2018 – Green Fuse – Finished

Green Fuse – a full-sized bed quilt – was part of the Rochester Modern Quilt Guild’s “Taking Flight” show (September 29, 2018).

I used a bright lime thread for all the quilting.

2018 Green Fuse Floral Quilting Details

2018 Green Fuse Floral Details

I quilted florals on the white area, seedlike ovals on the green, and roots on the gray.

2018 Green Fuse Quilting Detail “Rose”

Also among the roots was part of the Dylan Thomas poem “The force that through the green fuse drives the flower.”

More quilting details in next post.

 

Update 8 – 2017 Buckeye Ties

I finished most of northeast Ohio today. You can see the shore of Lake Erie and the area between Cleveland and the Pennsylvania border. Hello, Amanda, Nate, Jack, and Ivy – livin’ in the Heights!  That yellow triangle is for you, having fun at the park, with those great lake views.

Buckeye Ties Northeast Ohio – Cuyahoga, Lake, Ashtabula Counties and Lake Erie

Update 7 – 2017 Buckeye Ties

Will this quilt be finished by the Genesee Valley Quilt Club’s deadline? I have to deliver it on Tuesday, May 30 for judging for the 2017 QuiltFest. I’m averaging two stars a day, so in theory I have time to complete the blocks, sew them together, and quilt. There are 49 Ohio Star quilt blocks making one huge Ohio Star, so 50 in all. If you squint a bit, you can see the white star points beginning to emerge.

Buckeye Ties on Design Wall 14 May 2017

A map of Ohio is superimposed on the design, so the lower corners are dark. They’re like the edges of a jigsaw.

Update 6 – Buckeye Ties

I’m not sure the design for this quilt was a good idea, but it’s a little too late to change it now. At least there’s some progress on the Ohio Star pieces for the center square:

Buckeye Ties Center Square Progress

The tan is from one of my father’s Marine ties from World War II. I left the tag attached. I also found where he had writen his initials on the lining of another tie and decided to include it.

Buckeye Ties Details

“This necktie meets or exceeds United States military specifications.”

Update 5 – Ohio Stars

It’s been two years since I last worked on the Ohio Star quilt, fashioned with silks and other fabrics from my late father’s ties. He was a World War II Marine and life-long proud Buckeye. The design uses stars of many dimensions to make one large star block reminiscent of the map of Ohio. I have 14 of the 49 stars completed and am aiming to have it done by Memorial Day. I have no other projects currently so will have no excuses.
Here are some of the completed blocks. To kick-start the project, I worked on all the simplest blocks. Now on to the rest!

Ohio Star Blocks Made from my Father’s Ties

2016 Silk Pillow

I recently had the privilege of taking a class from Chris Wickert, an award-winning maker of hand-quilted silk applique masterpieces. It was a two-day class that gave me and my fellow students great experience with handling silk and improving our applique stitch.

2016 Silk Pillow

Chris uses a pattern adapted with permission from Deborah Kemball. It made a 14″ square pillow, backed with the fabric in the picture background.
What a wonderful experience!

2016 – Secret Stars

Secret Stars youth quilt

This youth-sized quilt was made for my great nephew Nicholas. Here are some details:

All the 2″ squares are shirting plaids or stripes – except three that have stars. Also, all rainbow colors are included, so there are some fun things to search for.

2016 Fly Away Home

More on the new quilt, right now being called Fly Away Home.

Colors and fabric ideas for Fly Away

Here are some fabrics being auditioned for this quilt. I’m thinking the geese will fade from bright orange at the center through coral to very pale. The white/neutral background will hopefully deepen into aqua, then turquoise, toward the quilt’s edge. We’ll see how fabric selection proceeds. I tried a progression like this before (see Dwindle at https://lotuscove.wordpress.com/?s=dwindle from 2014) with only limited success.

First 3-D Flying Geese

The exception to the turquoise fade is the central “nest” block, here pinned to my design wall. The 3-d geese are easy to make, but the openings need to be pinned until the blocks are joined. Here’s a link to good instructions for constructing them:

http://www.generations-quilt-patterns.com/3d-flying-geese-quilt-block.html

 

Complete – 2015 Big Square

I finally took the photos for this charity baby quilt.

2015 Big Square

This has been donated to the Rochester Modern Quilt Guild’s charity effort to provide quilts for a local neonatal unit. Here are some details:

2015 Big Square – front detail of quilting

2015 Big Square – complete back

2015 Big Square – back detail showing quilting

I like the texture of channel quilting; it makes running a hand along the quilt fun.

Update 3 – Ohio Stars

I abandoned the even feed foot for my machine’s 1/4 inch foot. The pieces are flatter now but still the points don’t all match. I think I’ll switch to hand piecing. The navy and yellow pieces are from Dad’s ties; white and red are other silks. Everything still interfaced.

Ohio Star block 6 x 6 on white background