Design start for brown bag challenge

I wrote two previous blogs about the Vagabonds brown bag challenge.  It's not a secret this time, so I can share my progress with you.

I sketched up a couple of design ideas based on the bag of goodies I received in the exchange.  Originally, I was certain that I would take one of my landscape photos; shred whatever fabric I got; and make it all into a collaged landscape.  However, I got a zipper, some washers, a bit of copper, and some really interesting fabrics.  There went my first ideas of a landscape based on one of my photos.

I searched internet sources for ideas and narrowed them down on my sketch pad.  The winner was the 35" w 50" L design on the bottom right, which is a fantasy landscape.

I placed some lines on my design board that looked like the drawing, and used it as the pattern that was transferred to freezer paper.

This is a series of pictures and a description of how I used the pattern to make the background.  Batting was cut slightly larger than the outline and was pinned to the wall and then the freezer paper pattern was pinned on top of that.  You can see all the layers with the outline ribbon, the batting, and the paper pattern below.

I cut out one wedge of the pattern at a time, sprayed the batting with basting spray and placed chunks of fabric directly on top, slightly overlapping the edges.  Here are the progress pictures with the background fabrics going up on the design wall.

After all the pieces were placed, the top and batting were removed from the wall, a layer of light gray tulle was pinned on top, it was backed and quilted.  That's all for the background.

I hope you like the progress pictures.  Stay tuned for more on this challenge quilt. 

Old Quilt Designs with new fabric

I got into one of those cleaning moods and went through some of my old boxes with samples from quilt classes that I had taught.  One of the boxes had an old New York Beauty sample with a lot of pieces already cut out.  I taught this class many times and still really enjoy foundation paper piecing. So, I decided to use up the sample pieces and add some new fabric in with the old.

My favorite color is lime green and all of its shades.  Needless to say, I have a lot of green fabric in my stash!  Do you have a favorite color too?  Perhaps a favorite fabric designer?  Maybe you have a favorite motif - like dots, cats, or hearts?   This New York Beauty quilt uses some of that lime green stash and is combined with its complimentary color of reddish-purple.  To give it some punch, it's kicked up with black and white prints.  Here are the blocks sewn together to show the variety of fabrics.

New York Beauty blocks 

If you look closely, you'll see that I trimmed the blocks slightly wonky to give it a more modern appeal.  The old method that I taught was too exacting, but right for the times.  Now, we all want to just go with the flow and be spontaneous.

Here are the border pieces that are sewn, but not trimmed to size yet.

New York Beauty border pieces

So many people have thought up great techniques to make foundation piecing easier.  I especially like the techniques of Judy Niemeyer and Karen Stone.  Check out their fabulous books and patterns. And take a class if you can!  My favorite thing to do is to make pattern pieces that are 1/2" larger than the foundation area, and use these to precut my fabrics.  This way, I can get the stripes or motifs just the way I want them, I don't waste fabric, and I always have a piece that is large enough to cover the foundation.  I lay out the precut fabric pieces with the pattern on top and clip the side that will be the side that is sewn.

Precut fabric pieces with their pattern piece

Border pattern with pieces sewn down

Then, its super easy to pick up the piece and sew it on correctly.  The border strips for this quilt were all sewn with this method on strips of freezer paper where I had drawn the foundation pattern and numbered each piece.

Design to Finished Quilt

Peacock quilt design

I usually have a quilt design completed before I start making a quilt, no matter what the size.  But, sometimes, the quilt talks to me and compels me to make a switch in the layout, the fabric, the technique, or the quilting.  Sometimes, a gut feeling that something is wrong leads to the quilt languishing on the design wall or in a box (if I really have a sinking feeling).   Or an inspiration from a class, an article in a magazine,  a piece of fabric, from one of my friends or relatives, or even a YouTube video, makes me want to try out whatever I've learned.  That's the wonderful thing about quilters.  We love to share  and we love to learn new things.  I hope you're getting inside my brain a little bit as I share my processes with you.

I've had an idea of making a peacock quilt for years.  Not a pictorial peacock, but a representational design.  Lots of fabric got bought as I poured over designs.  Then I sketched up my design several times and ended up with the one in the picture.  I only sketch quadrants, so that I can try out several designs on one sketch.

Finally, I started working on it at the end of 2014.   So many people helped me along the way as I kept getting stuck and didn't know what to do next.  A great fabric that fades from dark to light seemed like it wanted to be in this quilt, which made half the stack of fabric that I already had entirely moot (now I have a bigger stash!).  I changed the center from blue to purple to orange and back again, ripping and resewing different centers.  I painstakingly appliqued little tiny pieces for the peacock eyes.

Peacock quilt? by Joanne Adams Roth

But, when I got it all sewed together and started working on the design for the quilting, I started getting a sinking feeling that this quilt was just not going to work.  Especially as a peacock quilt, which is want I really wanted to make.  Everyone else agreed too, and even through I received some excellent feedback, I put the top away to ruminate.

Quilting sketch

Hopefully, it won't be for long.  I'm sure I'll get another design inspiration that will be just the missing link.  That sinking feeling has to fade before this one comes back out of the closet!