20 Quilters Ave

The Quilt Alliance extended the deadline for the Twenty Quilt contest to June 1st but it turns out I didn’t need the extra time…

20 Quilters Ave
hand dyed cotton,machine quilted
20″x20″

The Twenty theme was a rather challenging one to work with because it’s so broad but after 4 full size sketches of ideas I finally settled on the one you see above. Here’s a couple details shots:

detail of 20 Quilters Ave

Find out more about the Quilt Alliance and how you can make and donate a quilt to help support this very worthy organization here.

Tutti Frutti Doghouses

Remember my post a few weeks back when I talked about the evolution of a quilt and I showed you this sketch:

well here’s the finished quilt:

Tutti Frutti Doghouses

36″x 72″hand dyed cotton,machine quilted

and a couple of close ups:

I mentioned a couple of months ago that I was working on a very big exciting project that I couldn’t talk about. Well the the time has come and I can finally share my news with you. Last week I took a very exciting trip to Cleveland –why? To tape a workshop DVD and some episodes of Quilting Arts tv!

I packed my camera but I was so caught up in the excitement that I forgot to take it out of my bag! Judy Perez and I were taping on the same day (you can read her blog post about it here) so we rode to the studio together but first we had to scrape the snow off the car –it was cold in Cleveland. I scraped since I’m used to that sort of thing living in New England and so that Judy could take photos…

(photo courtesy of Judy Perez)

Then it was off to the studio. Here’s what the set looks like:

(Photo courtesy of Chery Sleboda)

I taped two segments. The first was on creating these pet postcards:

and the second on creating this table runner:

and here I am in the green room cleaning up and getting ready to go into the studio to record my first workshop DVD!

(photo courtesy of Judy Perez)

The DVD is a little over an hour long and it’s all about creating a tutti frutti lane quilt:

the DVD will cover everything from dyeing the fabric all the way through putting on the binding and it should be released some time in August of this year!

The evolution of a quilt

It all starts on the pages of my sketchbook. An idea forms in my head (in this case it was the idea to do a Tutti Frutti Doghouse quilt) and some very rough scribbles are made on the page…

Then the sketches get a little more refined and some color is added…

Then a full scale rendition of the sketches are made…This is going to be a big quilt measuring about 36″x 70″. The full scale drawing gives me an opportunity to make sure that the scale of all the major elements on the quilt are the right size and that the overall vision is going to translate the way I want it to into a quilt. Then the quilt making process begins…

I like to quilt as I go…

back in a week or two with the finished quilt!

mug rugs and Quilting Arts

I have an article in the April/May 2013 issue of Quilting Arts which is now available for pre-order here or digital download here. My article includes the directions to make these coffee cup mug rugs:

They’re 5″square and a great way to use up some of those pre-fused scraps that I had piling up in a bin next to my cutting table.

and they make terrific gifts when tied up with a ribbon in groups of four…

and they make nice little thank you gifts when tied up with a bow in groups of four…

Tutti Frutti Lane II and my etsy shop

After much thought I have decided to close my etsy shop. I opened my shop back in 2008 because I wanted an easy way to sell the books and journals that I was making. At this point I’m pretty focused on creating wall art and paypal makes it so easy to sell directly from my website that it doesn’t make sense to pay the Etsy listing fees so from here on out I will just sell my work directly from my website. I’ll be making several new things available for purchase in April and one of them will be this new Tutti Frutti Lane quilt that I finished a couple of days ago:

Tutti Frutti Lane II –24″x24″

hand dyed cotton,machine quilted

I have been busy busy busy in the studio the last 3 weeks working on a project that I’ll be able to share with you later this month. I have managed to sneak in a couple of small projects here and there like the quilt above and I made some new postcards for the Festival Pet Project this year:

I made some postcards for last years sale too. Having always adopted our dogs from rescue organizations it is a cause I feel very strongly about and I was happy to make some more cards to support the pet project again this year. Get all the information on the pet project and how you can make and donate some cards here.

Tutti frutti lane mini

I know I have hardly posted much this year but it’s because all of the things I’ve been working on I can’t share photos of publicly just yet. This past week I finished something I can show you:

Tutti Frutti Lane 2:20″x20″
Hand dyed cotton,raw edge fused applique,machine quilted,

This is a miniature version of my larger Tutti Frutti Lane quilt that measures 40″x40″. Why did I make a miniature version? Well it’s for a very exciting new project that I will be revealing the details about in March so you’ll have to wait a few weeks before I can tell you about it…

Book review:Rotary Cut Applique

Rotary Cut Applique with Leaves Galore Templates
An illustrated owners manual for the Leaves Galore Templates
Author:Sue Pelland
ISBN:9780988427914

Available at: Sue Pelland Designs

Even if you’re not already a fan of working with appliqué once you flip through this book you will be. Sue Pelland has created not only a manual for working and creating beautiful appliqué quilts with her Leaves Galore Templates but she’s created a book filled with pages of beautiful eye candy that you can’t help but be inspired by.

The name of the Leaves Galore template rulers lead you to believe that the only shape you can cut with these templates are leaf shapes but there are an amazing array of cutting options for these rulers and that’s where Sue’s book comes in. The book opens with a chapter on Fusible Applique Basics that shows you step by step directions for pre-fusing all your fabrics using Mistyfuse before any cutting begins. Chapters 2 and 3 walk you through using and mastering the cutting techniques. You’ll learn how to cut a standard leaf shape as well as “S” and “Z” shaped curve leaves,lemon leafs,and how to cut vines. Chapter 4 will show you how to use these shapes to create tulips,poinsettias,sunflowers,water lily’s,daisies,ribbons,ropes and butterflies. Chapter 5 illustrates using the rulers to cut fabric frames and Chapters 6 and 7 show you how to create your own unique fabrics using curvy rows of various fabrics and give you ideas for using finishing stitches for your appliqué pieces.The last two chapters in the book are about using the templates to finish your quilts and include directions for creating quilting designs with them as well as fines,serpentine and scalloped edges. The rest of the book (pages 55 through 78) includes directions for 5 different quilt projects. The books appendix includes tables that will help you determine how much fabric you will need for the projects you create on your own using the shapes cut with the templates.

There are so many techniques and creative ways to use the templates in this book that it’s sure to become a go to reference you’ll refer back to again and again. Each technique and project is illustrated with clear full color photographs and examples and the book is filled with images of beautiful quilts which not only serve to illustrate the techniques but will also inspire you as well.

Purchase this book through Sue Pelland Designs here.

Stencil Winner!

The winner of the stencils from Terri Stegmiller and Stencil Girl Products (chosen by random draw) is:

Kathleen Wilson

Kathleen please email at sue@suebleiweiss.com with your mailing address so we can get your stencils shipped out to you right away. Thank you to everyone who stopped by and left a comment for a chance to win!

Shrink plastic book

I recently received a box of products from the people over at Grafix Arts and in the box was a package of this:

Shrink plastic! I got it in my head that I wanted to make a book with it so I prepped a couple of sheets for shrinking. The first thing I did was to rough up the surface of the shrink plastic with some sandpaper and then I painted it:

I used a full sheet (8 1/2″x 11″) and I painted it with a layer of Lumiere Metallic Rust. I rubbed the paintbrush over the surface and then waited a minute and rubbed off the excess with a paper towel. Then I added a layer of Lumiere Metallic Bronze on top and did the same thing rubbing off the excess with a paper towel. I did this to both sides and then when the sheet was dry I used a hole punch to punch holes about an 1″apart along the long edge. You have to poke the holes in the sheet before you shrink it otherwise if you try to do it after it’s shrunk the plastic cracks.

I shrunk the plastic between two pieces of parchment paper –you definitely want to put a piece of parchment paper on top of the plastic while it’s shrinking because it helps to keep the plastic from curling back and sticking to itself during shrinking. The full size sheets shrunk from 8 1/2″x 11″to 3 1/2″x 5″! Once the sheets were shrunk I used them to create a coptic stitch book:

a close up:

I remember having fun playing with shrink plastic when I was a kid and it’s still fun to play with!

About me

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Categories

Archives

20 Quilters Ave

Tutti Frutti Doghouses

Adventures in Cleveland

The evolution of a quilt

mug rugs and Quilting Arts

Tutti Frutti Lane II and my etsy shop

Tutti frutti lane mini

Book review:Rotary Cut Applique

Stencil Winner!

The winner of the stencils from Terri Stegmiller and Stencil Girl Products (chosen by random draw) is:

Kathleen Wilson

Shrink plastic book

My book available at

Make your own Silk Screens!