Throwback Thursday, October 8

LITTLE MEN #3

Last week in #2 of this series the little men were in Africa observing the animal life there.  Unfortunately they were too busy watching the giraffes to notice the leopard observing them from the bushes.  When he pounced, there was sheer pandimonium as most of the men were scared to death.

Of the remaining survivors, only one little man kept his wits about him and was able to continue his journey.  Now he is on the threshold of EXPLORATION.  As he looks out at the world he sees many facets to explore.  The world of the mind is there offering art, literature and man's inventions.  Beyond that he sees the beauty of nature all about him in the trees,blooming plants and geologic wonders. Above in the heavens he can envision and explore the stars, planets and galaxies.  All he has to do is go forward on new adventures beyond his imagination.  

This wall quilt of my own design was made for a quilt show challenge, which won first place for use of color.  The bright graphic areas represent the world of the mind. 

I did free motion quilting with metallic thread, a nightmare in itself in the early 1990's.  But it was done by the deadline.  I used leaf motifs in some nature areas and swirls like comets or galaxies in the starry pieces.

 

Overall, I was very happy with the way it portrayed the theme of EXPLORATION as the culmination of the series.  I doubt that I would attempt it today.

I link up with RSC15 at superscrappy.blogspot.com, Sew Cute Tuesday at blossomheartquilts.com and Throwback Thursday at kristaquilts.blogspot.com.   Please check them out.

RSC week 40

WHAT COLOR IS BROWN?

Brown has finally turned up for our Rainbow Scrap Challenge, a month I have been dreading.  I have been wondering how to combine it with my bright primary balloon blocks, while brown is a mix of other colors. So I dug deep into my batik stash to try to find some brown pieces that would work well with them.  I'm still not sure what to do.

Here are three different groups of fabrics to consider.

1.  These are more or less dull brown tones, but there is a pretty good range from dark to light.

2.  This group is brighter and busier overall.

3.  This final group is softer, not as bright, but stronger in saturation.

So I will be thinking about this for awhile.  Any thoughts? 

    Meanwhile, I am working with a fun group of veggie and fruit fabrics, all WOF, and golden yellow strips to separate them.  This photo was before I trimmed the width to 7-1/2 inches, essentially a row design.  I love these prints that came from the group giveaway table.

Finally, one more photo as a clue to my posts on Throwback Thursday.  I hope that you

Will have a chance to check out my blog itself for Throwback Thursday on Sept. 24 and Oct.1 to see what these little men are up to.  It is a three part suspense story, so take a look.

I link up with RSC15 at superscrappy.blogspot.com, Sew Cute Tuesday at blossomheartquilts.com and Throwback Thursday at kristaquilts.blogspot.com.   Hope you will join me.

Throwback Thursday, October 1

LITTLE MEN  # 2

The isolated men you saw last week are making progress in their life adventure.  In fact, they have gotten together and decided to journey to Africa, where they are anxious to see the wildlife.

A small group are braver and move on ahead to get closer to some giraffes.  The rest are waiting at a distance.  There are stitched sight lines to indicate who is looking where.  Can you follow the lines to see who is watching whom?  

Perhaps you need to look more closely.  Who is hiding in the bushes?

Can you see the zebras on the left?  They are looking everywhere. The men in front are looking only at the giraffes and the others are watching the men in front.  So none of the men look to the right to see the leopard hiding and watching those men in the distance.  What will happen next?

I have named this quilt OBSERVATION.  Check back next week to see who is continuing on.  

I link up with RSC15 at superscrappy.blogspot.com, Sew Cute Tuesday at blossomheartquilts.com and Throwback Thursday at kristaquilts.blogspot.com. 

 

Throwback Thursday September 24

LITTLE MEN SERIES

Do any of you remember this fabric from the eighties, row after row of these stuffy-looking gentlemen?

This fabric was the starting point for a series of three wall hanging quilts.  I bought about 1/4 yard at the time and then wished I had more.  

 

I found a book, don't remember the title, about designing your own quilts by using various sizes of blocks arranged in a balanced way.  I found some dark blue, maroon and other muted colors for the blocks.  I used one man for the center of the feature blocks, then strips or nine patch for the rest.  

As I studied it I realized there was a word which explained the state of these men, of so many people in general.  So I named it ISOLATION.

The back side is pieced out of leftovers, and I put in a small row of men as well, no longer isolated completely. 

There are two more quilts in the series.  Come back next week to find out what happens to the little men.

I link up with RSC15 at superscrappy.blogspot.com, Sew Cute Tuesday at blossomheartquilts.com and Throwback Thursday at kristaquilts.blogspot.com.  Come over and check them out.

Throwback Thursday, September 17

Here is the third of my Lights series of wall hangings made about 25 years ago.  This quilt required more additions such as ribbons.  I even went to my favorite thrift shop and found a silk sheath dress from the sixties to cut up for the leaf motif.  The dress was only one dollar.

These quilts were designed completely on my design wall, adding one piece at a time, then stepping way back to see the effect.  I learned a lot about how colors behave when combined, and this has been most useful for me ever since.

SUNLIGHT THROUGH THE TREES

Next week I will be sharing a totally different kind of series.  I appreciate Krista for giving us this chance to share these good older projects.

I link up with RSC15 at superscrappy.blogspot.com, Sew Cute Tuesday at blossomheartquilts.com and Throwback Thursday at kristaquilts.blogspot.com. 

Throwback Thursday, September 10

MOONLIGHT

Last week you saw my Firelight quilt made with an asymmetrical block.  I was so pleased with it that I decided to do a series on the theme of light, using the same block arrangement.  This was in my art quilting days.  My method was to use whatever means was necessary to achieve the result I had in mind.

So I gathered shiny and velvety and glittery scraps and just worked it out on my design wall.  Here is my impression of moonlight on the snow.

Next week I wil post the final in the light series.  I think these are among my favorite quilts.

I link up with RSC15 at superscrappy.blogspot.com, Sew Cute Tuesday at blossomheartquilts.com and Throwback Thursday at kristaquilts.blogspot.com.  Come join us.

Throwback Thursday, September 4

FIRELIGHT

This is the first in a series of three quilts that I made in the 1980's.  I wanted something with movement, not a static symmetrical block.  I found the unnamed block in a photo in a Michael James book.  I liked the diagonals mixed into it.

  Starting with some hand dyed fabric I had done in the sixties, I added every type of fabric that worked, including satins, velvets and plaids.  My vision was of a campfire in the woods, so each hand cut piece was added to enhance that effect.  

  I quilted it in the ditch, the only way to deal with all the different textures.

I was a member of Block Party Quilters in the Seattle area. This quilt was the beginning of my path into art quilts, which has been my most rewarding work.  With health changes I am more limited now, so I am doing simple things.  However, I always work out the patterns and colors for myself and am getting back into the creative side of quilting again.

I link up with RSC15 at superscrappy.blogspot.com, Sew Cute Tuesday at blossomheartquilts.com and Throwback Thursday at kristaquilts.blogspot.com.   Come along and join the fun.

Throwback Thursday, August 20

A TRIBUTE

Here is a quilt for my son, Chris, which I began when he was in college.  He wanted a black quilt, but I said, "No way."  I decided on dark blue with a simple Amish style pattern.  I got it almost quilted when he got engaged and married.  She had a different color scheme planned, so I put it away all these years.  He lived through cancer and a divorce, then side effects in recent years.  I hoped to finish it for him, but he passed away in April.  

    Last week I read about Cynthia Brunz's idea for volunteers to finish a quilt for another.  I took the quilt to my local Monona Quilters on Monday and one of the members very kindly offered to finish the quilt so it could be donated to a local charity called Road Home.  This group provides housing for homeless families.  I am so very grateful that it will go to a family who really needs it.  Chris was a very generous person and would have appreciated that.

 

This quilt will be my small tribute to Chris, who was taken too soon.  I am grateful to have this new community of caring quilting friends, both near and far, who have helped me to focus on a way to give of myself and my talents now and in the future.

I link up with RSC15 at superscrappy.blogspot.com, Sew Cute Tuesday at blossomheartquilts.com and Throwback Thursday at kristaquilts.blogspot.com. 

Throwback Thursday, August 13

 REMEMBERING

When my daughter went off to college I was just learning how to do English paper piecing.  I did not want to try out a big project, so I made the tumbling blocks, which reminded me of her baby blocks.  When I found this stiriped piece in the exact colors and size I needed, it was easy to appliqué several of them on and hand quilt it, with lines indicating the shadows of the blocks.  It became

MY BABY'S GONE AND LEFT ME.

Now, over 30 years later it hangs on my bathroom wall, where I can enjoy it daily.  I just finished a rainbow quilt for her daughter, now entering the big world of high school.  The title remains appropriate.

I link up with RSC15 at superscrappy.blogspot.com, Sew Cute Tuesday at blossomheartquilts.com and Throwback Thursday at kristaquilts.blogspot.com.   Please check out what others have done.

RSC15 week 32

 This has been a hectic week for me.  One thing that took extra time was linking up with Krista Quilts for   Throwback Thursday.  It is a fun place to share your projects done way back when or even more recently.  I posted a photo of a Christmas tree skirt I made for my daughter's December wedding 20 years ago.  Hope you will check that out.

   As for indigo, I found a lot of it is in my D9P top, so that counts for this week. I loved using my new rotating Olfa mat for cutting the blocks.  The partial layout below shows the indigo prints.  My granddaughter helped with the layout.  There is no one else around here who can crawl around on the floor!

I have pieced the first two of ten rows of 8 blocks. Since it is basically a random layout, I have to keep referring to my photos.  Even doing that, I got a couple of blocks out of place.  But being random, who cares?  

The balloon blocks got passed by in my excitement with this new project and here it is the end of the week.  I hope you have all had a productive week.

I link up with RSC15 at superscrappy.blogspot.com, Sew Cute Tuesday at blossomheartquilts.com and Throwback Thursday at kristaquilts.blogspot.com.

Throwback Thursday, August 6

CHRISTMAS NOT TERRIBLY LONG AGO

My lovely daughter and her husband celebrated their 20th anniversary last December.  I had been quilting for several years then and decided to make them a tree skirt for their first Christmas together.  She had been an avid seamstress since her early teens and had made bridal gowns and bridesmaid dresses for friends.  I had no such experience, but had saved many scraps from all our sewing projects.  

Her favorite colors were rose and green.  I chose fabrics from all our memorable projects for the tree skirt, including the green satin from her own bridesmaid dresses.  (She did buy her own gown.)  I just made a large circle and a pattern for the segments.  It was easy to strip piece each segment and then join them.  The binding was also from the bridesmaid green satin.

Neèdless to say, the skirt is filled with many memories for both of us. I love seeing it under her tree every year, a real family treasure, and she still uses her rose and crystal decorations on the tree.

I am very happy to have this chance on Throwback Thursday to share this great memory.   Thank you, Krista here at  kristaquilts.blogspot.com.  I also link up with RSC15 at superscrappy.blogspot.com and Sew Cute Tuesday at blossomheartquilts.com.