Circuit Board Journal Quilts

Every year Grosvenor Shows organizes a Journal Quilt Competition where every participant is asked to contribute 2 A4 sized Journal Quilts. For 2020 the theme is Connections. That made me think about the different way humans now communicate with each other compared to times gone by. Mostly people met in person in the past, then came letters and finally the phone. Now we all have a wide variety of computerised devices to keep in touch.  Whether you use a computer, laptop, tablet or phone they all use circuit boards to keep us connected! So they became my inspiration for the journal quilts. As I was using many stencils all by Stencilgirl® Products this also became my monthly July project as Guest Designer for them. That means you can find a step by step tutorial for this journal quilts on their Stencilgirl®Talk website. 

Circuit Board Journal Quilt 1

Circuit Board Journal Quilt 2

Detail of beading and bugle beads

Colour Waves

My quilt Colour Waves recently returned from the Great Northern Quilt Show, held in Harrogate last weekend with, as you can see below, a red rozette, signifying a Judge's Merit. Always a wonderful surprise.

This quilt came about by pure accident. I was considering recycling my very old and large computer. It had not been used for many a moon (probably years) but still was the only gadget in the house that has Electric Quilt installed. I can't install it on my new laptop as that has no CD drive and my old lap top simply has no space. So I was thinking if I really wanted to hang on to the computer, just to keep Electric Quilt handy. I opened the beast and had a look at all my saved quilt designs.

Of late I have been back to designing with a squared notebook and pencil and it works well for me (as it did before computer design took over) because it gives me time to think while I draw away. However some things are just so much more simple with software like Electric Quilt and a quilt featuring oval shapes in a variety of sizes is definitely one of those.

In the sidebar you can see the Blue Waves quilt that started off my series of oval wave shaped quilts. I had thought I was finished with them after all this time but I suddenly got the impulse to make a more modern version using my treasured collection of Tula Pink fabrics.

And here it is! The quilt is hand and machine pieced (using computer designed templates), hand and machine quilted, hand embroidered and embellished with size 11 seed beads. It measures 44.5 x 76.25" or 113 x 178cm. I think this will now definitely be my very last version in this series of quilts and the computer itself is on the way out!

Spring in the City

Finally I can share this quilt with you as I have retrieved the rozette that came home with it after the quilt had been displayed at the National Quilt Championships in Sandown, back in June. Somehow the rozette got lost on my desk and turned up again when I stopped procrastinating and picked up my Tax Return form. It's sort of ironic as this quilt too has been the subject of much procrastination which is not at all typical for me.

I started making it not too long after our trip to New York in April 2016 and it was of course inspired by that city's skyscrapers and also by the fact that there was so much spring like greenery and blossom to be admired there set off against the grey and red stonework. The fabrics I used were all from the first fabric collection of Uppercase fabrics. The background is pieced and represents the buildings and then I made the flowers separately using the same fabrics and a collection of Hero Arts stamps. They are hand embroidered and embellished. The quilt itself is machine and hand quilted. I finished the quilt in February 2017 (those flowers took forever!) and I thought it was done.

Then one night not long after that I woke up in the middle of the night with the thought that the randomly appliquéd flowers were all wrong and that they should be in line with the buildings. Once you have a thought like that, it doesn't let go even though I thought myself mad. So there was nothing else for it but to remove all the flowers again and lay them out as I had imagined. I was right in that it looked much better but sadly I didn't have enough flowers to complete the layout. I needed at least 50 more (in the end there are more than 100 flowers on this quilt).

Could I make myself produce more flowers? Yes, I could but it took the best part of last year (which to be honest was mostly taken up with settling in a small, sad traumatized dog so making flowers was a perfect way to fill in the spare minutes).

Almost a year exactly after I thought I had finished Spring in the City, I finished it again, this time for good! And the effort has paid off as you can see by the presence of that rozette which represents the Prize for Embellishment at the show. You can see some of the details of that embellishment in the above pictures. Of course I will never know if that might have happened anyway in it's previous incarnation but I do know that I am much happier with it which in the end is all that matters.

MiniMini Quilt 36

This time I got my skates on and made another little mini mini (6" square) quilt quite soon after the last one. It's time to get this project back on track and I also bought the background for the larger project these small quilts will become a part off. It's a way of forcing me to get it done! You can see all the previous one by clicking on the Mini Mini tag below this post.

Like all the previous quilts in this series the background is machine quilted, there is raw edge applique with hand stitching, and embellishing wih size 11 seed beads. And this one, like the last one, features ovals, rahter appropriately as it has just been Easter.

MiniMini 35

It has been longer than I can remembered since I last made and shared one of my minimini quilts with you. They are all sized 6" (or 15cm) square and are made in the style of modern quilting. They will all be put together into one large piece of work one of these days and I'm wrestling with the question of how large I want that finished project to be. But I know that I still need more blocks so I have picked up the fabrics I use for these pieces again and produced this latest oval version.

Like all the previous ones this one too has been machine quilted, raw edge appliquéd with hand stitching and hand beaded with size 11 seed beads.

Sweet Delight Journal Quilts

 I managed to get to the Spring Quilt Festival at Ingliston, near Edinburgh, yesterday. It was good to get out as cabin fever had started to set in being up on our hill in among the snow and ice. And it was lovely to see my Journal Quilts displayed. The theme of the exhibition of JQs this year was: Sweet Treats, and I was inspired by the words in William Blake's poem Auguries of Innocence that read: "Some are born to sweet delight".

 I had a lot of fun playing with my collection of beads and buttons, as well as sparkly embellishments and felt. The Journal Quilts (sized A4) looked quite sweet. In fact after viewing the entire exhibit I felt like eating an ice-cream!

I finally put to use some beads I bought probably more than 30 years ago in a stall on the beach in Weymouth on a trip we took my mother-in-law on. They had been carefully treasured (hoarded?!) but were just what I wanted for these little quilts. You can see them in the top row in the picture above. The flower trim in the bottom row above were obtained from Daytona Trims in New York during our trip there in 2016.

Fabric Flower

MiniMini 34

The progress on my MiniMini quilts is painfully slow. But slow progress is better than no progress at all so I'm trying not to mind. This is number 34 and at the moment I haven't quite decided how many more I need but definitely more than 34!

All these quiltlets are 6" (or 15cm) square and will be put together eventually into a larger piece of work. This one is machine quilted, raw edge appliqued with hand stitching, and hand beaded with size 11 seed beads. It is further embellished with a button.

I always photograph them against other things so you can see the scale of the work (see top picture). Seeing the picture I might decide to do some dusting today!

Minimini 33

It's high time for another minimini quilt and this one is number 33. If you're an avid follower of this blog it might look familiar to you because it has exactly the same pattern as no. 31; only the colours I used are different.

I was aiming to make 100 of these but I am rethinking this as it has proved to be impossible to find more plain fabrics in exactly the same colours as I have been using. Also having 100 of them on a background will result in an enormous quilt and I am steering clear of these more and more. For a start they are too large to hang in the house and shipping them incurs considerable expense. So I'm carrying on but will probably call a halt at 7 x 7 i.e. 49 of them or perhaps 8 x 8 i.e. 64.

Like all the previous minis this one is machine quilted, raw edge appliquéd with hand stitching, hand beaded with size 11 seed beads. The finishing touch was the modern pink button.

Progress on the whole (as far as textile work is concerned, my painting is much more productive!) has slowed down to a trickle as other jobs (working on our house) have to take priority. I am learning to be okay with that. Some time ago I advised a friend to take a sabbatical and over the intervening time it has dawned on me that I should take notice of the words coming out of my mouth (or as in this case the words I type on my keyboard). A sabbatical is sounding more and more like a good idea.

At the moment I'm trying to make a master plan for the future i.e. next year. Not sure what will change but I know some things will have to, as I want to spend more time offline, walking the dog, taking photographs and reading without the relentless pressure of having to produce new textile work non-stop.

Minimini 32

The project of making 100 small minimini quiltlets is going slowly but hopefully steadily onwards. You probably know it already but for new readers this is the plan. I'm aiming to make 100 of these small (6" or 15cm square) pieces and then put them together into one piece of work.

The original start of this project was instigated by a challenge on Instagram by the Australian magazine Make Modern and I enjoyed making these small pieces so much that I just kept on going.

All of them are machine quilted, raw edge appliqued with hand stitching and beaded with size 11 seed beads.

minimini 31

These minimini (6 x 6" or 15 cm square) quilts are another example of small projects that can be fitted in whenever there is a spare moment. I am steadily making them but uploading them here takes a bit longer. This is no. 31. I am hoping to make 100 in due course and put them together into one large piece of work.

They were originally started (at least the first 6) as part of an Instagram challenge by the Make Modern magazine and I enjoyed them so much that I have simple continued.

All of them are machine quilted, raw edge appliquéd and hand beaded. This one also has a modern button.

To show the scale I have nestled this one in among a gunnera leaf.

Minimini 30

Work on the miniminis hasn't come to a stop but I'm having a hard time uploading them in among all the other things that find their way onto this blog. This is number 30. As you probably know by now I started to make these 6" (or 15cm) square quiltlets after an Instagram challenge by the Australian magazine Make Modern and enjoyed it so much that I have kept on going and am aiming to make it 100. Once I get there they will be put together into one large piece of work.

To show you the scale the photograph was taken in among our dahlias who are putting on a gorgeous show at the moment.

Like all the other ones this one is machine quilted, raw edge appliquéd with hand stitching and hand beaded, in the style of the modern quilt movement.

Minimini 29

Here is the latest minimini (6" or 15cm square) quilt. I started making these after an Instagram challenge on the Make Modern magazine and enjoyed them so much that I decided to keep going. The plan is to make 100 in total and then put them together into one large piece of work but I might have to revisit that idea, mainly because of problems of getting plain fabrics in just the right colours. Finding them online has proved problematic as the colours on computer screens are never a true representation of that colour in real life. However I will keep looking when I go to shows and quilt shops, and have a little book of samples of the colours in my handbag. Fingers crossed.

This one, like the others, is machine quilted, raw edge appliquéd with hand stitching, and hand beaded.

MiniMini28

It has been a shockingly long time since I last shared one of these minimini quilts with you. Other projects and events got in the way and it's high time I got on with these. On the other hands I promised myself not to stress out about this project and I'm trying very hard to stick to this resolution. As you may remember I am aiming to make 100 of these small 6" (15cm) square mini quilts and then I will put them together into one large piece of work. You can see the scale of it in the above picture.

I started making them for a challenge by the Make Modern magazine and enjoyed them so much that I have just kept going.

This one has been machine quilted, raw edge appliquéd with hand stitching, beaded and a button has been added in the centre as embellishment.

Minimini 27

My latest minimini quilt is number 27 already, only 73 more to go!!! Still it is progress, albeit slowly. These finished small (6" or 15cm square) quiltlets were originally inspired by a project on Instagram by the Make Modern magazine. I enjoyed it so much that I decided to keep on going, make 100 and them put them together into one piece of work. As you can see that moment is still some time away.

All the little minimini quilts are also examples of what modern quilting looks like. They are machine quilted, raw edge appliquéd with hand stitching, and hand beaded with size 11 seed beads.

MiniMini 26

This is the latest minimini quilt, sized 6" or 15cm square, photographed above in among the clutter, oh no oops, I mean the collections, to show the scale. It also demonstrates I'm not the only hoarder who lives here! I am however the one who has started the culling process. Before putting things back in the old cottage rooms which are now almost done (apart from the decorating) I'm going through everything and so far most of it has been disposed off, either to charity shops or sold. I'm feeling quite proud of myself but there is still a long way to go. 

As you will probably know by now these mini modern quiltlets were started during an Instagram challenge by the Make Modern magazine. I enjoyed making them so much that in a rash moment decided to make 100 and put them together onto one large piece of work.

Like all previous minis this one is machine quilted, raw edge appliquéd with hand stitching, and hand beaded.

Minimini 25

This is the latest minimini quilt I'm sharing here. Production has slowed down significantly due to the Flora effect! But there is no rush and I'm now one quarter of the way done. I'm hoping to make 100 of these small (6" or 15cm square) beauties and then put them together into one large quilt.

I originally started making these as part of a minimini challenge on Instagram set by the Make Modern magazine and enjoyed the process so much that I have kept going. Hopefully the speed of production will pick up a bit but there is a lot else to get on with too, so I'm not holding my breath.

This one is machine quilted, raw edge appliquéd with hand stitching, and hand beaded with size 11 seed beads.