Small Quilt Auction

September 16, 2012 at 2:58 am (Studio Work)
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23×20, Untitled

I got a little busy this afternoon and finished the beading on my small quilt.  I don’t have a name for it yet, but I’m open to suggestions.  This was done with the same process as Autumn Pathways: first a design on graph paper, then transferring that design to the quilt top.  The fabric is Pfd (prepared for dying) 100% cotton.  It is layered with two batts, a Hobbs Heirloom Bleached Cotton and a Hobbs Polydown, then quilted and then finally painted with pastel chalk.  After all the color is applied I mist it with water and then (here’s the magic ingredient) spray it with Aqua Net Hairspray (because I’m an old-fashioned girl at heart).  By the time the beads are applied, all the extra bits of color have been removed, and the quilt is quite soft.  The last step is to block it, just lay it flat and mist with water to return it to square shape.

Closeup of the Flowers, with gold beads

Here is a closeup of the feathers, showing the bead clusters:

Remember you can click on the photo to enlarge it

I just happened to have a collection of blue beads, left from a project I did about eight years ago!  When I started looking for beads for this quilt, it took me just a moment to look in the bead box and see that these would do the job.

Curved Cross-Hatch Diamond, with very small pink beads at each intersection

I am so happy to have this quilt finished, just ahead of the deadline for submission!  It will be auctioned off on Saturday, September 29, at the Emerald Valley Quilt Show.

The very next thing I am going to do is clean up the studio.  I’ve been working pretty steadily on a number of projects and things are getting a bit cluttered and scattered, so it’s time to clear the deck!

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Back to Work

September 15, 2012 at 8:47 pm (Client Quilts)
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This week I’ve been working on a quilt belonging to my good friend and client Bea.  It is an especially beautiful pineapple quilt called “Pineapple Rings.”  Here it is:

The quilt measures 77×102, just right for this double bed

As you can see, there are lots of straight lines.  So I stitched in the ditch in the areas that have bold color and put spiral feather wreaths in the circular light areas.

Here’s a closer look:

Spiral Feathers. Remember you can click on the image to make it larger

Of course, the front is interesting…but the back is where I live:

I really like the pebble spiral in interior of the feathers

And one more that just shows some of the smaller feathers I put in the “football” shapes:

These little flippy feathers added some contrasting motion to the straight lines of the pineapple shape

Oh, I just have one extra photo, so I may as well use it:

This is my favorite one

So this has been a very good week for me.  I finished quilting this project and also have been beading the small quilt that will be donated to Emerald Valley Quilters for their Small Quilt Auction.  I’ll post some pictures of that one as soon as it’s finished.  Now I think I’ll collapse on the couch.

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It’s Finished!

September 7, 2012 at 5:17 pm (Studio Work)
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Autumn Pathways is completely finished and on its way to its debut show, the Northwest Quilting Expo in Portland, Oregon, September 20-22, 2012!I took this photo in my studio just after I finished over 40 hours of beading.

Autumn Pathways, September 7, 2012

Remember you can click on the image to see it larger. There are approximately 10,000 beads on the quilt

Here are a few closeups so you can see what I’ve been doing:

Shows the beading on the feather border

Closeup of the bead clusters

Leaf vine, with each leaf beaded through the center

My favorite fern spiral

This is my favorite of the falling leaves. The color variations look just as I wanted them!

I’m estimating the total number of time spent on this project at around 300 hours.  It is easily the most intense piece I’ve ever worked on, and I’m very pleased with the results.  After Northwest Quilting Expo, Autumn Pathways will be shown at the Emerald Valley Quilters show, “Legacies In Thread,” September 29-30, and then MQX West (Machine Quilters Exposition), also in Portland, October 17-20, 2012.  I’ll let you know what happens in those events.

IN THE MEANTIME, I am working on another piece that will be submitted for the Small Quilt Auction at the Legacies in Thread show.  The auction will be Saturday, September 29, at 1:00 pm.  If you’re local to the Eugene, Oregon area, come see what our members have to offer.  There are always wonderful pieces to purchase!

Thanks for reading!

Robin

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