Eyes of the World Shelf

I never imagined being alive in 2025.  It had always seemed so far off.  I am retired and have time to do many things I have always wanted to do.  I have recently discovered I have been making art quilts longer than I thought.  I love making quilts and trying new techniques.  I do not always have someone in mind when I make a quilt, so I keep it for me.  I have a lot of quilts. After a while it gets tricky to store them.  I decided I needed to make a special place to store my quilts.  The lion's share of my quilts have been stacked atop my arch top trunk, which was given me when my grandmother passed away in 1973.  Quilts are "heavy", even the doll quilts get heavy when you stack 70 in a pile.  

This cannot continue.  I took my friend, D-F, out to lunch in November and then we stopped in at "Eyes of the World" just to have a snoop around.  It turns out they were having a sale, due to the owners retiring.  All the fixtures were marked to be sold.  They had marvelous fixtures, and one massive metal curly one really called out to me, but I knew there was no way I could ever get it home.  So, I looked around and found a very sturdy, solid wood unit with adjustable shelves that was painted lavender and purple for the awesome price of $24.  I paid for it, and they put my name on it.  They said they would call me to come in get it just after the new year; after they closed.

Last Friday they called and said I could come on Monday.  We took the truck down and they loaded it in.  I was worried about how the two of us were going to get it into the house, down the hall, and into the master bedroom.  We did just fine with a very minimum of cursing.  I wiped the whole shelf down and replaced the shelves.  I spend the rest of the day, folding most of my large and medium quilts to fit on the 22" wide and 14" deep shelves.  I love how it smells like Eyes of the World.  

It has 36 quilts in it, with zero space for any kitty wanting to repose on any of them.  I could not find my bandana quilt, so after the shelf was full, I went on a hunt and located it in our walk-in closet with two other gianormous quilts.  I decided they could stay there.  I started a list of locations in our house and noting how many quilts were in each location (i.e., hall closet, my office, quilt studio wall, under the cutting table, etc.)  I have 184 quilts in my house, not counting a handful of small art quilts that I know are mixed in with the doll quilts.  The quilt that was on my design wall in my November 25 post (below), is with my long-arm quilter.  When I get it back, it will be #185 in my house.  That is a good name for a quilt.

My grandmother's trunk is a lot less stressed now.  It has 25 small quilts on it, mostly wall hangings/art quilts, and of course, the wonderful rug my quilting niece made for me.

Year-end Wrap Up

It has been such a busy year.  First, Lois and I started an art quilt group last January and they wanted me to teach them how to make Kawandi style quilts and confetti quilts, so that was the Feb and March meetings.  Then BBQ gave our group a place in their quilt show (last Sept), so we each made a 12" X 12" Artist Statement.  I have so much to say about me as an artist, I was thinking that 12" X 12" is awfully small.  But in June, I looked back at some techniques I used in the past and found a cut-layer project I completed back in January of 2011.  I decided I would use the cut-layer technique in my Artist Statement.  Then I scaled back my preliminary design and made it much simpler.  I used bright colors and lots of layered lettering, which Lois informed me is actually reverse applique.  My new process is a lot tighter and less messy than the one I did in 2011 (although I think it looks amazing).  I did another immediately after the Artist Statement, then used the cut-layers in several different projects.  I feel like I have found something that is really me.  I made thirteen Kawandi style quilts in 2024.  #1 I did in 2023. What I discovered after completing number 12, is I am finally beginning to understand it and have a better feeling about the process and what I am creating.  Out of the 14, the last four are my favorites.  

On my Dec 8 post, I have a photo of my #13 Kawandi.  I was conflicted about turning it into a tote bag.  I have gone and done it!  This photo is showing the front of the bag.  The photo below shows the other side.  I hand stitched two pockets inside, so I have a little bit of organization.  One I measured specifically to hold at least one rotary cutter.

I attended an art quilting class in May (Amy Carter) and learned about dying fabric and painting on fabric and using Misty Fuse.  I have been experimenting with this.  Two of my art quilts, I made specifically for 'calls for quilts' by Studio Art Quilt Associates (SAQA).  One I donated to their annual fund raiser auction.  The other I made specifically for the "Story Quilts" trunk show sponsored by the Idaho/Montana SAQA Region, which I belong to.  Doing these two art quilts helped me stretch and learn!  This year I made a total of 29 art quilts, 12 doll quilts, three regular quilts, and one regular quilt top that is at my long-arm quilters at this moment in time.  I designed and built an American Girl Dolls and Friends Quilt show that was showcased in the Home Arts Dept. of the Western Idaho Fair, last August.  I became well acquainted with banjo fabric and learned how to make fork pleats.  I made a wood table and chair for the quilt show and all the pipe and drape.  I spent wonderful hours, in my backyard, painting safety cones with spray paint and Dawn dish soap, while having my camera on a tripod, standing by, so I could take photos of hummingbirds visiting my multitude of Zinnias, none of which got entered in The Fair.  I also made two tote bags, two zippy bags, one Unruly Award, and a set of clothes for Raggedy Ann and Andy.  This was also, my third year of working in the Home Arts Dept. at the Fair for most of August.  Getting ready for the opening day is exhausting, so is taking it all down and getting it ready for pick-up by the entrants.  I have made some good friends working there.  I also continue to meet my cousin most Fridays to play violin with her.  It has been a busy, creative, and fun year!

Tiny Quilt

Last night, after we watched Scrooged, I found some odd pieces of fabric in my design book.  I decided to rearrange them and make a tiny quilt with them.  After I pieced them together, they were kind of wonky, so I left that as part of the quilt character.  I added a little embroidery at the bottom, then I found a piece of backing fabric that matched one of the half-square triangles.  In my embroidery/handwork bag, I found my tiny spool of tatting/crochet thread, that I bought at the Re-use Market.  I decided to use it to hand quilt the tiny quilt.  It went pretty quick, then I went to bed.  This morning, I turned the edges of the backing toward the front to create my cheaty binding, which I whip-stitched into place. Ta-da!  All finished in a few hours.  

It measures 4.5" X 5.5".  This could be something I could do to get rid of all the little half-square triangle blocks I have.  Isn't it wonderful?  Have a merry Christmas!

Christmas Kawandi!

Greetings and Merry Christmas!  I have been on a Kawandi journey this year.  I have made 13 Kawandi style art quilts this year.  I do think each one is better than the last.  I know it is a style I will return to often, as it is so fun and improvisational.  This Christmas one took me three days to construct.  The quickness of this method is one of the main attractions, but also just how different you can make each one.

I feel like I have received good feedback on this one and I have it hanging in our entry hall.  It has so much bright fabric and fun in it, and that is what I truly appreciate in any quilt.  Of course, the word "Joy" was made using my ghetto reverse applique technique.  30" X 38"

Using Fabrics with Selvedge Edges

In my recent tidying-up activity, I found a nice piece of woven fabric that is sturdy.  I have made another art quilt with it as the backing.  I used flannel for the batting and 505 fabric spray-adhesive to hold the batting in place on the backing fabric.  My whole intent in making this piece, was to fold it in half and make a nice tote bag out of it.  I like it so much, on my wall, that I am not sure the tote bag will ever be a thing.  The whole reason for using the nice woven fabric was for it to be the inside lining.  Hmmmm . . .

I may have to take it down and audition it with a strap to see if I could actually make myself make it into a bag.  Yes, it is another Kawandi, and I used scrap pieces that had selvedge edges on them, almost entirely.

There are four pieces in it that do not have selvedge edges, excepting the square silk and batik bits I placed on top at the time I laid the quilting in.  I have a decision to make, so meanwhile, I will work on a Christmas Kawandi!

Teresa 59

Sometimes waiting to do a project is a good idea.  You may want to do something special, but the mood has not struck.  In this case, my waiting yielded more skills being learned during the wait.  I have recently mentioned my tidying up of my quilt studio.  I came across a number of "Teresa fabrics".  Teresa fabrics are 1) fabrics that actually belonged to Teresa; or 2) fabrics that remind me of Teresa.  Fabrics that remind me of Teresa are fabrics with cows, bunnies, dogs, polar bears, and those of Victorian and Edwardian period styles.  Her and I collected black and white fabrics for about three years, so I still have a nice stash of those, as well.  The ones I ran across last month were of the cows, bunnies, and dog varieties.  

I have also started doing more hand-stitching in my projects and have thought about doing the long-stitch in actual quilting of a project.  Materials, time, and new stitching and quilt design skills have finally arrived at zero.  I dove in head-first, and for four solid days, worked tirelessly to complete a totally hand-sewn quilt as a tribute to Teresa, who passed away at the early age of 59.

What's On the Design Wall in November?

It is the same thing that has been on my design wall since June.  Not much has been happening on the design wall since things got busy in the summer.  Actually, I am close to finally finishing the big scrap quilt on the design wall.  

This is the project that got left hanging, while I made a lot of art quilts.  I have completed 25 art quilts in 2024.  I am going to quilt this scrap quilt on my home machine and see how I do.  It looks like it will be 70 inches long, and I may add some more on the right side to make it a little wider.

This is part of my the "tidy-up-the-studio" dance, so I want to get it done and I have started two more smaller projects, that I will be posting soon.  One of the small projects has to do with some more "Teresa fabrics" that I ran across while tidying up.  It is totally hand-stitched and hand-quilted, which is totally not me, but I am beginning to see the beauty in creating such things.  Yes, I am losing my mind.