CQ 10 samples

I have been playing with the possibilities of using some Lutrador. Using the wheel image from the source material.
I have used painted Lutrador, painted Vilene and painted stitch and tear for the wheels on a painted Lutrador base over cotton.

  I have then looked at combining it with stitching. Most pieces have been appliqued onto the Lutrador, but other shapes have been machine embroidered or outline stitched.

It was a mistake to add wadding and a backing at this point, it would have been better to have just stitched through the blue fabric and Lutrador.
Once I had stitched all the elements I then used a heat gun to distress the Lutrador. I really like the way it disintegrates and the lacy patterns it creates, allowing a backing colour to show through.

The result of these experiments is that I know I want to include some Lutrador in the background, I may use some for the appliquéd shapes but some of the background will be a hand dyed cotton fabric. More experiments needed on how to combine all these elements together.

CQ 10

It is amazing what leaving a picture and samples pinned to the wall does! I had been thinking in one direction and am now pursuing a new line, just on the basis of repeatedly seeing the textiles displayed before me!
That is the beauty of a challenge - forcing one to try ideas that  would not normally get an airing.
The pained Lutrador that was destined to be cut into wheels and applied may now be a whole cloth background - and fabric I had dyed (badly) for another project now seems to be an ideal backing for the Lutrador

and a freezer paper cut out chimney with a small amount of Markal stitch to define one edge and the base may well work too.

I've had a great creative, eye opening day!

Signing off 2011 JQs

I thought it would be interesting to look at the full set of 2011 JQs together. I had at the outset planned them as a loose set, sharing theme, colour palette and  fabrics. The thread of colour runs through them all but my button quilts have let me down. A sad case of the theme running away with me, and my leaving my brain behind! Now that I have finished them, I can see the possibilities that could have been.
Message to self - don't over think things - keep ideas simple - let the fabrics do the talking.
I'm not going to join the JQ challenge this year, already part of a group challenge using red, so will comcentrate on that and some larger pieces this year along with CQ10, quite enough I think.

Contemporary Quilt is 10 years old!

The Contemporary Quilt group of the Quilter's Guild celebrates it's 10th birthday this year and to mark this event members have been set a challenge! We have to use the photo below as the inspiration for a piece of work which measures no more than 500cm in perimeter. The content comes from wedding anniversaries with Tin being 10 and this being a tin mine!

So I have been playing with elements of this to create my piece. I want to use the wheel as this is so much part of the industrial revolution and all forms of mining, the pit head etc. I also like the sloping sides of the chimney and could use that general shape for the quilting.

The next problem was what sort of fabrics to use. The rough texture of stone and hard metal suggests a slubby weave and the colour of the local stone suggests a creamy brown. With intricate shapes to cut out for the wheel I'm going to use lutrador as this wont fray and I can paint it to get the colours I want. This is my first small scale practice piece.

Lots to think about so its up on the wall for a few days while I audition elements and come up with a final piece.

January JQ

Well, I have finally managed to complete my 12 JQs for 2011! A great sense of achievement and an acknowledgement that working to someone else's agenda forces one to try out things one would would not touch with a barge pole otherwise! I love working with circles and with text and was slow to appreciate the minimum amount of text I could have worked with and therefore the potential to have tweaked the initial rocks theme. The button quilts represent a very low point in my stitching life and that has coloured my thoughts about signing up for another year of JQs. The theme for Jan - May is 75%Red and with the "Full Circle" project also requiring the use of red, I think "Full Circle" is going to be my only Red foray in 2012. The photo shows the finished January JQ.

January JQ planning

My ideas for a January button JQ are noticeable by their absence! So I am falling back on a very simple appliqué design and some rather striking triangular buttons! I had plastic bag dyed the legs of a pair of old linen trousers some months ago, but done nothing with the fabric. I like the rough texture and bright colour and the narrow width of the fabric is just about right for a 10" square. Linking this piece to the earlier Petra pieces I've used 2 other dyed and printed fabrics.

I then looked for a complete contrast and thought of a yellow silk, shot with fuchsia which looks great with its edges frayed. Smaller pieces needed, to balance the 1st shapes.

Having played with the proportion of the applied shapes I then looked at where to place the buttons.

Now I just need time to actually do the stitching!

December JQ

I'm on a roll, the production line is in full swing! While trying to dream up what I might do for the December JQ I spilled a load of buttons and beads and the twinkly pile gave me an idea! I had a photo of a cross section of a rose hip and the twinkly pile would do very nicely for the seedy middle! I had yellow shot silk and used this to create the seed pod.

After stitching the shapes down I quilted the background fabric and placed some buttons.

Not enough twinkly bits I thought - so loads more added.

and hey presto, December was sorted!! Not my best work, none of this set of 4 is, not really my scene but I'm not one to give up!

November JQ

I decided to continue with the use of sayings linked to the word button. This time "Pushing all the right buttons". I had an image in my mind of a large push button, but no idea how to a an actual button. So... I revisited the rubric and felt that an appliqué button would be acceptable (Ihope!)

This is appliquéd on in the centre. I then used the Bernina tool for stitching in circles and created the text "Pushing all the right buttons" which I stitch around the button.

I then quilted the background using the shape of the buttom in prifile in rows across the piece. JQ for November done!

Not my best creation, sadly I feel as though I am a surficer on this topic, no real interest or spark of inspiration at the moment.

Ctaching up

All this activity before Christmas has meant that I now have 4 JQs to complete before the end of January! Yes I was busy but I have also to confess that having to use buttons has totally turned me off these last 4. So..... I have used the last couple of quiet days to really think about what I could do. In the end I found a number of sayings about buttons and plan to create a little gem using the text and a button located somewhere appropriate (on the back by preference!) I also had a bag of sari strips and no idea how they might be useful to me - so tried pressing them and stitching them together. I can use this sample to create the background for the October JQ.

I remembered that I can use my machine can produce simple lettering so set it up to write "Button your lip" repeatedly in a line and stitch this on some of the strips. I then used freehand machine embroidery to write the same text in a larger space.

Finally I cup a simple paper stencil of a pair of lips and used markal stick to create a lip image on the piece, quilted it and stitch a button in the mouth.

October JQ done!

Christmas Quilts 4

Finally I finished them! Wrapped, dispatched and given away it was a great pleasure to see the reaction to them from my great nephew and niece. It was worth the effort, and I like the thought of this tenuous connection to the children's daily lives. Rob's Quilt

Emma's Quilt