Whisper Challenge - Part Five

This blog is part of the series about the Whisper Challenge quilts.

I got this little 12" x 12" quilt from Val Pellens.  It was the 4th one in the series for Bev Woodard.
I laughed a little bit when I saw the butterflies, since I had just finished a butterfly quilt for Val.  This gave me a clue that there are probably two series focused on butterflies.  Or maybe not?   I decided to use some of my painted paper fabric for the background and add a butterfly on my little quilt.  Bev does a lot of painting and likes unusual materials, so it felt like this was just the right place to use my unusual paper fabric.

Here is the one that was passed along to me:

And here is the one that I made:

I hope Bev likes it!

Art quilt for an auction

I'm a Master Gardener in Clark County.  We are just over 250 members, and we're all pretty active in the community.  This fall, we are planning to have a garden party to raise money to support our program.  We're going to have live music and a charity auction.  I was asked to donate a quilt, and gladly accepted.  I showed the planner some pictures of recent quilts that I can give them right away.  Hmm, they weren't exactly what they were thinking.  So, I told them that I would paint a bee on a flower and donate that.  I have until September to make the quilt, which should be easy to do.

Here are some of the pictures that I took that I'm considering:

What do you think?  Any favorites in this bunch?  Let me know!

Whisper Challenge - Part Four

This blog is part of the series about the Whisper Challenge quilts.

I got this little 12" x 12" quilt from Lynn Czaban.  It was the 3rd one in the series for Val Pellens.
I was thrilled to see another portrait quilt from Lynn, and decided for sure that I would not be doing a portrait.  But I liked the butterfly in the quilting detail, and I know that Val likes orange.  So I decided to paint an orange butterfly for my little quilt.

Here is the one that was passed along to me:

And here is my quilt I made.  I hand painted the entire quilt, using fabric paint and prepared for dying material.

Made by Joanne Adams Roth 2018, 12" x 12"

I hope Val likes it!

P.S. After I finished the quilt, a realized that Lynn's quilt was a pun on "Monarch Butterfly".  Very clever.

Whisper Challenge - Part Three

This blog is part of the series about the Whisper Challenge quilts.

I got this little 12" x 12" quilt from Ada Levins.  It was the 2nd one in the series for Lynn Czaban.
I was surprised that I got a bird on a branch, and at first thought that it might be the series for Wilma Scott, who loves birds.  But it wasn't.  Ada did divulge that the quilt she got from Lynn was NOT a bird.  So hmmm.  What to do.

I know that Lynn likes to do portrait quilts, that she works with crows, has a dog, has done some international travel, and has a sense of humor.  But I was really stumped as to what her original intent was.  Could it have been a feather?  Something blue?  Something about happiness, as in the blue bird of happiness, or something having to do with paisley motifs?  Maybe a blue eye?

I decided to carry on with the paisley motif, the relative color of turquoise/teal, and the eye.  And here is the quilt that I made based on the one passed to me.  Do you see the owl in the center with the 2 eyes?

I hope she likes it!

Whisper Challenge - Part Two

This is the second posting in a series about the Whisper Challenge.

I was passed a 12" x 12" quilt from Wilma Scott.  She used some lampwork beads made by my friend, Bruce Ingalls, on her piece.   I think that some of the fabric might be painted.  And she did quite a bit of hand thread work.   I love the exuberance of her little quilt.

I immediately was drawn to the colors, the free form piecing and the beads.  And here is my finished 12" x 12" quilt to be the second in her series.  I had the same ombre blue fabric that she used for her binding, so I used it in this little quilt too.

close up of the lampwork beads

Whisper Challenge - part 1

I love a challenge.  Especially when it is a quilt challenge.  One that I participated in 2018 was called a "Whisper Challenge".  Do you remember the game you might have played when one person whispers something to the next person, and that person whispers what they think they heard to the next, and so on.  When the last person gets their whisper they say what they think out loud.  It is hilarious how turned around the original whisper becomes by the end of the line.

My small quilt group decided to do this whisper challenge, starting with a photo.  The starting person made a 12" x 12" quilt based on their photo.  Then they passed that quilt to the next person (but not the photo), who then made a 12" x 12" quilt based on the quilt they got.  This exchange happened throughout the group until everyone had a chance to make a 12" x 12" quilt based on what they got from the previous person.  The challenge ended in January 2019, and there was a big reveal and everyone got to see the pictures and all of the quilts that were made.

We had a huge potluck to celebrate and lots of laughing and oohing and aah-ing.  Here's a few pictures.  I have several posts to come about the quilts that I made.

Here's to all of the challenges you will undertake in your life.

Wilma's set

Bev's set

Karan's set

Val's set

Audrey's set

Sharry's set

Joanne's set

Lynn's set

Ada's set

Series made by Val

Marking a quilt - My Sister's quilt - Part Five

I can't remember if I've ever marked an entire quilt before basting it together and in readiness for the quilting phase.  Usually, I have some kind of idea of what I want to do, then I wait until the quilt is sandwiched before I do some marking on it.  This was how I learned when I was hand quilting.  When I started machine quilting on my domestic machine, I sometimes drew a pattern on thin paper and quilted right through the paper.  This time, though, I decided that I would mark the entire top with water soluble blue pen before the quilt got basted together.  I knew intuitively that it would be easier to mark while it was still only a top, and that I could use my light box to trace the intricate designs.

I played around a little bit with different quilting ideas.  I liked the feathered wreath for the center blocks the best.  And I liked that each hexie wheel could be slightly different.

I drew the feathered wreath onto freezer paper and traced it onto the quilt top.

Then I got out my drafting tools and spent a week drawing in different designs.  This was really fun.  And even more fun while I was catching up on all my podcasts.  Too bad I didn't have an audio book!

I wonder how you mark your quilts?  Do you, or would you, spend a fair amount of time marking your quilt top ahead of time?

Happy quilting!