Atypical Angles ~ July 2018 MQG Quilt of the Month

It's that time of the year, time for the fall 2018 edition of the Blogger's Quilt Festival hosted by Amy of Amy's Creative Side. Bloggers can share two quilts of their choosing by writing a separate blog post for each quilt and linking to the festival link party.

This is Atypical Angles which was the Modern Quilt Guild's July 2018 Quilt of the Month.

The isosceles triangle blocks were assembled log-cabin style using provided templates in two sizes.

I've labeled the skill level as challenging since the quilt top was pieced in diagonal rows which allows the triangles to be shifted to your liking.  Can you identify the diagonal rows?

Atypical Angles was all quilted on my Bernina 153 using the walking foot in parallel lines.  In the background, I used Aurifil cotton 40wt and inside the triangles Aurifil 50wt was used.  In the quilt stats below you will find the Aurifil weights and colors used for Atypical Angles. 

I changed the direction of the the quilting and varied the width of parallel lines in each section of the quilt for interest.

There was a lot of marking and quilt wrangling when quilting Atypical Angles.  Tying off and burying threads is not my favorite, so, many times, I traveled over previously quilted lines and turned the quilt back and forth where I could.  That way, one entire section could be quilted at a time without burying any threads.

I loved working with the Modern Batiks by Studio E Fabrics.  I was instantly drawn to the Pencil Dashes in Lime when I saw it in my local Bernina quilt shop.  The background Triangles in Light Gray.  The binding is Triangles in Peacock.

Here's another shot taken at the same industrial building.  I thought the roll-up door in three shades of gray was interesting but I ended up using the same painted wall shown in this post and this one.

I'm excited that Atypical Angles will be hanging at QuiltCon 2019 taking place in Nashville, TN.

Many thanks to Cheryl (Meadow Mist Designs) for drawing the pattern illustrations and to Cheryl and Patty (Elm Street Quilts) for reading through the pattern and offering suggestions.

If you are a member of the MQG, Atypical Angles is available here on the MQG new website.


Quilt Stats

• Finished size: 52" x 70" 
• Pattern: Atypical Angles - MQG July 2018 Quilt of the Month 
• Fabrics: Studio E Modern Batiks referenced above
• Thread: Aurifil 50wt in Medium Gray 2605 for piecing; Aurifil  40wt in Medium Gray 2605 for quilting the background; and Aurifil 50wt in Light Leaf Green 1147 and Dark Turquoise 4182 for quilting the triangles.    
• Quilting design: parallel lines in various widths  
• Batting: 100% Cotton Warm & White by the Warm Company
• Completed: July 1, 2018

Please visit the Blogger's Quilt Festival over at Amy's Creative Side taking place September 17 - 24, 2018 where you can post two of your quilts (new blog posts written this week) and see the other beautiful quilts entered in the festival.

  

Birds in the Air ~ From Bald Eagle to Buzzard

The Greenville Modern Quilt Guild issued a Birds in the Air challenge back in April with the entries due at the August 2017 meeting.  After much shuffling, rearranging and resizing of the traditional Birds in the Air quilt block in EQ7, I finally decided on this layout which became the final quilt.

The Challenge Rules

1.  Interpret the Birds in the Air quilt block into a design of your choosing.  We were directed to the Birds in the Air tutorial by Nicole at Mama Loves Quilts.

Image by Nicole at Mama Loves Quilts

2.  Size not to exceed 36" on any side (qualifies for the small quilts category at QuiltCon)

3.  Incorporate at least three (3) of the eight modern design elements listed below:

• bright/graphic color palette
• negative space ✅
• minimalism
• no borders ✅
• improvisational piecing
• alternate grid work
• asymmetry
• exaggerated scale ✅

The Design

Coming up with a design was the hardest part since I had to incorporate 3 of the modern elements.   If I used exaggerated scale, I would automatically have another element, negative space.  And a design with no borders would take care of a 3rd element.

I decided to break down the triangles into smaller Birds in the Air blocks.  Think about the the math sequence 1, 3, 9, 27, 81 and so on where each sequential number is multiplied by 3.

For designing in EQ7 it was easier to to create the largest white triangle from HSTs and plain squares but that's not how it was pieced.  The triangle was created by cutting one large triangle on the diagonal.  I didn't want any seam lines to interfere with the quilting.

This photo was taken the Tuesday before the Saturday deadline of August 12th.  The deadline was quickly approaching.

The Fabrics

I used only Hoffman Indah Batiks in the construction.  The gray print is Stitches in Pebble.  The white is even an Indah Solid in Zinc.  In each of the nine smallest Birds in the Air blocks I added  one colored triangle for a little variation.

The Quilting

I shouldn't have said coming up with the design was the hardest part because choosing a quilting design(s) is by far the biggest challenge for me with any project.  Here's a rough sketch of what I decided to quilt.

I decided to outline the small triangles which finished at 1 1/4" by stitching in the ditch as much as possible.  For the medium size triangles I quilted one roof top design in each triangle. I like how a chevron design was created across the blocks.

I created more birds in the air by ghost quilting in the negative space.  I did the dense back and forth free hand and it shows.

I was originally planning to quilt only the parallel lines in the large triangles but when I was through, it was a little sparse.  So now what?  Well, since this was a Birds in the Air challenge I had the idea of quilting bird names on some of the lines.  After all, I had some experience with quilting letters when I made the Cursive is a Fading Art quilt.

Like with Cursive, I tried to choose bird names without t's and i's but I had too many spaces to fill.  Some of the bird names are raven, bluebird, owl, Carolina wren, hawk, pigeon, quail, cardinal, woodpecker, blackbird, bluebird, dove, blue jay and the list goes on.  I think there are 28 different names altogether.  I wrote out every single bird name using a water soluble marker.

  On alternating lines, I quilted loops.

You can barely make it out here, but the first bird name I quilted was bald eagle.

And the very last bird name quilted was buzzard in the bottom corner.

As with most of my quilting, I used Aurifil 50 wt.  The white is 2024 and for the gray I used 2625 Arctic Ice which you can see in this instagram post along with the weekly block for The Quilter's Planner.

The Binding

Wanting to binding to be gray on two sides and white on the other two sides, I decided to give the No Tails binding method by Linda at Flourishing Palms a try.  It ended up being a little challenge of its own.

Since I definitely didn't want to cut off any of the points on those little birds on left and top sides, I made the binding very narrow.  I cut the binding strips 7/8" wide.  I think that alone contributed to the difficulty.  Turning those little corners were quite fiddly.

If you are a member of the Modern Quilt Guild, Linda did a webinar titled No-Tails Binding Mitered Corners by Machine.  It's available under resources of the Community tab on the MQG website.

I finished sewing down the binding by hand on the morning of the challenge deadline and still hadn't titled the quilt.  It wasn't until later that I decided on the name From Bald Eagle to Buzzard.  I was thrilled to win 2nd place in the challenge and you can see all of the Birds in the Air challenge quilts HERE at the Greenville MQG.

When Yvonne at Quilting Jetgirl wrote about the MQG charity quilt she and the Blue Moon Quilters were working on, I couldn't help but notice the similarities in our designs.

Quilt Stats

• Finished size: 34" x 34" 
• Pattern: Original design using the traditional Birds in the Air quilt block
• Fabrics: Hoffman Indah batiks
• Thread: Aurifil 50 wt. in White 2024 and Arctic Ice 2625
• Quilting design: stitch in the ditch, straight lines, cursive writing and loops
• Batting: 100% Cotton Warm & White by the Warm Company
• Completed: August 2017

Linking this week to:

Needle and Thread Thursday

Finish It Up Friday

Whoop Whoop Friday

Show off Saturday

Magnolia Mystery Progress

For Main Crush Monday I thought I would share my progress on Magnolia Mystery sponsored by Cheryl at Meadow Mist Designs.  That's a  lot of M's for one sentence.

I challenged myself to shop my stash for all of the fabrics and I did.  I only had enough yardage of one batik, the green, which will be the background (Fabric D).

The two lighter batiks will be Fabrics A and B with the spotted one being Fabric A.  I wanted to reverse these and make the spots Fabric B but there wasn't enough.  I just realized I didn't include Fabric C in my photographs but I've chosen a brown, another batik, as Fabric C.  I'll show it next time.

So far we've cut the half-square triangles and I have a pile of trimming to show for it.

And, here are the finished half-square triangles (HSTs) all trimmed and neatly stacked.

So far so good as the next round of instructions comes out this Thursday, October 5th.  Excited to have kept up to this point I'm linking to Beth at Cooking Up Quilts for MCM #90.

Mustard Stain Goes to QuiltCon

When Mustard Stain was started on November 18th, I didn't know if I would have time to complete it by the November 30th deadline or if my idea would even work since I had very little batiking experience.

But here it is...I did finish it by the QuiltCon entry deadline AND it was juried in the the show AND it even won a 3rd place ribbon in the APQ Nine-Patch Challenge.  I was thrilled!

Our MQG's vice president, Faye, asked the board members over to her studio for a day of surface design and play.  Since we had batiked silk scarves with soy wax resist in her studio before, I was familiar with that process and thought I might could some how incorporate that technique into my nine patch challenge.  The scarf dyeing post is here.

Faye had some square cookie cutters in graduating sizes and I thought they would be perfect for my idea of stamping some nine-patches.  I started with 1 1/2 yards of Hoffman You + Me solid batik in zinc which was really white and I stamped away with the soy wax.

Faye sent me home with some Procion dyes in turquoise and chartreuse.  I got home and researched the basics on how to use the dye and started right away.  It was tricky because the soy wax melts at a much lower temperature than other wax.  I think that's the reason the turquoise stamps are not at clear.  This is what the fabric looked like once it was dyed and the wax was removed.  

Batiked fabric using soy wax resist and Procion dyes

I sketched out a design idea and realized I needed to add some turquoise lines between my 'nine' patches to define the bigger nine-patch.  This is my 4" x 4" sketch which was drawn on the back of the Procion dye instructions I had just printed out.  Don't you love my labeling...rather than large, I labeled the stamped nine patches small, medium and BIG.  I think C stands for chartreuse.  

Mustard Stain design sketch

I started cutting and piecing, without much planning, added an asymmetrical border and before too long I had a finished quilt top.  This picture was taken on November 20th around noon, so I didn't waste any time.  Maybe improv is easier when you don't have time to think about it. I guess this is planned improv when I had a sketch from which to work.  It was still all cut with a rotary ruler and cuter, no free hand for me.

Mustard Stain finished top 

Now, how was I to quilt this, my biggest dilemma with every quilt.  I guess I thought about for awhile because this picture was taken on November 21st at 10 am.  And for me, the safest bet is straight line quilting with the walking foot.  I had the idea of quilting it in the chartreuse color and forming one more nine-patch with turquoise thread.  Here I'm auditioning placement of the turquoise lines.

Auditioning quilting path

  

I thought about the binding before I quilted it and knew I would be cutting it close on fabric.  I had the idea of adding a bit of the turquoise in the binding along the right side where the large or BIG nine patch was.  Can you see I had to piece it?

Auditioning turquoise in the binding

Here's a picture taken after the quilting was completed on November 23rd late in the afternoon.  I quilted the four turquoise lines in each direction and then drew a line diagonally to give me a guide as to where to stop and pivot 90 degrees to echo quilt to the edge.  The lines are 1/2" apart and I used the edge of the walking foot as a guide.

Mustard Stain after quilting

I almost always block my quilts and needed to remove the blue marking lines so I dunked it in the washer spun it out.  I fluffed it in the dryer for just a bit and proceeded with blocking.  I did it the same afternoon so it could dry over night and be ready to bind soon after.

Here's were disaster almost struck.  I walked back in the room after 30 minutes or so and the turquoise had bled all into the chartreuse.  I was sick, especially after coming this far.  I had no choice but wash it and try to remove the dye.  I washed it a couple times in very hot water with synthrapol (designed to take our excess dye in the wash) and blocked it second time.  Thank goodness, no bleeding this time.

I was running very short on fabric. Improv is just seems wasteful to me, maybe that's another reason it's hard for me to do.  When I pieced the binding, it ended up with 15 joins with the grainline going crosswise and lengthwise.  This is detail shot that I inclued with the QuiltCon submission.  I decided on this shot because you can see the nine patch formed by the turquoise thread and the binding detail.

Mustard Stain detail

Here's the full shot.  You can barely see where I included the fabric which had been stamped along the bottom and left side of the quilt.

Mustard Stain by Paige Alexander

And you can see the Kaffe Fassett print for the backing and a partial shot of the label.

From all the creative nine-patch quilts in the category, I was excited that Mustard Stain placed 3rd in the APQ Nine-Patch Challenge.  The ribbon matches quite well.  I didn't hear who made the ribbons, but thank you!

American Patchwork & Quilting Nine-Patch Challenge 3rd place ribbon 

American Patchwork & Quilting generously sent the finalists a bundle of their latest publications.  Thanks APQ!

QuitCon was a blast and I hope to share more soon!  You can see all the 2017 QuiltCon winners here.


Quilt Stats:

• Finished size: 33" x 33" 
• Pattern: Original design with one pieced and hand stamped nine-patches forming one large nine-patch with an asymmetrical border
• Fabrics: Hand batiked and dyed fabrics using fiber reactive Procion dyes
• Thread: Quilting - Aurifil 5022 Mustard and 2810 Turquoise
• Quilting design: Echoing straight line with walking foot
• Batting: 100% Cotton Warm & White by the Warm Company
• Completed: November 2016

Linking up to Finish Up Friday, Whoop Whoop Friday, Fabric Frenzy Friday, Finished or Not Friday and Show Off Saturday.

Indah Batik Solids

I couldn't resist the sale at Hancock's of Paducah when I saw the Hoffman Me + You Indah Solids at a great price.

I just love batiks for their higher thread count which means less fraying and when machine appliqueing a smaller stitch width can be used.

I've made two projects this year from the Hoffman Indah batiks already, the Well Ronded Single Girl quilt and an Outlined Plus mini quilt.

There were so many from which to choose, but ended up going with some beautiful greens and blues. The colors from top to bottom are (I think):

• Chartreuse
• Pistachio
• Sea Breeze
• Kelly
• Teal
• Seahorse

If you'd like to try or stock up on the Hoffman Indah batiks, it looks like the sale is still going on at Hancock's.

Linking up to the 200th Sunday Stash.  There's a celebration going on over there, so join in on the fun.

Throwback Thursday #7: Leaves Art Quilts

I'll say right off, I'm no art quilter.  So, back in 2008, when my local guild offered a monthly class/discussion to go through the Art Quilt Workbook, I signed up. We went through a chapter each month where the exercises focused on the elements and principals of design learning new techniques along the way.

For Throwback Thursday and with it being fall, I'm sharing two mini quilts made while working through the exercises from the book, both measuring 9" x 12".

In the first one, I remember us covering freehand curved piecing and flange insertion.

Leaves II art quilt

Here you can see the green flange added and the curved piecing.

Leaves I

Leaves I

I was trying to show perspective by adding the shadow below the leaf, but when in nature have you seen a perfectly flat leaf with its perfect shadow.

I had just learned to pebble quilt and I was brave enough to add the swirly feathers to portray the wind on breezy fall day.  Straight lines were added to the top and bottom borders.

I probably should review the book again.

Art Quilt Workbook by Jane Dávila and Elin Waterston

On the second mini quilt, it contains 'found objects'.  The square ceramic buttons were purchased at a street festival.  They may be a little chunky for this piece, but I used the square shape and extended it into the quarter log cabin blocks.

Leaves II

One chapter covered border options and I extended the log cabin block out into the border.  I repeated the leaf theme of the buttons in to the border by quilting continuous leaves all around.  I quilted just straight lines in the log cabin blocks not necessarily following a particular path.

You may not can tell from the photo, but I used seed beeds on the thread to sew on the buttons.  If it weren't for the colors and muddy batiks, this could almost be a modern 'ish' little quilt.

And one more with the birdhouse made from a gourd hanging from the tree.

Now head on over to A Quarter Inch from the Edge to see other makes from the quilty past.