WIP Wednesday 11/20/2013

I've been working on a quilt for retiring co-worker Cecilia K., concentrating on making petals for a large flower. There are seven layers for each petal, and I've been using just one printout, trimming away each "ring" as I go to reveal the new pattern.

I got partway into trimming when I realized I was cutting on the wrong line. Horror of horrors!

A piece of Scotch tape saved the day and I trimmed away the correct part.

I'd been sewing on one layer at a time, trimming out the centers of the "old" layer as I go. I must have forgotten during one of the last layers, and had to trim away a double layer on most of the petals. On the left is what the back should look like after trimming; on the right is how most of the petals looked. Oh, well. That mistake didn't add much more bulk overall. Weirdly, I scared myself a couple of times, thinking I'd cut through too far. But they were all fine. Stress!

Petals from the photo above, flipped to the right sides.

For the last two rounds, I decided to sew them simultaneously. The pieces were very small, and the edges touched in the lower halves. The zigzag would easily cover both fabrics.

Finished petal

Back

Seven petals arranged like a flower. I will probably add a center circle.

Petal inspiration - from a tissue box

I copied the shape, magnified from a couple of inches tall to almost 11", the size of a piece of printer paper. Personally I love the contrast of dark with light, but I subbed in the coloration of the partial petal seen to the left. It has a softer color combo, which reflects Cecilia's soft, gentle personality.

Next I'll make a set of three circle shapes, each four layers thick. I'll use similar methods as I did with the petals. They should go pretty quickly.

Debbie

Like my Facebook page Traveling Quilter and get more updates on my quilting and my travels.

Make It Monday 11/18/2013

I've been working on a quilt for retiring co-worker Cecilia K. I got the petal shape from an image on a tissue box.

Two stacks of petal shapes, seven petals all together.

Before I pinned the white layer on top, I cut a slit through the green. This was to make it easier to trim away the green later without damaging the white layer.

White layer pinned to the green

Zigzagged over the edge of the white with invisible thread on top, silver on the bottom. I figured the silver would blend with the white if any of it peeked through.

Back

Back - green fabric trimmed away to reduce bulk.  Used small scissors to lessen the chances of cutting through the white.

First two layers. Left - as seen from the front. Right - as seen from the back.

Left - three layers. Right - four layers.

There are seven petals total. I add a layer to all of the petals before I move to the next layer, in an assembly line fashion.

There are seven layers all together. Each round seems to take less time, probably because I've had some practice, and partly because each new shape is smaller than the previous one. Once the petals are done I'll begin constructing three multi-layered circle shapes.

Debbie

Like my Facebook page Traveling Quilter and get more updates on my quilting and my travels.

WIP Wednesday 11/13/2013

My current quilt is for retiring co-worker Cecilia K. Co-worker Veronica did some spying and learned that Cecilia's favorite color is green. Soon after, another co-worker Margarita discovered she had a tissue box with just the right colors. Margarita sacrificed a piece of her tissue box, and I have used it as inspiration.

The shapes on the bottom look like petals from a flower. I decided to multiply them to form a flower. Also, I decided to use one of the circle shapes.

Electric Quilt sketch

The petals of the flower, as well as the circles, will be similar to ones on the tissue box.

Fabrics

Background is a white-on-white print.

Border fabric

I decided to make the flower pretty large. If I made the petals the size of a regular piece of paper (8.5" x 11"), I would end up with a flower about 22" in diameter. Plus I'd be able to print a pattern easily. I played with the photo, cropping it to 8.5" x 11".

I repeated for the circle.

I printed to regular size paper, in black and white. These are the actual patterns. The circle is the third version. The first was too small and the second was too big.

I printed 9 wallet sized petals, just to see how they would look together.

One petal

Eight petals

Four petals laid out

Filled in to make eight petals. Seems a bit crowded.

Seven petals (my favorite and the one I chose)

Six petals

Five petals (a little too Hawaiian for me)

Printout laid over green rectangles

Cut out the petal

Traced the petal

Stacks are three and four layers thick. Cut with scissors for accuracy.

Ta-dah!

Background fabric

Using the wrong side of the fabric (see bottom half of photo) in the petals because I think it's more subtle. For the actual quilt background, I'll use the right side.

Original pattern

Cut away the first layer to form the new pattern. Will repeat with each new layer. I'm saving on paper and ink by using just one printout.

First two layers (not sewn yet)

My plan is to use invisible thread and zigzag around the edge of the white to join it to the green. Once sewn, I plan to cut out most of the green under the white layer, to reduce bulk. Will repeat with each layer.

My other quilt project is for retiring co-worker Edna. For the past little while I have been making signature blocks, about a dozen at a time, then passing them around my office for co-workers to sign. In a short time I have collected 37 signatures. I still have a few dozen to go. The quilt isn't due until late January, but I'm glad I started early. I'll be concentrating on Cecilia's quilt for a while, but I'll get back to Edna's quilt soon.

Debbie

Like my Facebook page Traveling Quilter and get more updates on my quilting and my travels.

WIP Wednesday 11/6/2013

Electric Quilt sketch of signature quilt

Signature block

White-on-white print is purposely sewn wrong side up to provide a little subtlety which will let the signatures show better.

Signature blocks in a variety of colors

Masking tape prevents people from writing in the seam allowances.

Blocks are backed with freezer paper to keep the fabric from wiggling during signing.

I'm working on a signature quilt for retiring co-worker Edna N.  A few months ago I gave Edna a list of employees and asked her to highlight the names of people she has worked with in her units - Admin and Legal Clerks. There are 67 names! I chose a simple signature block in a variety of colors. I'm hoping to make all of the pieced blocks from scraps. Alternating plain blocks will be in a pale solid, possibly pink. (I learned today from Edna that her favorite color is red.)

The quilt isn't due until late January and normally I wouldn't start working on it until 2-3 weeks before the due date. But since it will take a while to gather the signed blocks, I'm getting an early start.

Debbie

Like my Facebook page Traveling Quilter and get more updates on my quilting and my travels.

WIP Wednesday 10/30/2013

Menswear, Gleen's Wear (it rhymes)

For retiring co-worker Gleen (sounds like Glen) V. 

Squares are cut from Gleen's shirts, background is chambray (shirtweight denim). 

Original design. 54" x 72". 

Completed 10/29/2013

Fellow co-worker Becky R. talked Gleen into donating a bunch of his shirts to a clothes closet, or so he thought. Little did he know that I would use some of the shirts in his quilt.

Gray fabric on right is chambray. Black and white print on left is what I purchased before I had Gleen's shirts. My original design had those two fabrics for the top.

Decided to use a few of Gleen's shirts and save the black/white print for another project.

These shirts were not used in the project. Becky will give them to her pastor, who wears about the same size shirts as Gleen.

Part of one of the shirts

Ironed, ready to cut strips

Cut six inch wide strip

Saved the buttons, some of the labels, and a pocket from the shirts.

Safety pinned loose buttons to the placket to keep all of the buttons from each shirt together.

Five piles of six inch squares

Squares laid out on the design wall, using Organized Chaos method

Squares sewn together in sections. Background - large panels of fabric - added to design wall.

Quilt top sewn together

Chose not to do a border. Wanted a clean look on the edges, to reflect Gleen's quiet, reserved personality.

Gleen's fellow accounting staff gave me a list of his interests. I printed a few onto June Tailor Sew-In Printer Fabric: Bruce Lee and a poem from the original Willy Wonka movie. Also printed was a photo of the accounting staff.

Trimmed poem, added borders to top and bottom to bring it to the correct height.

Did the same with the Bruce Lee photo.

Three photos and spacers laid out

Photos sewn together. Section was incorporated into a long strip and pieced into the back of the quilt.

I tie most of my larger quilts. Usually the quilt has lots of pieced areas, which help me figure out where to place knots. However, on this quilt there were large expanses of unpieced background fabric. To create a grid, I laid two pieces of masking tape across the width of the quilt, marking the centers of the squares.

Next I used clips to mark the rows along the vertical sides of the quilt.

Using the clips and seams of the pieced squares, I laid the masking tape strips across the width of the quilt.

Knots tied between the marks. As each row was finished, I moved the top masking tape strip below the one on the bottom, lining up the marks.

The system worked well to keep the knots spaced evenly.

Once more, the finished quilt

Close-up

Back of the quilt

My next quilt is for Cecilia, yet another retiring co-worker. (There is quite a long list for the coming year.) My idea was blues, especially aqua, which she seems to wear often. I happened to have a tissue box in a soft blue, reflecting Cecilia's quiet, gentle nature. I could base the quilt on the colors of the box. I showed the box to co-worker and partner in crime Veronica, who liked the idea. 

A short time later, Veronica did some spying and found out that Cecilia's favorite color is green. Okay. Within a couple of days, I learned that another co-worker/co-conspirator, Margarita, had a tissue box with exactly the right colors. Even though the box was mostly full, Margarita cut a piece of the box for me to use as inspiration.

A small piece of Margarita's tissue box

Last weekend I traveled to Sacramento for my monthly Sacramento Modern Quilt Guild meeting. After the meeting, I drove to the Citrus Heights area, where Hancock Fabrics, Beverly's and Jo-Ann's are all on the same street.

Found this fabric at Beverly's. It reflects the colors and curved shapes on the tissue box pretty well.

The scale of the print is pretty big. It wouldn't do the fabric justice to cut it into small pieces. So at this point, I'm planning to use the fabric as a wide border. The background will probably be white, with medium-sized squares of various green fabrics.

Debbie

Like my Facebook page Traveling Quilter and get more updates on my quilting and my travels.