Monday, August 26, 2019

Painted art quilt for class

I've been asked to teach a class to my quilt guild about how to paint an art quilt.

All of the pieces that I've painted of flowers are gone.  One was given to the person who took the picture.  One was sold to a fiber art collector. One was donated to a non-profit for a fundraiser.  One was given to a member of my small quilt group.  So, I couldn't use any of them as my class sample.

September is the due date for this little quilt, so that the class can be advertised well in advance of the January class date.  It's kind of cool that our quilt guild holds classes once a year that are taught by members for members only.  The classes are really cheap, because the teachers donate their time and only charge for kits, if needed.

I'm going to co-teach with another member of my small quilt group, since she loves to paint and is very creative.  We decided to pick something easy and small so that our students can complete the piece in the one-day class.   Here is the picture we chose. 


I'll show you more when I get it painted! 

Monday, August 19, 2019

Graduation quilt for Emily

I make quilts for high school graduation presents.  My oldest granddaughter, Emily DeJarlais, is graduating in June 2021, which is a few years out.  She and I looked at some pictures of modern quilts and talked a little bit about the colors she likes.  This far in advance, I usually start collecting fabric so that by the time I make it, I'll have the supplies that I need.

I've purchased a few baby pinks and baby blues, which are the colors she selected.   So pastel!  Not grandma's usual bright colors.  And no lime green (aghast).  I found a pattern that was just as sweet as the fabrics and have started cutting them out and making the blocks.  Here is what the block looks like.  Those little corner pieces are 1/2" square!  Yikes!


In order to make these tiny pieces, I sewed strips of 1" color strips to 2-1/2" strips of white fabric.  I sewed with a smaller stitch length than I normally do, because I knew these would be cut into really small pieces.  1.90 is what I used.


These were cut into 1" wide pieces.


I sewed 1" x 2-1/2" pieces to the sides of the 2-1/2" squares.


Then sewed the little strips to the top and bottom.  I'm showing you the block again so that you can follow along with the block assembly.


Only 31 more blocks to go!

I hope you like this pastel quilt so far.