27 April 2015

Creativity exercise becomes a quilt

On November 28th I posted some squares I made when I didn't know what to do next, felt stale, or just wanted to unwind. Well, the pile grew. They kind of reminded me of people engaged in conversations. Recently, I decided to make them into a quilt called Conversations. I dyed six yards of olive green and started to plan how to piece these oddly shaped squares into a unified piece.

Of course I took no photos while piecing. I was listening to a book on MP3 narrated by a friend called "The Postmistress" and I was VERY involved in the story. This is the way I love to sew, my machine and a recorded book!! I am even reminded of the book when I look at the quilt.

Here is the quilt on the design wall "suck" to the felt. I arranged the squares which proved to be very time consuming and each square was judged as to it's location. This was not my usual "fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants approach. I took a photo and printed it. Then I took the squares down in rows and marked them then pieced them referring to the photograph on every square making sure of the placement and orientation.



After the pieceing, it went back up on the wall and because of the wonkiness of some of the squares, I wanted to make sure it laid flat. I only had one small seam to re-do.





Next I laid it on my work table which is only 4 feet wide. Getting on my knees on the floor is out of the question.  I sandwiched it up with white craft felt (72") which I buy by the bolt with a 50% off coupon from Joann. It holds it shape a bit better than batting which I hate to use. Then I backed it with 108" muslin - also an old bolt buy from Joann with the coupon.



As I sit here it is rolled and clipped and ready to go under the needle which won't be happening for a few days. I knew from the beginning how I wanted to quilt it so I sure hope I can pull it off! Stay tuned.



7 comments:

  1. I love these colored blocks, are like a painting. Great work!

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  2. Beautiful, Beth! The collection of small squares is a very appealing format. Is the felt you use washable or would you use it only for art pieces?

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  3. Setting these blocks on green was a fabulous choice. They really pop!
    Diane

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  4. It looks like many jewels sitting in the woods! Can't wait to see it quilted!

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  5. What a lovely way to spend my time waiting luv this kind of processing. Hmm, I shall keep white felt in mind. Darn job gives some play money but dampens the play time. I am learning to use my tablet very excruciating!

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  6. colorful, animated conversations!!! They are so full of movement when they're all together. I love the individual pieces too, as you know...nice to hear about your process...look forward to the next installment, thanks, r.

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  7. Strip piecing is one of my favorite things to do and to use it in conjunction with blocks is so satisfying and aesthetically appealing. It's speaking to me!

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