Flowers I Can Grow

Title: Flowers I Can Grow
Finished: 7/31/11
Techniques: gingham, machine stitches, grass stitch, wobble stitch
Size: 11 x 14"

This mini-quilt was the first one I did in the 2011 series. It was done in the Karen Linduska style as was the Grandpa's Sunset Roses in the 2012 series.  I used two different gingham check fabrics: a colorful large check for the background and a smaller light green check for the insert, which was appliquéd. I wasn't sure if the two checks would work together, but I think they do. The light green check was also used for the binding and backing.

The flowers, stems and leaves were made with a variety of machine stitches, widened and/or lengthened to create different kinds of petals and leaves. A single circle stitch made nice centers of the flowers.

The insert was made to not be a perfect rectangle, and the purple flower "grew" beyond the insert, which was also intentional. A grass stitch makes a border, and the quilting was done in a simple wobble stitch.

#25 Vertical Aquarium

#25: Vertical Aquarium
Almost Finished: 6/24/12
Techniques: Raw-edge appliqué, Wobble stitch
Size: 14 1/2" x 28"

Description: I apologize for the lateness of this posting. I didn't quite get this mini-quilt done by last Sunday's deadline, but all that was left to do was to add the binding and sleeve. So the important part was done on time. This will be the first time during this project that I haven't made the deadline. I'm disappointed in that, but considering what's been going on, I'm not beating myself up about not finishing a mini-quilt.

It's been quite the week here in Colorado Springs. A major fire started last Saturday and erupted on Tuesday destroying over 300 homes, and evacuating 32,000+ people. Two people have lost their lives. My home was not in the danger zone, but my friend Mary Beth was evacuated from hers. She stayed with me until she was allowed to go back. I'm happy to report that there was no damage to her place. She and I both know at least one person whose home was destroyed and our hearts go out to her and her family, and to all those who have lost so much. This mini-quilt is dedicated to them.

The mini-quilt was made from a batik scarf that I had bought at a garage sale and wasn't using. It was large enough to use as the background for the design as well as the backing material. The scarf was very thin and a little difficult to work with because it kept shifting. The quilting was done prior to the appliqué process using a wobble stitch - a very narrow zigzag stitch - and although the front came out OK, the backing did have some puckering in places.

Of course the design on the batik is flower-like, but it also reminded me of bubbles in a fish tank. My friends Sean and Karen have a vertical aquarium - taller than it is wide - and that's where I got the idea to create this vertically. As I've mentioned before, I have a lot of fish fabric. I applied Steam-a-Seam to the reverse side of several fish motifs and cut them out and appliquéd to the batik. The greenish blue sea weed pieces at the bottom were what's left after cutting out the fish. I simply trimmed them up and appliquéd them as well.

I hope to have my next posting soon, but will admit to being a little behind again this week. We'll see how it goes.

#20 Shadows of the Southwest

#20: Shadows of the Southwest
Finished: 5/19/12
Techniques: Shadow Effect, Wobble Stitch
Size: 27" x 23"

Description: I've wanted to see if I could create shadow effects with fabric. It's not a new technique - other people have done it - but it's a new technique for me. Using black for the shadow and piecing it off center makes the other fabric pieces seem to "float" above the background. It turned out pretty well! I didn't think about it before finishing the quilt, but I should have tried different widths of black to see if that made any difference. As it is, I used 1" finished sized shadows and it looks good, but I wonder what 1/2" or 3/4" would have looked like.

In choosing fabrics for the blocks, I knew it had to be medium to large print designs. Looking through my stash, I saw that I had several that represented the Southwest in some way. I had many more than the five chosen here, but several other prints had black backgrounds themselves. I felt that the shadow effect wouldn't show to advantage with those, so I opted for the ones with off-white backgrounds. I've got lizards, pots, chilis, cactus, and canoes. Also, I started out with 5 blocks all the same size, but the one in the center seemed to get lost among the background fabric, so I re-did the chili one, making a longer rectangle. It's much better. (I also have a lot of different chili fabric, but didn't want to do all chilis here. Watch for something in the future!)

I used a simple green polka dot fabric for the background. It coordinated pretty well with all the prints.

I quilted a simple outline around the blocks, and then used a wobble stitch in yellow to simulate rays of the sun creating those shadows.

This fabric is the one I used to back the mini-quilt. Wild horses also remind me of the Southwest, but the print was rather large and this particular color scheme didn't really go with the other. It makes a nice backing though.