In Which the Ghost of Claude Monet Wrests Artistic Control of My Kaleidoscope Quilt and Turns It Into Giverny

Oh-Ma-Goodness; It's MARCH Already!  I'll save you the suspense and tell you right up front: Finishing all 63 blocks for my son's high school graduation quilt is my one-and-only monthly goal for March.  By which I mean, finishing the octagonal centers of all 63 blocks is my goal -- I'll be deciding on the corner triangles once all of the octagons are completed and arranged to my liking on my design wall.  

Nine 11 Inch Kaleidoscope Blocks Completed

Behold, 9 of the 63 block centers are completed and up on my design wall.  That's one row down, and six more rows to go.  I'm planning to make three blocks from each fabric, so there will be much greater variety in the finished quilt than what you see on my wall right now.

The First Four Blocks

Keeping my time constraints in mind, I'm trying not to be TOO neurotic about the center points matching absolutely perfectly.  Meaning that I'm taking care to match them as perfectly as I can the first time, but have resisted the urge to grab my seam ripper over minuscule misalignment that you can only see from 2" away with your high-power reading glasses.

Where Do You Get Your Design Inspiration? Appliqué Inspiration From Interior Design Fabrics

I'm still plugging away at my Spirit Song quilt top, albeit intermittently.  So far I have four of the twelve 16" blocks completely assembled:

Four 16 Inch Blocks Assembled, Eight More to Go

It's tedious piecing at this point because I'm matching up triangles with seams that don't nest.  Lots of unpicking and finessing to get those triangle points to match up to my satisfaction!  But meanwhile, my mind is on other projects, inspired by everything I see around me.  If you're one of those sensible people who has made a resolution not to start any new projects or buy any new fabrics in 2020, you should probably stop reading this RIGHT NOW.  You have been warned...

So this gorgeous photo landed in my email in-box the other day in a newsletter from the interior design fabric supplier F. Schumacher: 

Linen Print Roca Redonda in Carbon and Multi from F. Schumacher, Retail $248/yd

I love how fresh and current this 18th century French botanical pattern looks in this colorway, updated with shades of coral, emerald and turquoise against that carbon gray background.  Wouldn't this be a fun color palette for an historic or traditional appliqué quilt pattern?  I especially love that dusky background color.

Moda's Ombre Confetti in Soft Black, available on Etsy here (affiliate link)

Moda's Ombre Confetti in Soft Black, available from an Etsy seller here, would give me a similar effect as a background fabric.  The black and gold metallic dots are clustered most densely near the selvages of the fabric and are much more sparse in the lighter parts of the fabric, so I'd likely use the middle areas of the fabric for my appliqué backgrounds and then use the areas along the selvages for borders or in pieced blocks.  

If you're not a fan of the metallic dots and you want to stay truer to the background in the inspiration print, you could try Sketch in Charcoal from Timeless Treasures, available on Etsy here:

Sketch in Charcoal from Timeless Treasures, available on Etsy here

Then, for the applique elements themselves, there are all sorts of delicious possibilities.  I could see this Jade Green Batik Blender from Timeless Treasures for some of the leaves:

Jade Green Batik Blender from Timeless Treasures, available on Etsy here

Kaffe Fassett Collectives prints from Free Spirit Fabrics would also work well for the appliqué elements.  

Philip Jeffries for Kaffe Fassett Collectives Bundle, available on Etsy here

I love fussy-cutting for applique from the oversized prints from Kaffe Fassett.  An emerald and turquoise flower or feather can make for a striking appliquéd leaf.  So much fun!  Back to the inspiration fabric from F. Schumacher:

Appliqué Inspiration Fabric, Roca Redonda in Carbon and Multi from F. Schumacher

Although I like Kaffe Fassett Collectives for some of the green and turquoise elements, the other colors in this palette are a bit more subdued.  To recreate the corals, aquas, and ochre shades found in my inspiration fabric, I'd probably turn to prints from Anna Maria Horner's Conservatory collection for Free Spirit Fabrics:

Anna Maria Horner's Conservatory collection for Free Spirit, available on Etsy here

Of course, I wouldn't be using ALL prints for my appliqué   I'd want plenty of solids and tonal solids as well.  I feel like I'd need to mix in a handful of luscious shot cottons for this project:

Peppered Cottons from Pepper Cory, available on Etsy here

In the photo above of Pepper Cory's Peppered Cotton swatches, you can see that different color yarns are used for the warp and weft of shot cottons, which gives them their fabulous color-shifting properties.  They're much more interesting than plain solid fabrics, yet the colors aren't hyper-bright to the point of distraction.  The effect is subtle, especially in an appliqué composition where the shot cottons are combined with batiks, prints, and true solids.

Last but certainly not least, I adore the tiny detailed elements of the F. Schumacher inspiration print fabric, many of which would be too small to execute as applique.  Those delicate vines, tiny leaves, and other details would be exquisite if they were embroidered using Sue Spargo's beautiful threads from Wonderfil:

Sue Spargo's Eleganza Threads from Wonderfil, available on Etsy here

And, while we're at it, some of those flower centers would probably benefit from a smattering of seed beads here and there, so long as our quilt isn't going to be used on a bed and frequently laundered.  My pick, to keep the palette true to my inspiration fabric while adding just a subtle bling, would be these size 11/0 Czech glass seed beads from Etsy seller lanabeads2:

11/0 Czech Glass Seed Beads in Taupe, available on Etsy here

Have I inspired you to start a new project yet?  Here are a few patterns that would be beautiful in this color palette: 

Love Entwined, Historic Reproduction by Esther Aliu, pattern available here

Like the F. Schumacher inspiration fabric, Esther Aliu's masterpiece historic reproduction pattern "Love Entwined" was based on an 18th century antique quilt, so I'd expect it would look amazing rendered in the updated Carbon & Multi colorway of the linen drapery fabric.

However, this color palette would also be delightful for one of Sarah Fiehke's whimsical applique patterns such as her 2017 Down the Rabbit Hole BOM, for which patterns and instructions are available here:

Down the Rabbit Hole by Sarah Fielke, pattern available here

Ooh, and imagine using this color palette for Karen Kay Buckley's Majestic Mosaic appliqué quilt, pattern available on Amazon here:

Majestic Mosaic by Karen Kay Buckley, pattern available here

One last peek at our inspiration photo:

There are a lot of books and workshops out there on color theory, but you really can't go wrong if you choose your color palette based on a mix of colors that speaks to you immediately as soon as you see it.  Interior design photos, fine art paintings, travel photos -- all are terrific sources for selecting colors for your next quilt.  

Where do YOU find your best design inspiration?  Let me know in the comments.

Meanwhile, there are a bazillion coral-colored Birds in the Air blocks waiting for me to sew them together for my Spirit Song quilt...

Still In Progress, my Spirit Song Dress Code Quilt

Happy weekend and happy stitching, everyone!  I'm linking up today's post with:

·       Slow Sunday Stitching at Kathy's Quilts  

·       Oh Scrap! at Quilting Is More Fun Than Housework

·       Design Wall Monday at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts  

·       Monday Making at Love Laugh Quilt

·       Moving it Forward at Em's Scrap Bag

·       Colour and Inspiration Tuesday at Clever Chameleon

So, Do You EQ? And More Importantly, Should I?

Photo Courtesy Electric Quilt, Quilt Design by Deb Crine

I have been intrigued by the possibilities of Electric Quilt (EQ)software for several years, but have not purchased it yet. In my interior design business, I went through several purchases of design rendering software that worked great if you limited the furniture shapes and drapery styles in your projects to the vector line drawings that came preloaded into the design software, but whenever I wanted to create something totally different and unique for a client (which turned out to be most of the time), the software ended up being a nightmare and a limitation instead of the great time saver I thought it would be. My husband calls those my "shelfware" purchases, software I invested in that I end up not using, and it's just sitting on the shelf getting dusty and making me feel guilty.  I do have Bernina's DesignerPlus embroidery design software (v6)  that I use often and I did eventually find an interior design software that I was able to use successfully most of the time.  I understand that every software package has a learning curve and I am willing to put in the time to learn how to use a new software program, as long as the investment of time and money will pay off with the results I'm looking for.  My frustration with design software in the past has always been hitting a roadblock when I want to design something "outside the box" of what the software designers anticipated users would try to do.




Layout I Wanted To Use

So, EQ: I'm interested for two reasons, but not sure if EQ can help me with either. First, I like to use as many different fabrics in my quilts as I can and with my recent scrappy Drunkard's Path quilt for Lars's bedroom, I was not able to use the layout I wanted because I ended up not having enough value contrast for the pattern to show up. 

 

See how the "path" pattern didn't show up with my blocks?

I do like how this quilt turned out in the end, but I had originally planned to make a Drunkard's Path quilt and I'm pretty sure that it's a Mill Wheel or something else when you lay the blocks this way. 


Finished "Drunken Dragons" Quilt with Alternate Block Layout

It annoys me to have started out making something from scratch, and then to STILL not have it end up the way I wanted it to be. 

 

I know that I could have previewed fabric selections ahead of time on the computer using the Drunkard's Path block that is surely already included in the EQ software

s block library, and I understand that there are even "stash" CDs available with major manufacturer's current fabric offerings so I could have played with color and value alone, or actually filled each patch with a fabric pattern the way I fill drapery panels with fabric in my interior design software. But there's no "Rebecca's Stash" CD with all of MY fabrics, and whereas I might use three or four fabrics in a window treatment design, there could be HUNDREDS of fabrics in a single quilt.

I know from the EQ web site that you can scan in, upload, and save your own fabrics in EQ7.  The web site also says that the software will "automatically scale" your fabric so the design you create in EQ is what you get when you make it up in your actual fabric.  It seems as though you can also rotate patterned fabric in EQ to accurately preview "fussy cutting" options for large prints in EQ7, but I don't know how well those functions really work.  Also, I often use fabric scraps for which I no longer have big yardage pieces to scan, and if I had hundreds of tiny scraps to audition it would take forever to scan them all in.  I wonder whether there is an easier way to play around with color and value for scrappy quilt designs in EQ7?

Vervain Monado fabric, Havana colorway

The other thing I was hoping that I could do with EQ7 is to create some really weird curved blocks. I love these traditional, huge scale drapery prints that have pattern repeats that are basically on-point quilt block shapes, except that the top and bottom are pointy and the sides are curved, like tessellated onions that fit together, like the Monado fabric from Vervain shown at left, which is actually my kitchen drapery fabric.  Wouldn't it be cool to do Baltimore style applique on blocks that fit together that way, maybe even with serpentine sashing from modified hexagon shapes?  I have never seen a quilt like that before -- would EQ7 allow me to easily create a templates for a block and borders like that so that everything (hopefully!) would fit together and lay flat at the end? Or when they say you can "draw any block" with EQ7, is that limited to square or rectangular blocks with straight lines?

 

Fontenay Vase Fabric from F. Schumacher, Porcelain Blue

The F. Schumacher linen print shown above is one of Bernie's favorites.  I suppose I could just do boring (but expensive!) drapery panels from this fabric, but the more I look at this print, the more I'm seeing applique possibilities with lots of embroidery embellishment.  Those darling little green grapes or berries or whatever they are: stuffed!  The little dots on the edges of the taupey beige border around the urn: French knots!  And instead of making every block the same on my quilt, I could do a different historical Baltimore Album urn with flowers on each block. 

 

So...  Do you have EQ?  If so, do you use it?  Can it do what I want it to do?  Any advice or suggestions greatly appreciated. 

Versace Must Be a Quilter, Or The Coolest Handbags That I Did NOT Buy

At Versace, Stilettos + Free-Motion Quilting + Naked = Sexy!

Hello, Dahlings!  Have you missed me?  Here I was counting down the days until school ended, thinking summer would bring some relaxation our way, but so far the first week of the kids' summer vacation has been pretty hectic.  The boys have had Vacation Bible School every morning this week, plus we had a new member orientation dinner at church last night, a couple of discouraging estimates for improving our wreck of a back yard, and a fender-bender for Bernie yesterday morning (not his fault).  I've also been busy working on a project for a design client, and we're about to drive Lars to an audition for a summer teen production of Godspell.  But I won't bore you with the details of any of that right now.  Today, we're going to talk about Shopping, Fashion, Couture Handbags, and Free-Motion Quilting. 

Sneaky Peaky from Versace -- Keep Reading!

A few weeks ago I spent several hours going through the entire South Park Mall, looking at every single handbag in just about every store, and (to the despair of many a defeated salesperson) I could not find a single bag that fit what I wanted for the summer.  I didn't want the hassle of having to switch handbags depending on my outfit and my plans for the day; that doesn't work for me.  I typically don't even know what I'm wearing until 5 minutes before I leave the house, and I'm lucky to make it out the door with shoes on my feet!  So I wanted a handbag that was neutral or at least versatile, but not boring; something that straddled the fence between casual and dressier days, something that didn't have anyone's logo plastered all over it, and something fun and unique that I would not see tons of other women carrying around this summer.  I wanted it to be big enough for my wallet, checkbook, keys, and clunky sunglasses case, but not so big that I could overload it to the point of throwing my back out.  Now, is this too much to ask of a handbag? 



Floral Python Bag from Jimmy Choo, $4,695

Apparently, yes it is.  After coming up empty handed at the mall, I spent a couple more hours searching online, and EUREKA!  I found several fabulous -- but not-so-affordable-- options, and I did not buy any of them.  Instead, I'm going to share them with you so we can enjoy them together.  Everything is connected to everything else where art, design, and fashion converge, so please indulge me even if you're not a handbag person.

This bag is my absolute favorite.  It's the Biker Multi Floral Python from Jimmy Choo, yours for just $4,695...  The floral print superimposed on natural python has a fun, fresh, contemporary feel -- I'm getting a very Parisian vibe here.  I wear a lot of solid clothing rather than prints, so this would actually work with more of my wardrobe than you'd expect.  Here's a closeup:



Fun Luxe from Jimmy Choo

As you've probably noticed, python is a Big Deal Trend right now, and every line seems to be using some of it.  Not just in fashion, either -- interior designer Mary McDonald has a gorgeous python print linen fabric in her collection for F. Schumacher & Co.:
 


F. Schumacher Park Avenue Python in Greige, 100% Linen, $196 per yard

It's a heavier-weight linen fabric, suitable for draperies, light upholstery, or wall applications...  And it would also be the perfect weight for a casual summer handbag.

After the Jimmy Choo, my second-favorite python bags are these lovelies from Gucci:


Gucci Multi Python Tote, $3,500



Multi Python Tote on Model -- Why Are These Bags So BIG?!



Gucci Jackie Malachite Green Python, $3,800 -- Pantone's Color of the Year



Gucci Jackie Warm Sand Python, $5,990 -- Love the Tassels

That last one is the most practical, from a "neutral color" perspective, anyway, and I love those big tassels.  They remind me of drapery tassels.

Just in case you're thinking that these are outrageously expensive handbags, let's look at a REALLY expensive handbag next:


Gucci Soft Stirrup Bag in Crocodile, $29,900

Crocodile Bag with Model -- These Bags Are All TOO BIG!

Umm, that bag costs more than my first car...  Granted, this is a rather large bag, and it's a gorgeous neutral that would work with just about anything, but I do like being married, so I think I'll pass.

What's with this supersized handbag thing, anyway?  Is it a purse, or a giant diaper bag? 

If you're looking for something smaller than a bowling bag, check out this lovely from Fendi:

Fendi Embroidered Leather Baguette, $2,450

Don't you just love the embroidery on the Fendi Embroidered Leather Baguette?  The size is much more sensible, and you know I love ANY color, as long as it's red...  This bag really got me thinking.  If Fendi can embroider on leather, why can't I?  Just google "how to embroider leather" and a whole slew of tutorials and videos will pop up.  The possibilities are endless!

 

Meanwhile, last but certainly not least, the folks at Versace have obviously been snooping around at the quilt shows:

 

Versace Vanitas Soft Quilted Tote, $2,295

 

It looks like someone has been practicing free-motion quilting designs on the Vanitas Soft Quilted Tote, doesn't it?  Chanel has been doing quilted leather forever (along with scores of imitators), but I've never seen THIS kind of quilting on a handbag before!  Hmmm...  I don't think I know anyone who does free-motion quilting on leather.  It would have to be really lightweight, smooth glove leather, NOT the upholstery stuff, and I'd need to work out the right needle and stitch length to get good definition for the quilting designs without perforating the leather...  I've never felt the urge to sew a handbag before, but this would be a really fun idea to play with.

Versace's Inspiration: Free-Motion Quilt Doodling by Rebecca

 

Oryany Whitney Bag, $325

So, what did I end up with after all that?  Sadly, I had to settle.  I bought this Oryany (I've never heard of them before, either) Whitney Colorblock handbag online from Nieman Marcus.  I don't love it, but I haven't seen anyone else with it, it works with just about any color, and it was inexpensive enough that I didn't HAVE to love it.  It's way too big, for one thing, a little less structured than I would prefer, and I'm annoyed by and had hoped to avoid the ubiquitous brass-plated hardware fad.  The best thing about this bag is the fun lining fabric:

It's not as exciting as the Versace or the Jimmy Choo, but the much lower price point doesn't cut into my fabric shopping budget!





The Prequel: Dresden Plate Inspiration, Eye Candy & Fabric Selection

My First Dresden Plate

Last Friday I posted here about how I used Marjorie Busby's machine embroidered die-cut flower design to finish off the center of my first Dresden Plate.  Congratulations to Rita for winning the embroidery design giveaway!  Rita selected the same flower design that I used in my block.  I hope she enjoys it as much as I have!

Today's share a little background information about the Dresden Plate pattern in general and the particular quilts that inspired me to want to make one of my own.  I have admired Dresden Plate quilts for a long time.  We have one in my family that passed to me when my maternal grandmother died, but I don't know who the maker was.  [Now let's find out if my mom still reads my blog -- Mom?  Are you out there?  Do you remember who made this quilt?]

Our Dresden Plate Family Quilt, with Lars, Anders, and my Hound of the Baskervilles (Otto)

Of all the names hand-embroidered in the centers of the blocks, the only ones I know for sure are that Grace is my grandmother and Gladys is one of her sisters.  Word to the wise, quilters -- LABEL your quilts!  Everyone knows you made them today, but someday your great-great-grandchildren will have no idea unless you put your name on it someplace!  At least we know it was made in 1944.

Judy Anne Breneman has written a brief historical overview of the Dresden Plate quilt pattern here, complete with photos and interesting trivia.  The pattern was most popular in the 1930s, and the bright colors and cheery prints in my 1944 quilt are very typical of vintage Dresden Plate quilts from that era.

Contemporary Dresden Plate versions that I love include this cheerful baby quilt made by Claudia Shearer of Couch Potato Quilts for her niece's son:


Made by Claudia Shearer, 2008, San Francisco, CA, and blogged here

...And this beautiful Dresden Plate and applique quilt, designed by Erin Russek of One Piece at a Time.  This pattern is available for sale in Erin's Etsy shop here, and proceeds  benefit a charity for a child with a serious medical condition. 

"Miss Kyra" by Erin Russek, 2012, blogged here, pattern available here

So, for my own Dresden Plate, I wanted to capture the playful spirit and clear, bright color palette of the vintage quilts, but using modern fabrics instead of reproductions.  When the Machine Embroidery blog hop opportunity came along, I knew that Marjorie's batik die cut flowers would be the centers of my Dresden Plates, so I dumped fabric all over the floor of my studio and played around with combinations until I came up with an assortment that felt balanced and that complemented the fabrics Marjorie had chosen for my flower appliques.

Fabrics Auditioning for my Dresden Plates

Because I've gone on long enough for tonight, you'll have to wait until my next post to see how quickly my Dresden plate came together using Kaye England's Cut for the Cure 22.5 degree wedge ruler from Nifty Notions. It was quick, easy, and lots of fun, so if you've ever wanted to try Dresden Plates I encourage you to take the plunge!  Have a wonderful weekend.