After the Storm, at Dusk ~~ finish

I've finally completed this little art quilt. This one started out with the frame. I had one that Richard had made but I'd measured incorrectly, so it was just sitting, waiting for something. This sunset is my rendition of a photo I took one evening after a rainstorm. 

I wanted to emphasize the contrast of dark and light clouds. To do that I broke up the light sky with deep, royal purples and blues. 

And to add some shimmer to the light clouds, I tacked on a shiny organza, which was a difficult, messy chore. 

And so there we are. 

    

More Masks and "Favorite Fabrics" ~~ finished!

Do you know how good it feels to pick up a quilt top, quilt-bind-label it, and call it done? Yes? Great. I'm here to tell you it feels even better when said quilt top has been waiting, patiently, in a basket or bin or (gasp) plastic bag for longer than you care to remember. Oh yes! It's a wonderful thrill. I recommend it highly. My heart still does a little flip when I think of it. 

More on the quilt later. First let's get these masks out of the way. There are 15 in this picture, more or less. Eight will go to a friend who requested them. The rest, I don't know. Maybe I should have a few here in case we need them. Heaven knows, I am done with these things. Could it be more boring? Not for me. I'm kind of ashamed, really. But 50ish are all I can wring out of myself for now. Maybe after Easter if there's still a need I can make more. 

Now back to this finish. At some point I realized that the very pretty pieces of colorful, playful fabrics that I'd purchased at 
Lola Pink in Lafayette were becoming smallish scraps. It occurred to me that together they would make a pretty quilt. So I gathered up pieces Since they were literally scraps, sizes were varied, but showcasing the designs was important. Otherwise, what was the point? 

The sizes were not cooperative but finally I came up with this clean, modern design. The blocks are 3½", 5½" and 7½" each with 2½" white strips. Into the waiting bin the top went. And just like that, quilt tops are forgotten. They deserve better, so it's time to get them finished. 

I had this white linen with small navy stripes that was just large enough, so I figured it was meant to be. I should have used those stripes to my advantage, but no, I prefer to make things... challenging.

For no reason at all, I decided to use straight line quilting but to leave out the prints. Then after all that quilting, I realized that the largest blocks were too big to leave un-quilted. I added fleur de lis and lotus flowers to those blocks. It was a good opportunity to play with those two motifs, which I really like.

		Quilt Stats
	Name:	Favorite Fabrics
	Size:	54" X 58"
	Fabrics:	Various fabrics from stash
	Pattern:	My design
	Backing:	Linen from stash
	Batting:	100% Cotton
	Binding:	fabric from stash
	Quilting:	Straight lines w/ motifs in largest blocks
	Completed:	2020

Tell me what you think. I really like constructive comments. They help a person to access and grow. So yeah! Comment.

Ruby Snippets ~~ first finish of 2020

Yay! A finish and we're still in January! Of course, this is a top that I made last year, though I don't remember when, exactly. Anyway, I loaded it on the long-arm and away we went, despite the shoulder injury. 

We are getting the dreariest of weather this week, so going outside to take photos is not happening. That requires trekking through a mini-marsh of soggy grass and mud. These photos were taken inside on the living room floor while I stood on the coffee table, trying to avoid the ceiling fan. 

Ruby Snippets is made from scraps and large pieces of fabric. At some point I realized that there was a diagonal / angular thing going on. So I ended up cutting most of the already nicely stitched rectangles into whatever those long triangles are called. Maybe right triangles? 

Anyway, I paired those angles with neutral pieces and scrappy neutrals and filled in the holes with more neutrals. Some of the reds are intermixed with yet more neutrals and create a fractured, broken glass appearance. 

To make the reds more definitely angular, I quilted uneven straight lines at about 60 degrees, which follows the shape of the red. The neutrals I quilted in rounded or circular motifs to soften the hard edges. 

 I backed it with some of the linen that I've been using. This is a pale apricot color. At 60" wide, it was just a little too narrow, so I added this off-white flower linen that had been left from a previous project. I think there was an 8" square left after I pieced it in. Close, right? 

The solid color of the back shows the different quilting motifs much better than the busy front. Still, I like playing with different motifs and quilting improvisationally, so even if it doesn't show, I play.

In my mind this is the correct orientation for the quilt, but honestly because it's mostly square, it could be placed however one would want. 

		Quilt Stats
	Name:	Ruby Snippets
	Size:	62" X 65"
	Fabrics:	various neutral and red fabrics from stash
	Pattern:	my design
	Backing:	reclaimed linen from stash
	Batting:	100% Cotton
	Binding:	neutral fabric from stash
	Quilting:	Long-arm--round motifs and straight lines
	Completed:	January 2020
	AFU:	7½ to 8 yards from stash

A Sign... (a painted finish)

After I made the cross earlier in the week, I decided to expand my experience and paint a few scrap boards and add a Bible quote on each. No reason for it, I just like the idea.

After digging through Richard's small pile of scrap lumber, I sanded down the pieces I chose and painted them using craft paint. I was going for a watery feel. Or maybe a sunset. Whatever it wants to be.



Except this small pink one on the right. Nope, not liking it so I've repainted over some of the orange and red stripes. But even so, it needs more work. The one on the left, however, sings my song! I've already added a quote.

Choosing a favorite quote, just one, that's impossible I suppose. So I didn't. Instead I picked out several used them all. In all but two I used a deep brown vinyl because I've been unable to find black vinyl in any of the local stores. 

There was a little bit of black left over from a previous project so I squeezed in this phrase that my mom used to say all the time. Even when we grew up, she would sign cards and letters, with her favorite closing: Say your prayers. I couldn't resist.

There are still a couple of boards that are painted, but cutting and weeding the letters is time-consuming. And I make mistakes that makes the process more difficult. Hopefully, I'll figure out all the steps and get it right soon. But really, I'm having fun and who knows where this might lead. For me, it's all over the place all the time. (Hmm, maybe that should go on a sign.) What do you think? Are they Pinterest-worthy or an "Epic Pinterest Fail"?

A new old ladder ~~ finished

Years ago, after my dad died, Richard was piddling around at their house and ran across this old ladder. He recognized it as being Daddy's so he decided to bring it home to (one day) make a quilt ladder from the side with the rungs. The balance side was missing several pieces. It got put in a corner of Richard's shed and forgotten. Until... 

I had gone out to ask Richard something. I rarely go out to his shed because it is just too hot! But Richard was doing something near that corner where the ladder was and I happened to see it. Oh yes! Of course, at the time life had us by the ear and there was no way either of us could take on another thing. So there it stayed. There in the corner of the shed and in the back of my mind.

Last week I climbed on a milk crate, so I could reach the top of an old crawfish burner and onto the top of a stack of wood piled on a
 
barrel (maybe?) It's much heavier than it looks, so moving it from the corner past the mountain required more muscle than I have. So I climbed farther into the corner which, admitted was a bit precarious and scary. How many snakes, rats, or opossums might I be disturbing anyway? At this point I was able to get enough leverage to move the ladder, tilt it sideways and slide it over the mountain peak and onto the dirt floor where the snakes would surely be lying in wait. 

Once the ladder was situated in the snake pit, I started the downward climb. You know how people say, "Don't look down"? How do you know where your feet are if you follow that sage advice? As I contemplated that universal question, I maneuvered contortion-like to the ladder and dragged it to the front of the shed where Richard and Adam were discussing some mundane subject. 

And that's where my story ends because, you see dear reader, Richard took over the project as I knew he would. Sure he'd have done all the climbing and whatever, but I needed to be able to claim reward for something, so I had to do something. Apparently I'm only afraid of heights when I am perfectly safe, such as in a stadium, on a real mountain, or on a balcony. 

Richard hosed off the dusty cobwebs and the following day asked me what I wanted done. I had a couple of changes: cut the top rung in half to make two quilt ladders, remove the paint shelf and use the wood to replace the missing rungs, and reinforce whatever needed reinforcing. 

Voila! Check out my quilt ladders made from my daddy's old wooden ladder with authentic scratches and paint drips and split rungs. The pictures here are of the ladder in our bedroom. The other one is in the dining room, waiting for me to put a table in storage and open a corner of the living room. It will display quilts that I'll occasionally change out.

Red is a Neutral becomes... finish

Another Red Feather. So named because, though there were other titles in the running, this quilt wanted red feather quilting. And more red feathers. And more red feathers. In fact, every inch of red is quilted in feathers, with a few scrolls to break up the monotony. 

Detail of the back...just enough
pattern to make the worst of
the quilting less noticeable.

This one serves in all manner of challenges: the Cotton Quilters' Guild block-of-the-month, in which different quilters presented a block or two from January through July, and as the AHIQ "Red Is a Neutral" challenge. 


With encouragement from Kaja and Ann at Ad Hoc Improv Quilts, I decided to combine the two. So here we are with, finally, a red quilt made from guild blocks.

Detail of some of the feathers in the red sections.

Like everyone else I started in January and worked to keep up, especially since I set the parameters for the BOM. This setting just seemed to want to be this. I tried other ideas: putting the center medallion on point and surrounding it in red, kicking it off center and adding red there, considering making other blocks to work it all out. It was not having one bit of my ideas. Then flying geese flew in and saved the day. 

Detail of some scrolls

When I say finished, I mean quilted, bound, labeled. Ready to go straight to the quilt show if it were due tomorrow! Which is good because I have tons of things to remember and to do between now and the show.

The quilt has an off-center medallion surrounded by 12 inch blocks. I decided to keep the quilting in the blocks simple since there's so much fancy stuff outside of them. I used an improv style and decided things as I drove the long-arm. 

That is the best way for me to be really happy at the machine. Just play, figure it out as I trip along, change my mind. I often just stop somewhere along the way and search my phone, or cards, or books for new motifs. I've even walked to the bedroom to look at the quilt on my bed. That's my kind of improv!

		Quilt Stats
	Name:	Another Red Feather
	Size:	54" X 54"
	Fabrics:	Fabric yardage from stash
	Pattern:	Guild BOM block patterns
	Backing:	Linens from mom's stash
	Batting:	100% Cotton
	Binding:	Red yardage to match background
	Quilting:	Feathers and straight lines
	Notes:	Made to meet AHIQ “red is a neutral” and Cotton Quilters’ BOM challenges

Getting back to LINK UPS!

I've been missing out on link ups for a while but 

decided to remedy that. At the same time 

Alycia of the Alycia Quilts - Quiltygirl blog 

is taking over Finished Or Not Fridays 

from Myra at Busy Hands Quilts. 

Best of luck, Alycia!