I've combined my home printed flower fabrics with commercial fabric in crazy quilts before, but I want to see how a quilt looks with only my own prints in it. And lace of course. And stitching, ribbonwork, beading, etc.
I made the big white flower, but purchased the pink/yellow one on the right at the Dollar Store. All is fair game in C.Q., this we know. The little orange ribbon flower and the crocheted yellow bloom in the bottom right were both purchased and tacked on, too.
These velvet leaves were from the infinitely dangerous 3rd Floor of Britex Fabrics in San Francisco. (If you click on the link, you'll see what I mean.) But I think they are pretty easy to come by. Machine applique made them go on fast.
I loved using vintage quilt blocks for the background of the photo, and know I'll be trying that again. The plaid, camo, and paisley jacquard ribbon from Ally's Bazaar helped keep the quilt fresh against that antique background.
Dear
I am so pleased to write you with exciting news. This year we will add all contest entries (this year’s and the last two year’s contests) into the Quilt Index, an online database now with over 18,000 records of contemporary and historical quilts, and soon to reach 50,000 records. The Quilt Index, a joint project of the AAQ and
I hope that this new incentive will encourage you to enter our 2009 contest- Crazy for Quilts. Full information and entry forms are available at: http://www.allianceforamericanquilts.org/projects/crazy/. This year we’re asking for the same small format (16” x 16”), and we’re celebrating the crazy quilt. As usual, all techniques, media and approaches are welcome—from traditional to artistic and all styles in between. As one member put it during our voting last year: “I appreciate the variety of techniques and designs. It's refreshing to see traditional patchwork and art quilts displayed together.”
Last year’s My Quilts/Our History quilt auction and 2007’s Put a Roof Over Our Head quilt auction raised a combined total of over $16,000. This much-needed income allows the AAQ to continue doing the important work of collecting and archiving the incredible achievements of quiltmakers like you. Thank you for playing a critical role in this effort with the contribution of your incredible quilts and stories!
If you’re not already an AAQ member, please consider joining now or when you send in your Crazy for Quilts entry. Members who join or renew for as low as $25/year can enter the contest for only $5/quilt. Another great reason to become an AAQ member is that you will become eligible to vote on the Crazy for Quilt entries (including your own). In a contest like this—the opportunity to vote for your own quilt (and maybe enlisting friends and family to join too J) can significantly increase your chances to win!!
Join online or download an order form at: http://www.allianceforamericanquilts.org/support/support.php.
Sending you best wishes and creative vibes,
Amy
All of the leaves were machine appliqued with a clear thread in a narrow zigzag.
We are all so excited about the twins' arrival!
First I appliqued a narrow border onto the front.
Next I used all my rulers to make sure my borders were pinned on straight, had good 90 degree corners, that my quilt measured the same top and bottom, and left and right.
Once the border was hand appliqued on, I couched on the row of cording along the inner edge.
Now to the "false back". Normally I use drapery lining--a spongey, somewhat loosely woven flannel--for my batting and a piece of muslin over it, basting those layers into place. This time I just used a piece of cotton quilt batting. I wanted something with slightly more body, and didn't feel I needed the muslin layer.
The "fancy back" is a lovely silk brocade...I am attaching it with buttons right over the "false back".
Next I basted the edges of all the layers together, before adding my French facing. I didn't want the various edges of the layers sliding around under my presser foot while I was machine stitching on my facing.
Once my facing was sewn on, I had to trim that inner seam so there wouldn't be a huge long lump under my turned facing.
I turned the facing toward the back, ironed it, and pinned some lace along the edge, which is being sewn in at the same time the facing is being tacked to the back.
For my label, I used Barbara Curiel's fantastic idea of using Tshirt transfer paper on a vintage hankie. "Cottage CQ" has been my working title, but "Bryant Family Cottage" is the quilt's formal name.
The finished back doesn't have its sleeve sewn on yet. I can procrastinate on that!
"Bryant Family Cottage"
She used a paper bag grocery bag for the "batting", and appliqued the outside plastic bag layer with the Macy's star and the stripes...there is an inner plastic layer, and all is machine quilted with clear thread. The top has cotton binding appliqued by hand.
Here she is with one of her woven plastic totes.
Naturally I love this one, as it is of my son, Max.
Once it was done, I realized I just couldn't stand the clunky "shading". The contrast in values between the outline beads and the inner ones was too great. I could not use it as it was, so I had nothing to lose...
I cut it out and then used my fabric markers to color the edges of the foundation around the beads.
Then I trimmed it a little more closely, being careful not to snip any of my beading threads by accident.
The yellow roses are from Susan; the fancy flower trim a gift from Betty; the waste canvas seam treatment in variegated pink/mauve was a design shared with me by Pam.
It is an adobe ranch house over 150 years old, at the entrance to a beautiful canyon. Tracy and her husband John run cattle here. They breed and train horses as well.
Along the top of the canyon grow the pinon pines that provide the needles and the pitch for her baskets. I took this picture during a horse ride she took me on. Those are the snow-covered Sangre de Christo mountains in the distance.
She gathers the needles...even storing them in her freezer to keep them fresh until she can use them. She scrapes the pitch carefully from old injuries on pinon trees. It collects in big goo balls. The injuries are usually because a porcupine has eaten the bark. Removing the excess pitch does not affect the health of the tree. The pitch has been used forever--first by Native Americans to preserve their baskets and as a finish on pottery. The Spanish settlers boiled it into a varnish that they used on wood. The pitch is melted and mixed with beeswax that she gets locally, and which smells like honey it is so rich. She brushes this liquid on the finished baskets, which are "baked" in a very low temperature oven.
They smell heavenly....for years.
She stores her baskets in a collection of old Victorian trunks. When collectors come to purchase one, they have the delight of unpacking and discovering them.
Let's do the same!
That beadwork she does along the rims is so great.
She loves to incorporate "found objects" in the lids as well.
She uses the pine needle "heads" to create patterns.
Tracy has always been an illustrator, and this horse is definitely her style.
(And why did she take that Two Needle Bead Applique class with me if she could already do work like this? She was kindly humoring me...)
In the pine needle basket world, the teacup is a form that all practitioners do their "take" on. It's a neat convention. The only comparable thing I can think of in the quilt world is how one might interpret the "Tree of Life". Everyone's is different but they are all Trees of Life, and they showcase where people are at in their quiltmaking. (I'd like to do one myself.)
Those are porcupine quills around the rims of the cup and saucer, and yes, she gathers those too.
Tracy gets plenty experimental with her work as well. The following two baskets show again how closely she is attuned to the elements in her environment.
This is paper from a paper wasp's nest, applied when the pitch was still wet. I love this.
But the last one is my all time favorite...
John had shot a rattle snake...Tracy skinned it and applied the fresh skin to the outside of one of her baskets. It "shrank to fit" and is one of the coolest things I've ever seen. If it didn't already live in Italy, I would have traded her a quilt for it. A BIG quilt!
Tracy and John were such wonderful hosts to me....it was so good to see them, and I can't wait to go back to the ranch. What fine people......
Ah, Santa Fe!
Under his grandmother's tutelage, David started beading broomsticks with pony beads when he was five years old, and he's been at it ever since.
I believe the background is called "Lazy Stitch", but the roses and butterfly use the two needle technique.
Many of these objects were made for the various Native American dances David and his family participate in. It was really fun to hear about those, too.
This includes Mickey Mouse here, for a five year old nephew's costume!
The picture applique is magnificent I think.
Those are size 22 beads in the salmon there for detail. You don't have to use the same sized beads throughout a picture.
David showed us how to draft the mandala-like designs (I wish I could remember the term for them) that he beads.
He makes it look so easy.
But they are NOT easy! So beautiful and powerful, though.
The beads are supposed to lay flat, not stick up in little bumps. That's because I made the classic beginner's mistake of trying to fit too many beads in the space available.
Oh, one last thing before I go.....I really wanted to share this photo.
My first flowers!
My block is pieced and ready to go. I've cut out petal shapes and am ready to light that flame to heat up my tools.
This really is so easy.
To create a bud, I used a small pre-made rosebud on wire for my stamen. Instead of gluing the petals on at the base, I just sewed them on one by one. That was much easier for me.
(Sorry for the fuzzy shot.) I did use a little bit of glue on the leaves of the calyx, which was cut from some ultrasuede.
These vintage velvet leaves were a little too big, so I just cut them down to a better size.
I couched down the wrapped stems and just whipstitched the leaves on.
