Liquorice Allsorts

I had this idea of making a quilt of liquorice allsorts a few months ago and finally had a reason to do it.  The band I'm in is doing a concert this saturday and all the music have food in the titles.  We're playing Cherry Red, Green Onions, Raise Your Glass, Bach's Lunch, First Suite for Military Band, The Peanut Vendor, Agua de Beber, Dixieland Jam, and more.  I wanted to call the concert "The Hunger Games", but "Smorgasband" is what the rest decided.

We usually have a silent auction so I thought I'd make the Liquorice Allsorts quilt for this.

 I pieced in the square ones, and appliqued the other three.  I did the used dryer sheet trick for turning them inside out and getting the seam allowance tucked in.  the fabrics are 30s repros that had the right soft colours and are quite kid-like. 

 Here's the front.  I auditioned the candies on several colours and felt they really "popped" on this bright yellow-green.

 

The back has smaller allsorts that are staggered rather than angled.

 I got the label on with the band name and the quilt guild name.  It finished to 37 x 48 - 3 feet by 4 feet - a great size for a baby quilt.

 The quilting is a bunch of overlapping squares about the size of the allsorts filled with big zig-zags.

This was a really quick project.  I had the top started and pieced mostly on Friday after work.  I got the rest of the front and back pieced on Saturday (with a quick run to the LQS - local quilt store for more background) and then just layered it - spray glue 505- and got 1/3 of it quilted by Sunday evening.  Since the quilting is the part I like the least, i did little bits and pieces on Mon, Tues, Wed and put the binding on it Wed evening and got it washed.

Now it's off to the concert on Saturday to raise a bit of money for the band.

See Me and My Trunk Show in Person!

Tooting my own horn

The Vancouver Modern Quilt Guild was contacted by TAGOR, Textile Arts Guild of Richmond, to see if anyone could give a talk about this "Modern Quilting" movement that's been going around.  I eagerly agreed and here's the updated announcement:

If anyone is in the lower mainland (for you non-BC residents, that means if you're in the Vancouver area.) feel free to come.  Well I guess not free, but do come.

While, I'm on a tangent, you know how Washington state talks about the Pacific Northwest? Does that make this part of Canada the Pacific Southwest?  Does it feel a bit like the US doesn't know anything exists above their border?  Any-how, lower mainland is pretty much all the communities along the mouth of the Fraser River up to Abbotsford, I guess.  That would be Vancouver, North Van, West Van, Burnaby, Port Moody, Coquitlam, PoCo, New Westminster, Maple Ridge, Mission, Richmond, Delta, Surrey, Langley, Abbotsford and White Rock. When I looked it up, I see Chilliwack isn't included and that's my hometown!  and if you go much further, you're beyond Hope.  Oops, Google says it includes Chilliwack and Hope too and actually contains 59% of BCs population!  You are all welcome to come.

I've started collecting quilts I made for others back for the talk, and of course will show lots of unfinished quilts, as that's pretty much my thing.  You know, make the quilt top, then put it away.  I was thinking of trying to get a couple more finished for the show, but, why?  I don't want to pressure myself when there's so much else happening and of course so many more quilt tops to start on too!

Do come as I'll be talking about some of the traits of modern quilts and how they are really variations of what we all do as traditional quilters.  If you are a traditional quilter, you may see a quilt of mine that you'd like to try for yourself.  The fun of alot of modern quilts is you don't need a pattern.  Just sketch out a sort of layout or plan, and then go for it.

There's going to be a lot of this if I don't get some "holders":

Check out the Vancouver Modern Quilt Guild on Flickr for pictures of our members quilts

And there's a great group to help and encourage you - the Vancouver Modern Quilt Guild and the Fraser Valley Modern Quilt Guild.

Common Threads Indigo Quilt Project

Sheila and Elsie from the VMQG invited me to join their church group in creating quilted banners for their church's Parish Hall.  More about the project here: http://common-threads-125.tumblr.com/about/
A couple months ago I got in on two days of indigo dying that was fascinating.  I did some stitching on fabric, then pulling it tight to gather the fabric then putting it in the indigo pot.  I also did some clamping and some shibori where you wrap the cloth around a wide pipe, scrunch it down so it's all wrinkled, then put the pipe in the indigo pot.  You get a nice watery look.

Then after weeks of dying, I returned to collect my banner panel template.  That's the paper on the left.  You can see the red swoosh drawn in and the rules were dark on the bottom, light on the top.  I collected some light fabric and lots of dark and mediums.  There were lots of linens, some of them quite thin or very thick.  They were very hard to work with and I'm a bit worried that a seem or two might come apart over the years.  The hardest was a piece of velvet that would not stay still when you tried to sew a quarter inch seem.  Those 6 pieces are very puffed up and 3 dimensional, so I'll leave them un-quilted.

 I wanted to do something with my big wedge ruler, like the big wheel quilt I did earlier, but more inprovised and explosive looking.  I got the OK to make the red part pixelated, not smooth, and got the OK to make the centre of the circle red, so here's what I did.  It's sort of an explosion, or the sun, or creation.  This panel is one that's on the east wall of the hall, so maybe it's sunrise.

It was not easy getting it to lay flat.  I actually had to sew in some darts on the edges to reduce the ruffles.  There's still one that's bugging me, but I think I can fold it and quilt along the fold to hold it down.

The back has some wedges that are off-cuts that hung over the edges of the template when I squared it up.  The white wedge is for the label.

Hopefully I'll have it quilted by the end of the week.

Striped Hexies

I always have wanted to make a striped hexie quilt and I finally found the perfect striped fabric.  It has colourful stripes of varying widths on a white background.  I bought 2 yards then calculated the size of triangle that maximized the number of hexies I'd get out of each yard.  I realized I wouldn't have quite enough, so I pieced together some stripes to add to each strip so that I could get a few more rows of triangles.  Most triangles have at least a colour and a white strip added.  Some are mostly added strips with only an inch or two of the original fabric.

I had problems deciding how to edge the quilt.  I didn't want to cut off the side hexies to straighten out the quilt, and I didn't want a pointy edge either, cause how do you pull that up to your neck?  I finally decided to edge it all with a light grey, so now the hexies are laying on top of a grey field.  I think it actually looks really good.

I'm thinking about the back now.  Maybe a giant hexie coming up from a bottom corner that takes up about a third of the back?  Maybe I'll make the stripes out of solids.

I got to show this off at the guild anniversary meeting in the park.  We had our meeting outside and brought a picnic  to eat during the meeting.  There were 4 bands that showed up while we were there that set up under trees and jammed all evening long.  I didn't know that was a thing here in Vancouver.  I guess they just get together and jam in the park.  A friend of mine wandered by looking for her ukelele group, so that was even another group somewhere jamming in the park.

Disappearing 9 Patch Challenge

This month's challenge in the VMQG is the modernized disappearing 9 patch.  For every block we make, we get a ticket and at the end of the meeting a winner or 2 is drawn and you can collect enough blocks to put together a quilt top.

My problem is I like making the blocks, but don't like putting the quilt together, so I usually just hand my blocks in and don't take any tickets.  Last month I handed in 10 blocks and only took 2 tickets.  There were enough blocks to have divide among 3 winners.

Most quilts with this pattern are very regular like this one I made for a nephew several years ago.  You get a bow tie effect that's on the diagonal.  For this quilt, the centre block was dark blue and the corner blocks for half the blocks were red and the other half were yellow.  The other 4 blocks were light blue.

Here's Lawanda's version with the same fabrics.

Here's Kenzie's version.

 

However, if you add lots of negative space in random places, you get a much more modern look to your quilt.  First make your 9 patches with your negative space blocks randomly placed in each block.  Here's 4 blocks that I made using my home batiks (the ones that turned out a bit dark or muddy).

 Then cut each 9 patch in quarters exactly through the centre.

 Mix them around, rotate them then put them back together and see what you end up with.

I've got some more 5 inch squares ready to put together to make some more, but will save them for Maker Fair next weekend.  I can demo the technique during the day to show people what modern quilting is like.

Big Hexies for the May VMQG Challenge

I got my Hexies ready for the VMQG May challenge.  We were to make 5 1/2 inch Hexies in black and white and sew them into strips with one Kona bright.  Easy, peasy. 


I found some really old leftovers from a black and white quilt top and added in random bright Kona that I had had in a heap on the floor.  Quilt design decisions made by whatever I find close at hand.

These are so easy to make as strips of 3, but a real pain sewing them all together, even with the technique that was taught in a workshop at QuiltCon.  Who ever wins them at the guild meeting is going to have a lot of work ahead.

I play the Euphonium in a local community band.  We did a concert of movie tunes at a retirement complex on Saturday.  Our drummer lives there and his two arrangements of Latin melodies was well appreciated by his friends.  I was practicing for the concert and snapped this shot.

VMQG Workshop - Gees Bend Style Blocks

I gave a day long workshop on Feb 3 for the VMQG where we all made some Gees Bend style blocks.  The group of 12 was great, everyone brought very unique fabric with very unique colours and patterns.

We started out looking at three quilts done in this technique and I put 2 blocks up on the wall showing examples of how to make the square bulls-eye and what level of wonkyness and strip width to try, then we all got started.

Most people brought several options for fabrics so I went around consulting on what could be used as background and what could be used as the colour strips.

Here's what the first block for each person turned out once they were cut in quarters and put back together.

 

Then we all started making the blocks 3 or four at a time.  Here's what they looked like once another block or two had been made.

Elsie's blocks

Victoria's blocks (Jo)

Heather's blocks

Gaye's blocks

Loretta's Gees Bend blocks

Arita's blocks

Terri's blocks

Anna's blocks

Michelle's blocks

Nikki's blocks

Michelle's blocks

I love how everything comes together so nicely with this technique.  Each block that is made and cut up ends up very different from the previous.  As you mix and match the blocks throughout the quilt, you get a very graphic effect.  Depending on the background and contrast of the coloured fabrics, you can end up with a very calming effect like Heather, Arita and Gaye or a more jarring excitable effect like the rest of them. 

Thanks so much, Terri and Arita for taking these pics throughout the day.  Just because we're only showing 1 block for some people, doesn't mean they are slackers.  We just didn't get a shot of their entire production.

If I have some mis-identified, let me know and I'll fix the names.

UPDATE:  Arita finished her top!

Low Volume Quilt

I got the top of this quilt mostly put together at the sew-in in Surrey.  Amy arranged a sew-in with the Fraser Valley Modern Quilt Guild and the Vancouver Modern Quilt Guild in Surrey, half way between the two guilds.  I made the blocks months ago.  I got Felicity to show me her technique for sewing blocks together once you have decided on the layout order.  You end up sewing blocks together and not cutting the joining threads.  Eventually you end up with the rows connected, but dangling below each other by the threads, then you iron the seams, then sew the rows together.

I used one fat quarter of the featured print, a matching blue, and 3 coordinating neutrals. It's a very low volume quilt except the blue.  Maybe I should have gone for a lighter blue.  I generally improvised each block, going with either blocks or strips, making each different.  Not all blocks have the featured print.

I have extra of most of the fabrics, so I may just make 3 giant blocks in the same style for the back.

It's a companion piece to this quilt that I blogged earlier.

I got off the waiting list and am now going to take a fabric dying workshop with Malka Dubrawski, the designer of the yellow print, at Quiltcon!  I'm so excited.  How am I going to travel with a cardboard box, a paring knife, a potato, a carrot, a green pepper and a stick of celery?  That's what's on the supply list for the workshop!

Finished my Gees Bend style Dirty Laundry Quilt

I actually made a back, then quilted and bound the jeans quilt.

Here's a look at the process.

I did a square overlapping stipple and tried to go over as many seems as I could to stabilize the fabric and hold those thick seams down.

The back is a warm flannel in a brown and cream hounds-tooth pattern.  I included a pieced strip of jeans off centered for a graphic punch.

It's really heavy with all those jeans.  The flannel back helps to soften it up and I think it's the perfect compliment to the front.

I'm giving a workshop on this technique this upcoming weekend to the Vancouver Modern Quilt Guild.  I've made some demo squares in green, gold and black - trying out a circuit board look.  We'll see what it looks like when I cut the blocks in quarters and rearrange them.

So, what should I call this quilt?  The two name I've been trying out are:

• Dirty Laundry
• Dirty Hippies

What should I go with?

Gear Block Cushion

I figured out what to do with the gear block I made last month.

This was a challenge where we picked up a zip-lock bag of scraps that another guild member had put together and make anything at all for her.  The name of the owner of the scraps was hidden in the bag, so I didn't know who's bag I got.  Unfortunately there was a mix up on my part and I thought this bag of blue scraps was an extra so I didn't get it done in time for the meeting.

It's 24 inches square, so I made it into a really big cushion for Heather, the guild member who's bag of scraps I got.  Once it was quilted and put together, it's about a 22 inch square cushion.

The back is an envelope style back with a built in tie to keep it together.  Once I had sewed the front and back together, I bound the edges like a normal quilt, so I didn't turn it inside out. 

I used up all the scraps of blue in the zip-lock bag - even the ones I didn't like - and had to add in some of my own scraps of blue to have enough for the binding and ties.  I added all the white fabric.  It's all white on white prints from my "traditional quilting" days.  Now I just use solids, so this was a great way to use up fabric that was just sitting in my stash.  The gear side actually has 3 different white on white prints and I added in some blue scraps on the back in the lower left corner.

The lining is a poly-cotton (!) from my days working at a bias tape factory.  Really, I did one summer making bias tape and piping in a sweatshop off Main Street here in Vancouver.  I could take home the triangle ends of all the ugly fabric we used.  Now I sew a diagonal seam in it to get it back to a non bias square that I can use.

QuiltCon Charity Quilt

VMQG volunteered to put together a charity quilt for QuiltCon with challenge blocks supplied by Quiltcon.  Our blocks arrived and seemed to be very odd in that they were really hard to figure out a nice layout.  Here's my attempt at laying them out on my white duvet which is about the exact size that the finished quilt is supposed to be.  First, a blob

 A tee shape

 Horizontal stripes

 Vertical stripes

I tried some colour blocking for the background with 12 inch strips of solids

 Cross shape with colour blocking background

 Exploded layout.  I think I like this one the best

I really liked these two blocks with the thin strips of colour through them.  Especially the green and grey and orange strips.

 So I made some strips with green and orange and grey to include in the solids.

Here's the first quarter of the quilt coming together.

Karen supplied the fabric for the back of the quilt and had a block she made but didn't submit for the challenge, so I put it in and made one myself too to include.  That filled out the top much better.

Here's the whole quilt

 I think I ended up with such a busy background, that the blocks sort of blend in rather than stand out.  I purposefully made sure that the background colour blocks abutted a block that had that colour in it so that the blocks appear out of and disappear into the background.  I'm not sure that it works completely, but you can't deny it is a very colourful quilt.

It certainly isn't what we'd call a twin size quilt either.  This is most definitely a queen size quilt up here in Canada.  I actually made it the minimum size allowed!  But as they say everything is big in Texas, so I guess it's a twin size quilt down there.

I got it done 10 minutes before leaving for the VMQG meeting, so I didn't get the back done.  However, Karen did supply just about enough of the blue fabric for the back and I added in some extra grey in case more fabric was needed.

I handed it off to Joan to quilt on her long arm quilter.  She'll then get it off to Liz to put on the binding (bright orange) and Amy is doing the label.  It should be ready for our next guild meeting, then it's off to Texas for QuiltCon.

Here's the quilt top being shown off at the VMQG meeting.  I don't know who took the picture, but it's posted on Flickr by VMQG.  I'm pointing to Karen's block.  This is considered a twin size quilt in TEXAS.