Procrastination by Unicorn

I have upcoming deadlines.  But none of them are absolute.  I haven't got a contract, I haven't promised anything to anyone, they are just things I 'should do', or perhaps 'could do' is more accurate.

For example, Aotearoa Quilter's Great NZ Quilt Show is coming up in March next year (mark your calendars - it's on 8th to the 10th March, in Rotorua, which is a great place to visit.)  The deadline for submitting a quilt is 14th February 2018.  Ages away, right?!  Well, not so, when I factor in upcoming travel, Christmas, camping and work.  I really only have a few weeks to work on something new, and I have a couple of other exhibitions I'd like to enter too, and they have similar deadlines.

So am I knuckling down and getting to it?  Nope.  I'm playing!

If you didn't already know, I sell a dragon applique pattern on Etsy.  I've had it there for years (I made the dragon quilt for my son's sixth birthday and he's now 14) and it ticks away nicely, giving me a little passive income for the original work I put in to drawing and writing it up.

Now that Dear Hubby is semi-retired, I'm looking for ways to boost our income a bit, without me having to drastically up my midwifery work.  And I've always wanted to make a unicorn....

But unicorns aren't serious!  They're flighty, silly work that 'real artists' wouldn't do, right?!  Well, stuff it.  Real artists have gotta eat, and if I can make a buck or two from some fun, flighty, silly work, then it's still work in my mind.  And if can give someone joy by helping them make a unicorn for a grandkiddy or someone else special, then that's pretty satisfying too.

I started by drawing.  I looked at lots of images of horses and sketched parts from several that appealed, putting them all together into a pleasing image.  Then I added the flourishes like the horn and fluffy hooves and the glamorous 'blowing in the wind' mane.  It took several hours, on and off, to get it looking exactly how I wanted it.

Once the sketch was finalised, I tidied it up and used my photocopier to enlarge it to the size I wanted.  Then I traced each section, working out the order of what piece would go under or over it's neighbour (neigggghhhhbour....sorry, couldn't resist!)

Then it was fun with fabric time!  My first layout was pretty good.  I used a couple of my ombre/variegated hand-dyed fat quarters, which worked really well.  But once I looked at him in a photograph, I realised I wanted more contrast in the mane.  Luckily I hadn't ironed anything down (I'm doing fusible raw-edge applique) and I was able to swap out a couple of mane sections for a lighter colour.  Much better.

Then I worked on the background.  He needed a place to stand on, and who doesn't look dramatic silhouetted against the full moon?

Next I'll be stitching him down and quilting, and then finishing him off as a wall hanging.  And lastly I'll write him up as a pattern and get him all loaded up ready for sale....but maybe not before I procrastinate by unicorn a little more.  After all, we need to know what he'd look like in a different colour way!

Charlotte Yde, Sharon Bradley and Lynda Brocklehurst on The NZ Quilt Show Podcast

This podcast episode continues my National Quilt Symposium theme with several shorter interviews conducted amongst the hustle and bustle of symposium itself.  Enjoy!

Charlotte Yde is a talented textile artist from Denmark who made the long trip to New Zealand to teach at the National Quilt Symposium 2017.  Charlotte is a delightful woman who generously shared with me the process of making her quilt, 'Life Cycle - Albatross', that was hanging in the tutor's exhibition.

'Life Cycle - Albatross' by Charlotte Yde

Charlotte's quilt reflects the life cycle of the albatross and also comments on the environmental situation of this endangered species.

'Life Cycle - Albatross' detail of the reflective thread (can you see the wing of the flying albatross)

The photo above shows the reflective thread that you hear me ohhh and ahhh over in the podcast.  One of the processes Charlotte uses is deconstructed screen printing, you can learn more about deconstructed screen printing here.

Sharon Bradley from Waitomo SewWorms spoke to me about her merchant stand at Symposium and about her new fusible appliqué product developed by herself called Fusamat.

I love her Kiwi can-do attitude where she saw a product her husband was using in his work as an electrician, thought that it would be awesome for quilting, and then went ahead turned it into a new and exciting tool for us to use.

'France 1917' by Lynda Brocklehurst 

Lynda Brocklehurst was the winner of the postcard challenge.  We discuss what the postcard challenge was all about, what the story behind Lynda's postcard was and we also have a thoughtful discussion about some of the other postcards that were on display.

You can learn more about the embroidered postcards from World War II here.

Thank you to everyone who supports this podcast and helps me tell the stories of our quiltmakers, artists and professionals.  If you would like to support me, head over to iTunes and leave a five star review, pop over to my podbean hosting site and leave a donation, or consider advertising your business by sponsoring an episode.  Email me at theslightlymadquiltlady@gmail.com  Cheers!

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Podcast - Interview with Sharon Keightley of Pine Valley Quilts

Sharon Keightley, of Pine Valley Quilts, is a blogger, quilter and pattern designer.  Sharon adores reproduction and vintage fabrics and she creates beautiful quilt designs that usually incorporate both piecing and appliqué.

Sharon has previously taught classes on her appliqué techniques and she generously shares her knowledge of all things quilty on her blog.  Even though our styles differ greatly, I think Sharon's quilts are just beautiful and I always enjoy reading her process posts.

You can find Sharon on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram and her website is comprehensive with a shop offering PDF patterns for download plus Sharon's informative blog.

From July Sharon is also offering something new and exciting for her.  My Home Town Quilt will be running as a free block of the month for six months.  Here's the quilt, an exclusive design by Sharon, so head over to her website to download the first set of instructions.

Sharon and I talked about the business of pattern writing and selling and how she found her niche.  We discussed her evolution into designing and how her creative process works, along with lots of information on the 'how-tos' as well.

I had a great time talking to Sharon and I think you'll enjoy our talk too.  So have a listen and go visit Sharon over at Pine Valley.  You won't be disappointed!



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Organic, Modern, Graphic Quilts! OMG quilts, a new idea?

Helen Godden is an Australian quilt artist (find my podcast interview with her here), who has been working with a couple of colleagues - Suzanne Hyland and Michelle Pearson - on a new idea.  She calls it OMG!  This stands for organic, modern, graphic quilts - a variation within the modern quilting movement.  There is a OMG Facebook group that was started in April and it's been growing with exponential speed.  Currently there are 895 members.

I'll let Helen tell you more about the birth of the idea:

"Teaching at Handi Quilter academy Utah 2014, Suzanne and I were discussing the sweeping popularity of the Modern Quilting style. For me I love the space and importance given to lots of free-motion quilting but ...anyone who knows me knows...I don't piece! Piecing seems to be fairly integral to Modern quilting.
As always my mouth engages before my brain has slipped into gear and I thought out loud and said "Why does Modern have to be pieced? Why can't it be more organic?" I jumped up, grabbed a marker and wrote OMG in  large letters on the white board and announced 'Organic Modern Graphic quilts.'"

Helen presented the idea at the Canberra Modern Quilt Group in April and it was suggested she start a Facebook group.

The idea behind the Facebook group is to encourage members to make OMG quilts, Helen calls it,"a non-profit quilting stimulator".  There are quite strict guidelines as to what constitutes an OMG piece (appliqué, non-pictorial, size restrictions, quilting integral to the design etc) but, if it fits within the criteria, it is accepted as an OMG quilt and awarded an OMG order of creation number.

Helen's OMG quilt called OMG #4 UBER, just won first place in the Negative Space category of the Kiama Modern Quilt Show.  OMG quilts #1, #2 and #3 were also all created by Helen, although #3 is now known as 'Onion formerly known as OMG #3', which reflects a guideline change that occurred later on.  OMG #5 was created by founder Michelle Pearson, but from #6 onwards there is a whole variety of creators.

This is Coral's OMG quilt, called OMG #14 I'll be Clammed!  Coral, a quilter living in Australia (find her at @coralquilts on Twitter and Instagram) talks about making it: "I was having a pretty stressful week, so busting out an OMG was a great stress reliever.  I always wanted to make a clamshell quilt, but paper piecing was a lot of work, so I decided to use the raw edge appliqué technique to do it on my OMG instead."

Normally, really strict rules turn me off.  But, as Twyla Tharp talks about in her book "The Creative Habit" sometimes restrictions can really spark the creative juices.  And, judging by the popularity of the group and the number of OMG quilts being made (33 at last count, and this doesn't include the OMG children, which are quilts made from the offcuts and leftovers of the parent OMG), it appeals to other quilters too.

Coral states,"I think the appeal is the freedom of the raw edge appliqué.  Any shape you want to make.  Also you can make them pretty quickly, while still doing some fun and exciting FMQ."

I think another aspect that appeals to me is that this seems to be something new.  A new concept, which is pretty hard to find in this world today.  And I don't mean making appliqué, abstract quilts is new, but the whole OMG group etc is new, just like the modern quilting movement was new and appealing when it first appeared as a concept.

Perhaps it is also the sense of community that in attractive?  I think there is a bit of breakdown in some of the traditional forms of clubs and guilds, and Facebook, Instagram and Twitter groups are replacing that sense of belonging we get from hanging out with people who 'get' what we do.  And how could I forget to mention blogs!  I don't know where I'd be without my blog followers!

So I watched for a little while to get the concept and then I jumped in and decided to make one.  I'm working with the second to largest size allowed, 30 x 40 inches.  My design started with free cut circles but I wanted to make the background an integral part of the design instead of plain fabric (I hate BB's - boring backgrounds), so I cut background pieces out of several different neutral fabrics and one orange/brown linen napkin that just jumped up and demanded in.  These backgrounds were glue basted to the back of the circles and excess cut away to reduce bulk.

Now I'm busy quilting, and I tell you - this much concentrated free motion quilting is really improving my skills!  Once it's done, I'll have to submit it for consideration by HHH (hard hat Helen) and see if it is approved for an OMG number.  It's an interesting process - kinda like seeing if your quilt is juried into a show.  Helen often provides a critique, which I think expands the thought processes about what an OMG quilt is, and what area that particular OMG quilt either excelled in or perhaps needed more work in.

So what do you think about the concept of OMG?  Am I right in thinking that it's something new?  Are you part of OMG, and if you are, what appeals to you about it?  The Facebook group is called OMG quilts - go take a look and let me know your thoughts.

Lily's Quilt

A little while ago, Lily sent me an email requesting an appliqué pattern of my Tui (a native New Zealand bird) that she had seen on my blog (or maybe Pinterest?) and also asking if I had a Kiwi pattern.  I drew and wrote them up for her and sent them off.

Lily was kind enough to send me a picture of her finished quilt.  I was so impressed that I wrote back asking permission to share her picture and her story and she generously agreed.  Lily wrote:

"Hello Charlotte

Remember me? you very kindly sent me the pattern for your Tui bird together with the Kiwi and another.

I have finished my quilt for my friend and sent it over-seas. She has got delivery of the quilt last week and the first thing she did was cry - she loved it ! Phew it was such a challenge for me being new to applique but in the end I was glad it turned out ok. You will see that I have used Jenny Hunter designs out of NZ Quilter which I could get back copies from our library. I have been in touch with Jenny Hunter and will also be sending her a copy of this e-mail.

Kind regards

Lily"

Lily took my patterns and turned them into her own.  The Tui on the left middle and the kiwi on the right middle are my designs, but she added koru (spirals) to them to make them work with the rest of the panels.  How fantastic!  It was really fulfilling to see someone inspired by my designs, but use them to create something special and unique.

Thanks Lily!

Retrospective: Tweet Quilt

I was working with my students last night at the beginner quiltmaking classes I run (last one - they gave me chocolates to say thank you!!), when it occurred to me that I never showed the full pictures of the commission quilt I made back in September last year.

I was using one of the birds as an appliqué pattern for my students and they really liked it so I wanted to show them pictures of the quilt it came from.

What was tricky about this quilt was all the fabrics.  The woman who I was making it for asked her friends to bring pieces of fabrics to the little girl's second birthday party with the intention of putting them into a 'keeping quilt'.  Of course, because they all came from different people, none of the fabrics were particularly coordinating!

I had a pinterest board to work from, which was a big help in designing the quilt.  Adding lots of white space made most of the fabrics play nicely with each other.  Then I used all the NZ themed fabrics on the back with a black and white strip, black and white being very 'NZ' colours.

There was a woollen scarf in the bunch of fabrics and the suggestion was to use this for a tree branch, which I was nervous about but it worked out great.

I added more fabrics from my own stash to bridge between some of the original fabrics and I had great fun drawing up different bird shapes.  And the one last fabric that I just couldn't make it go with anything else, I made into a bag to put the quilt in.

It's the first time I've made prairie points and they were so much fun!  I think they added lots of texture to the quilt and really finished off that central image.

I free-motion quilted it with wavy lines in the sky, grass like lines in the foreground and a line of loops and a line of flowers in the border.  I also added the child's initial, a dragonfly, a heart and a leaf into the corners for whimsy.

I changed my bobbin thread colours as I went so you would see the 'picture' on the back too.

I machine bound the edges, because I was running out of time and I think it's a stronger finish for a child's quilt.  And then, to finish it all off, I made a little doll quilt for the girl's dolls.  And I still gasp at how cute that is!  How about that striped binding?!

So there you have it.  It was a great challenge and I was incredibly nervous about whether they would like it or not, but I had a wonderful message back about how much she loved it.  Yay!

Hope you enjoyed the pictures.

My Oldest Work-In-Progress

I think this is my oldest WIP, but I'm not about to scrummage around in my cupboards to prove it one way or another.  I know it is at least four and a half years old because I have pictures of it laid out on the floor of my old house...so perhaps five or six years?  Ok, I just went and checked the date on those photos.....2003.  Hmmm, needs to get finished.

It's big.  So the design floor was brought into use.  There is actually not much to do.  I have to finish buttonhole stitching (machine) some of those leaves in the border, then attach the border to finish the little bits of bell flower applique in the corners.

And I want to rework the bird's wing.  This central design is from one of Material Obsession's books.  I can't remember which one - it was from the library.  But my husband said it looks like a chicken drumstick, and now that's ALL I see!  Blast him!

So I wonder how old those little yellow bits of post-it note are?  I've had to safety pin them on because they've lost their sticky, but they've marked the corners well, I would have been in a pickle with which corner was which if I didn't have them.  

My goal is to have this top finished by the end of the week.  Then it can move into the waiting-to-be-quilted pile.  Shall we look at what's in that pile?  No, that could be overwhelming....!

And thank you for your thoughts on my last post.  I think I just need more doing and less thinking ;)

School holidays are upon us once more.

I used to want to camouflage myself and hide, like this frog I found on the choko vine, but the kids are pretty good these days, they seem to be able to harmoniously play Lego (best toy ever) together for hours - touch wood!

In fact, I've already been able to cross off a few things that were on my holiday to-do list.  The 4 inch wide border is on my Creme Brulee quilt top and it is perfect - just what it needed.  Now it needs backing and basting and quilting...whole 'nother story.

And my resolution to finish two things in my WIP pile before I start another project really seems to be working for me.  I pulled out this little wall hanging I had been making as a sample of my positive/negative applique blocks and finished it off.

I had quilted with a design I liked, but had quilted right over the motifs, which I didn't like.  And I had unpicked most of it too, so all it needed was a little more unpicking and then a machine binding (so quick!) and some little hanging corners.  Another thing out of the WIP's and into the finished pile.

*Edited to add:  Must give credit where credit is due!  I think I saw this first on Raewyn's blog lovetostitch  www.stitchingfarmgirl.blogspot.co.nz  It needs a nice small dowel, the chunky stick I used is a bit thick and will distort the wallhanging a bit.


Easy!

I've also spent time in the garden and pulled out the finished tomatoes, planted lettuces and leeks and have been revamping a couple of flower pots.  I've chopped down and stump-swabbed tobacco weed (horrible stuff) and rejoiced in the rain we've finally been getting after one of the worst country-wide summer droughts we've ever seen.

So now I'm off to polish my halo and empty the dishwasher.

Double Dragons

I received a request from a buyer on Etsy for patterns for the other elements of my Dragon Quilt.  I've been planning to write these up for ages, but planning isn't doing!  So this morning I set to and I've got my Double Dragon Silhouette appliqué pattern up and ready to go on both Etsy and Felt.

It's always surprising how long something like that takes.  It's pretty simple, but I need to check and recheck (and unblock the jammed printer) before I'm satisfied.  Next I need to work on getting patterns for the sword, the sun and the moon written up.  I'm dreading the castle - that was horribly complicated when I did it myself and it'll take me a while to try and simplify the process, but I'll get there.

Other things occupying brain space at the moment is how to catch the bunny that I've spotted nibbling on my lettuces, or how to find the hole in the garden fence where it must be getting through.  And what classes to take at the Taupo Symposium in July next year.  The class booklet arrived about a week ago and they all look very enticing!

Tomorrow is the last day of school for the year for my kids.  Eight weeks of summer holidays is looming!  Hopefully we'll fit in some relaxation, some swimming, some camping, a few barbecues,  good food and maybe a few glasses of cold white wine (must try and plant a grape vine next winter).  So I'll apologise in advance if transmission is patchy round here and I wish you all a very merry and safe Christmas and New Year's.

Selling up a storm...okay, selling up a gentle breeze!

I've finally got around to listing some more of my positive/negative appliqué patterns onto my Felt shop.

The rustic background is the outside wall of my house - shadowclad plywood that has greyed in the sun.  I tried setting up a light box but they looked awful, sort of 'stark' and like I was trying too hard!

This isn't all of them, but I thought I'd show you a few - you could always go browse my shop if you wanted to see them all, hee hee! ;)

I think this gecko is my favourite, the tongue and claws aren't too tricky to stitch and they really make it work.

I tried to get a picture of my Tree of Life quilt top - which I've FINISHED!! Just the top, mind you.  Still got to baste and quilt it, so it won't be hanging in the Auckland Festival of Quilts seeing as the hand in date is tomorrow.  But it was just too windy, the light was funny, and I was dozey after working a night shift last night. 

So now it's off to bed for me and looking forward to a productive weekend.

Chop, chop. Stitch, stitch.

I've sold the grand total of two dragon appliqué patterns through my Felt shop (link in the left side bar).  Which makes me happy.  Slow means I can iron out headaches without them turning into migraines.  Like figuring out how to use PayPal properly (Did you know you have to 'accept' payments or they return them?  Don't snigger, I didn't know!)

But selling the second pattern has prodded me into action.  I've realised that if my patterns aren't in the Felt shop then they ain't gonna sell.  So I've been chop, chopping and soon will be stitch, stitching these positive/negative appliqué blocks in an attempt to get the patterns in to the shop sometime soon.

And here's something that brings joy to my heart.  I planted a bag of tulip bulbs in the Autumn and tucked them round the cool side of the shed (we're truly marginal for tulips).  And I've been rewarded with this glorious pot of colour that has got better and better over the last week or so.

Happy Spring!

More Fabric Painting

After a week and a half of sick children, today was my first day when they were both back at school and I had no other commitments.  So I made a date with my studio, turned on my latest audio book*, and broke out my new Jacquard textile paints and had a play (of course, that was after I fed the calves, chooks, ducks and rabbits, loaded the dishwasher, washed and hung out two loads of washing, took the dogs for a walk, vacuumed the house (the plug is fixed - yay!) and had a cup of tea to revive myself.)

*'How It All Began' by Penelope Lively - pretty good, but not exactly fast paced.  Would recommend 'Giants Of The Frost' by Kim Wilkins - kept me riveted.

The Kotare (Kingfisher) and Pukeko were the result.  I'm pretty happy with the Kotare, but I think the blue on the Pukeko is a bit bright and uneven, so I'll go back to that.

The other thing I've been playing with is samples of how to portray foliage.  I've pieced a small background made of the same fabrics on the quilt I'm making and have painted and appliquéd onto it to see what I want to use.  There is hand painted silk organza, hand painted scrim/muslin, shiva paintstiks, Jacquard Lumiere and normal Jacquard textile paints and some old acrylic textile paints I had hanging around with no labels on them!  It's been really interesting to see the different effects.

No sewing tomorrow, for I'm off to work to pay for my habit ;)