried many arrangements and was never happy until I thought of thinking outside the square.

I tried a new technique by fusing layers of blue and green nylon net between white silk organza with Misty Fuse to give it a luminous translucency. It was backed with a blue and green batik fabric and the top is a scan of the batik printed onto a sheet of silk ExtravOrganza. I printed photos of my spring flowers onto sheets of prepared silk satin (also new to me); these flower hexagons were then fused onto the ExtravOrganza and and machine satin stitched appliqued with a turquoise Mettlach cotton thread. I didn't do any stitching on the edges of the triangles between the hexagons because, once again, I didn't want the whole piece to have any effect of framing; in this series I like the effect of pieces cut out of my world.

I fused a poem printed on a silk Extravorganza hexagon and a butterfly cut from fabric to the back for the label.

[Please click the photos to see the details and read the poem.]

I began by printing the photos on regular printer paper and deciding the size to make the hexagons. It took a while to decide which flowers worked together and which didn't. Then I rearranged the hexagons in several patterns and decided on this pattern with the star in the center, but somehow I just wasn't satisfied. After the first month I even wondered if it was time to leave the hexagons and go to some entirely different pattern, but I still had several hexagon patterns that I really wanted to try and didn't want to give it up.

It just didn't really grab me until I realized if I trimmed off the corners of the square I'd get a large base hexagon which reinforced the design and gave it the Pow! I was looking for. This is the paper mockup that made up my mind. I wan't about to cut up the real thing until I could see it and be sure. My paper mockups sure save a lot of good fabric.

Up until I finished the satin stitching around the small hexagons, I still planned to quilt in the lines on the center star, but at that point, I realized I liked the simplicity of the open space in the center better.

Too see other 12 x 12 x 12 Challenge pieces check out the Quilt Studio blog.

Now can I finish the June piece before the end of June and get back on schedule?

April 12 x 12 Venus_The Evening Star

For April I chose to do a hexagon star pattern on the theme of The Evening Star. I had found a star block done in very old pink fabric in the box with the Basket blocks from the Vansyoc family. No one knows who made these blocks, but it must have been one of the old grandmothers because of the fabrics and hand stitching. My MIL Elsie did lots of crocheting and a little quilting but her quilts were machine sewn. Since I was fascinated with the block I wanted to make one and then I noticed how bright Venus was in the evening sky so decided this would be my April piece.

The hardest part of doing this quilt was photographing it for posting. Because of all silver metallic fabrics and threads, the light glared on it and made it look terrible. First I tried my usual method of lighting it from above plus the flash; one big shiny blur. Then I tried with no flash and only the overhead light; this was better but still quite unattractive. I was so disappointed and didn't want to post it, but this morning it finally came to me to try photographing it with only the natural daylight from the window; voila!... a presentable picture. I agree with Dee that quilters need to learn how to photograph their pieces. I never realized how much becoming a quiltmaker would drag me into photography.

For the background of the star I cut up an old nightgown that has been too small for years, but, I kept it because the fabric was so pretty. I felt it had the delicate blues and pinks of a Spring evening sky. For the star points I used a metallic silver tissue fabric from the stash of silkies sent to me by Debra S. I surfed the internet for a photo of Venus for the center hexagon, and

was delighted to find a nearly infrared space photo taken by the NASA Galileo project. I liked the color and it meant something personal to me because when working at the Jet Propulsion Lab (JPL) in Pasadena, my aerospace engineer son worked on this project and Joe and I were able to see it in the lab's clean room before it was sent into space. I downloaded the photo and printed it onto a June Taylor cotton fabric sheet and onto a silk organza to overlay the cotton for depth and more brilliant color, as well as the silky sheen.

I backed the slippery background fabric with muslin, so I could work with it, and fused the star pieces on with Steam a Seam 2; then zigzagged the edges with metallic silver thread.

I printed a photo of a painting by St. Edward Burne-Jones (1833-1898), called "Evening Star", and the first lines of a poem by Scottish poet Thomas Campbell (1777-1841) called "To the Evening Star", onto silk satin and fused and zigzagged them to the same nightgown fabric for the back. (Please click on photos to see details and read poem) I sandwiched the front and back with a piece of cotton batting, sewed them envelope style, and machine quilted it with more metallic silver thread. (Thanks to Debra S. and Sande I am going to learn the technique of doing better envelope edges for my next piece.) I specifically chose not to do any binding or other type of framing for these "Nature Through the Seasons" monthly pieces, because I want them to represent squares cut directly out of nature.

This was my first experience of working with slippery fabrics; it's a whole different ballgame from sewing quilting cotton. I had never done a sheer overlay of a photo over a cotton printed photo before and was pleased with the result. The cotton just didn't have the color or sheen necessary to go with the shiny metallic looks of the other fabrics, which I felt added to the theme.

What I've learned from this project, so far this year, is that I need to continue to work on learning new skills as well as improving my basic sewing and quilting skills, so that I can display my works without embarrassment, and be taken seriously by judges in quilt shows. I need to look, carefully, at more quilts, in person, and take advantage of LQS classes in the area. I also need to get out of the house and watch how other quilters work, probably in some of the groups sponsored by the Royal Gorge Quilt Guild.

You can see all the April 12 x 12 pieces posted at Quilt Studio.

How Do You Spend a Snowy Friday the 13th?

I think my cat, Chow Yun Phat (ChoCho) had the right idea! He and Ditto like to get under my bed when it's cold because there is a heat register that warms the area quite nicely. They also hide under my bed when strangers are in the house. This morning while I was getting dressed in the bathroom, I saw that his front half was under the bed and his tail and back legs were sticking out from the bedskirt. I was tempted to crawl back under the covers, myself, but I didn't. Instead, I pressed the fabrics that I showed earlier in the week, as well as some more gold washed batiks that I purchased for my WOTB blocks at the Creative Cloth Closet, in Canon City, this week; and did some more work on my April 12 x 12. I didn't finish it time for my posting date, yesterday, so I will post it on the 16th.

ChoCho likes to watch birds as much as I do; he would just love to be in Rian's house watching that dumb Robin smack himself against the window.

Here's why it was a good day to press fabrics. Actually, the storm shifted a bit and we only got the north edge of it, so didn't get the major blizzard that had been forecasted. Since the snow is quite wet and melting off the streets as soon as it falls, it should help bring on the spring flowers when the sun comes out again.

March 12 x 12 Promises of Spring

Finally! March really got away from me, but here is my quilt, just before the April ones are due.

This piece continues my series interpretating Nature through the Seasons, using hexagons and my photos printed on prepared fabric sheets. I got the idea for this one from a poem that is quoted on the label. I visualized the dead looking landscape above the ground with all kinds of promised goodies hiding underground in the form of seeds and roots. In a Grandmother's Flower Garden pattern, I used my flower photos in the hexagons surrounding some of the natural flora and fauna that would arrive with the warmer weather and longer days.

The landscape is from Centennial Park in Canon City, with wild American Widgeon ducks feeding on whatever they are finding in the winter dead grass that wasn't covered by snow. The smaller hexagon is a photo of seed pods from Toad Haven, and that is our very own Thaddeus Toad in the center of one of the flowers. The Easter Egg represents rebirth and resurrection, which is another promise of Spring. The bees will pollinate the flowers of summer to provide the next crop of seeds of promise. [The photos of the bees on their comb and the Easter Egg are the only ones that were not taken by me.]

The pieces are fused with Steam a Seam 2 and machine zigzag stitched with Sulky irridescent thread to represent the miracle that is going on under the winter to spring landscape. I finished the piece envelope style because I didn't want a more definite frame.

This piece is also posted on the Quilt Studio blog along with the other March pieces.

Please feel free to click on the photos to see them larger.

Granny Fran Joins the 21st Century

This is my first post on high speed internet, thanks to Bresnan Cable. I almost hugged the installer when he arrived to drill a hole in my wall. It wastes so much time sitting here waiting to upload and download photos and other graphics when on a dial up connection. I couldn't watch videos on websites or blogs, well, I could watch them, but they jerked and froze and didn't make sense. I couldn't watch the online quilt shows!!! I kept hinting to Joe that I really would like high speed and he kept telling me that we could get along ok without all that huge amount of extra expense.






Then I read that Alex Anderson and Ricky Timms were starting a new online quilting program, together. Alex and Ricky!!! Together!!! Although Ricky is a fairly close neighbor to me in one of my favorite small towns in Colorado, La Veta, at the foot of the Spanish Peaks, I have never met the man, but I love him and his quilts and his music and his videos. And Alex has been one of my quilting gurus on HGTV's "Simply Quilts." It broke my heart when HGTV dropped her show. Let's face it, there are a lot of shows on there that I don't like vociferously, and most of my old favorites are gone. Where are the gardens in House and Garden TV? Where are Alex and that neat crafts lady, I can't think of her name (a senior moment). Now, if I can figure out how to find them, I can watch and learn from them from the comfort of my own computer chair.


Soon I will only have to move from computer chair to sewing machine chair and back. Sorry, Debra, I didn't mean it, I will continue to do my steps each day!



To test the speed of uploading on high speed, I will now upload some photos from my walk yesterday (see, Debra) and a teaser of my March 12 x 12.
















Oh my gosh, it works! it works! it works. Onward and upward to new and better quiltmaking by internet.

Postscript to Dancing Rabbit Moon

I meant to include a photo of the actual Arkansas River bluffs that the brown hexagons symbolize. I had originally thought about using a photo of the bluffs in the quilt, but it didn't fit the picture in my minds eye. Then when I got the photos of the cattle feeding in the snowy field, I knew it was the perfect one. Those bluffs sneaked their way in, anyway.

We are so fortunate to be surrounded by such gorgeous scenery. I gives me lots of inspiration for my quilts.

February 12 x 12 Dancing Rabbit Moon

Sometimes when the full moon rises over our prairies it appears huge and brilliant. I love to sit at the top of a hill and just watch it. I’ve often told Joe that I don’t see a Man in the Moon. I see a Dancing Rabbit, and not just any rabbit, it is a rabbit from a Mimbres bowl. For a couple of years I’ve known that I would make a quilt of my Dancing Rabbit Moon.

I began researching Mimbres bowls, specifically bowls with rabbits on them. In my research I was amazed to find that to the ancient Mimbres culture, the rabbit was a symbol for the moon. Did they also see the dancing rabbit in the moon?

When thinking about what to do for the February 12 x 12 Challenge piece, I decided this would be the perfect opportunity to try my rabbit moon. I wanted to continue my theme of the use of hexagons since I really like quilts that use traditional patterns in non-traditional ways. I first thought that I would sew a base fabric of hexagons and fuse the moon/bowl and a landscape photo over them.

This piece then morphed several times until it created itself. I ended up using a dark blue mottled fabric, the same fabric that was the background for January’s Snow Flakes, and began arranging various photos and hexagons until it ended up looking right. I then fused the hexagons, the photo of a Mimbres rabbit bowl printed on cotton, and another photo, printed on cotton, of cattle feeding in a snowy field in evening light, to the base fabric. I wasn’t sure why I had to place the brown hexagons at the bottom until I realized that they symbolized the rocky bluffs just across the river as well as grounding the piece.

This front and a backing of the same dark blue mottled fabric with a light weight cotton batting were assembled envelope style. I used no stiffener, this time, other than the stiffness of the photo printed cotton fabric and fusing material, because I wanted to see the puffy effect of the quilting around the hexagons. I read in “Quilting Arts” that EQ makes a highly recommended photo fabric that is less stiff than others, I plan to try it.

I then machine quilted around the hexagons with matching thread. For the moon and halo, as well as the edge of the hills, I used a metallic silver thread.

I learned, in making this piece, that it is essential to get a clear plastic foot for the walking foot, so I can see exactly where the needle is; stitching blind is frustrating and neck tension making. It also reinforced my goal of learning to do free motion quilting and thread painting this year, in order to create certain effects I’d like to use to embellish my quilts. I’m concerned that my machine is just not as responsive as I need to do the work I want to. I’m using a basic mechanical Bernette 75, distributed by Bernina. I crave a computerized stitch regulator. Maybe I’ll win the lottery, except that is hard to do if you don’t buy a ticket.

I’m already mulling an idea for the March quilt; and I’ve decided that since this Challenge is to help us build up a portfolio of a body of work, I am going to create a fabric portfolio to keep these pieces in.

WIP Wednesday and the Weather

Welcome to southeastern Colorado. After over a month of snow and frigid cold, we've had four days of warm Chinook winds here in Florence, it got up to 72 degrees today. There is still snow on the north side of the house but even a little of the mud has started to dry out.


We took Mom and Dad to dinner in La Junta on Sunday to celebrate their 69th wedding anniversary. From Florence to Pueblo the prairie was bare except for little drifts on the northeast side of the plants; we saw a herd of pronghorn antelopes who were enjoying being able to eat without having to dig through snow. As we drove beyond Pueblo there was more and more snow remaining on the prairie and fields. In Fowler there were glaciers with double tire track canyons in the streets and huge stacks of snow and ice along the highway where it had been snowplowed. East of Fowler there was still at least a foot of snow on the fields, even though there hasn't been more snow there for over a week. Here are photos of the snow piles at the sides of the parking lot at the restaurant where we ate. It was much colder in Fowler and La Junta than here due to the longtime snow cover. We saw several buildings that had collapsed due to the weight of the snow.

There are still many of the side roads that are not passable and over 100,000 cattle have perished on the ranches due to lack of food and water and pneumonia from breathing snow and stress. It is calving season and the cows are having a hard time giving birth and many calves cannot be saved. In addition to all of the hay drops from planes and helicopters, today it was reported that Coors Brewery is donating huge amounts of cattle feed, that is a by product of the making of beer. Michael Martin Murphy, a country singer who lives in Colorado, is giving a benefit concert at the State Fair Grounds in Pueblo for the ranchers who have lost so much.

The cold, snow and mud have been a good reason to stay inside and sew. I'm still working on the strippy ninepatch for the 40 Quilts Project. I have over half of the ninepatches done, and
the strips to make the rest are cut. I have two more of the stripe elements to put together of the three required. I wish I could work as fast as some of the other quilters but my speedy days are long gone.



Here is a teaser of my February 12 x 12 quilt. I didn't want to ruin the surprise of what it is so I took a photo of some of the scraps that remained on my cutting table. You have to wait until the 12th for the reveal.

When I went to the Creative Cloth Closet in Canon City today to pick up some Steam n Seam 2 I was able to take a photo of the Eleanor Burns "Egg Money Quilt" that is on display there. It is a wonderful Depression Era looking quilt that made me think of some of the quilts that Granny made, only a more modern take. She told Denise that she was sorry she couldn't come with it, but that she doesn't travel well in cartons any more.

Urban Red Fox

I am so jealous; my daughter, Michal Ann, sent me these photos of a fox in her backyard. She says she thinks the fox is dreaming of eating Roo Kitty. The amazing thing is that Mike lives in Wheatridge, which is a western suburb of Denver. She is just a few blocks from a city park with natural landscape and a lake so occasionally she has a fox come for a visit. I've never had a fox in my yard, what am I doing wrong? I'm sure it's just as well, but I do love to see the foxes.




It is snowing again; we've had major snows now for 7 weeks in a row, usually at the end of the week. This one came in sooner than I expected and had the "fun" of driving home from shopping in it this afternoon. There wasn't much on the side streets yet but it was very slippery.

I didn't manage to check in on WIP Wednesday, but I'm still working on the Strippy Ninepatch for the 40 Quilts Service Project; I'm nearly done with a new WOTB block, just have to do the machine applique stitching. I've also started doing a few mock ups for my February 12 x 12 quilt. The first photo I tried just wasn't pleasing me but as I was driving to Canon City I spotted a herd of black cattle grazing on a snowy pasture in front of some hills, so I turned the car around, found a place to park and got some photos which I think are just what I needed. Even the "just before the snowstorm" light was right for the evening scheme that I have in mind.

Blogger wouldn't post my photos last night, so here I am again. It was forecast to stay under 10 degrees F. today, but it is sunny with a temp of 39 degrees. I prefer this type of forecasting error so much better than the unexpected blizzards.

Snowflake Variations 12 x12 Challenge January

I chose "Nature Through the Seasons" as my theme for the 12 x 12 Challenge and here is my January quilt, Snowflake Variations. I wanted to see how to integrate my nature photographs in various ways in these quilts. In the 2006 Journal Quilt's Challenge, there were several hexagon quilt pieces that I used from Granny's stash, that I inherited. In the past few years I've gotten more and more enthralled with hexagon quilts, especially vintage quilts, and more especially, Australian vintage quilts.

Since we have had weekend blizzards for 4 weekends here in Colorado, the nature most available to me was snow. I took numerous snow photos of both large scenes and small details and chose some to include in this piece. I also researched snowflakes and ice crystals and downloaded photos of actual ice crystals as well as snowflake artifacts from the Metropolitan Museum's Christmas catalog. These were printed on cotton fabric and several silk fabrics. Of the silk organza, crepe de chine, and chiffon that I used, I preferred the organza because of it's stiffness and transparency.

My snow photos were all in white and neutral colors and I needed a focal point with a bit of color. I downloaded a photo of a cardinal in the snow from the Colorado Birder's Rare Sightings site that was taken by C. Kalmes of Wheatridge. I've never seen a cardinal around here and my winter birds tend to be greys and browns so, unfortunately, I couldn't get a picture of one.

The basic hexagons of fabric and snow photos printed on fabric were fused to the background fabric of a mottled dark blue batik. I originally planned to use a white on white that looked like mini snowflakes but the hexagons needed more contrast to show up well. The white ended up as the backing. I chose fabrics in cold blues to give the effect of a wintry day. The silk transparent snowflakes were fabric glued on (just tiny touches) until they could be sewn on.

I then found a great irridescent Sulky thread to quilt around the edges of the hexagons and embellish the snowflakes. I used machine satin stitches or various widths, zigzags, and similar stitches for the embellishment. I considered doing some beading but decided I didn't need it to get the effect I wanted on this piece. I wish I had used thick batting instead of making it stiff like a postcard because I would like to see puffiness of the hexagons from the quilting.

The two small photo hexagons are favorites of mine. One is of the hexagon design in the snow on the chickenwire cover over my pond that I had on hand. The other was a track of my husband's work shoes on the front porch that I discovered after I had started making this piece. It was one of those "Voila!" moments when I spotted it and ran for my camera. Joe couldn't figure out what on earth I was doing. Why would a woman get so excited over a footprint. More of my "Society for the Easily Amused."

You can see what other quilters are doing for this Challenge over at the Quilt Studio blog.

WIP Wednesday

A new year and here's what I'm working on.

The 12x12x12x12 Challenge will have it's first viewing starting January 12. I've chosen the theme "Nature Through the Seasons" and for January the gift nature has given me is snowflakes. I have a thing for hexagon shapes in quilts and snowflakes are basically hexagons. I'm fusing the main hexagons and then overlaying snowflake photos printed on silk organza and other techniques that seem appropriate to show off the snowflake designs. My designs seldom proceed from a completed design to the finished project in a straight line. I put down some ideas and then start moving them around and do a lot of looking and then the lightbulb goes on and I get additional ideas to try and move around. The actual construction of my pieces is not what takes up the most time. The time is spent in trying and looking and cogitating until it seems to fit together into a finished piece. This is amazing to me because I always thought I was one of those people who is uncomfortable making a trip without a detailed itinerary to follow on the map. Creation requires me to become a pathfinder rather than a path follower.

I'm also working on the most recent WOTB blocks, sisters Mary and Martha of the New Testament. These are more straighforward follow the pattern with the only decision on what colors to use and what piecing or applique technique to use, but these are satisfying in their own way.

My other WIP is a healthier me with a little help from my friends at the Quilter's Lounge of the Quilt Studio webring (see button on sidebar). We are improving our health and fitness through heathy eating habits, more exercise, and drinking more water. It is not easy to drink 4 quarts of water a day but I will do what I must to get the results I want. Maybe I'll be working so hard on the drinking that I won't have time to eat too much.

I had hoped to take part in Sharon B's Take a Stitch Tuesdays this
year but my arthritic hands are particularly painful, weak and stiff right now so have to delay my stitching for a while.

Hope you are all enjoying your Works in Progress.