My Quilts in Modern Patchwork Magazine and Other Happenings

Posted on April 6, 2015 Posted in Bags, Quilting, TravelTagged Bag, California, magazine, Pt. Reyes, quilting, Travel16 Comments

I just got the news today that the latest issue of Modern Patchwork Magazine is coming to news stands April 21st and two of my quilts are going to be featured! How do you spell EXCITED?! I am beyond humbled and flattered by how my quilts are shown in an article by Cinzia Allocca titled “Minimalism in Modern Quilt Design”.

Check out their website for more on what’s inside and there is a link there to purchase a copy as well if you are interested. (Modern Patchwork Spring 2015 – Special Issues – Blogs – Quilting Daily)

With precious free time, I have been playing more with bags, this time using recycled suede. Believe it or not this is my first Lonestar quilting project. I have so many other ideas for this topstitching technique. The possibilities are endless.

Although we have had to stick close to home this Spring Break because of work, I have been doing a lot of secret sewing for friends (can’t wait to share what I have been working on) and we made a quick trip to Pt. Reyes National Seashore in Marin County for some hiking. The hills were full of wild irises, California poppies and other wildflowers. The area was at it’s finest.

And although I can’t share yet my secret sewing, I can share a simple boy sweatshirt I made for a friend that includes an impromptu cloud out of a washcloth and leftover vinyl. As I was making it, much needed rain started to fall with more on the way. Who needs rain dances when one can make rain clothing instead? 😉

Cheers,

Hillary

A Modern Girl’s Easter Basket

Posted on March 29, 2015March 29, 2015 Posted in Bags, QuiltingTagged Bag, easter, Easter Bag16 Comments

Every modern girl deserves an Easter basket right? Today I got the urge to make a Spring Bag and decided the bronze vinyl fabric remnant from my favorite upholstery store (a steal for $4 mind you) and it’s fancier sparkly Japanese canvas fabric and Robert Kaufman canvas would go well together. My friend Stephanie (Spontaneous Threads) has been working the metallic threads so beautifully lately how could I resist trying it all too?

Inspired by the hexie quilt design and techniques of Nicole Daksiewicz (ModernHandcraft) I cut up the vinyl in several 1 inch wide diamonds and laid them out in an asymmetrical design. I then glued them down to the green canvas with Fabri-Tac by Beacon (a permanent fabric glue), let it dry and then started straight line quilting it down to my fave Peltrex 70 Ultra Firm Stabilizer. Stephanie had advised using a nonmetallic thread for the bobbin which I did and I used a metallic sulky thread for the topstitching. Stephanie had suggested a top stitching needle as opposed to a metallic needle but I was afraid it would not go through all my thick layers so I used a leather needle which worked well.

This glue basting thing is the next best thing to sliced bread-no lie! You guys need to try this!! It is a life-changing technique (or at least Sew-changing technique) for sure. Next up I quilted the back in the same pattern as the front except without the vinyl diamonds. I love this pattern so much I think I will use it in future quilts. And do you see those crosses on the diamonds? Perfect for Easter, no? My accidents are my best friends.

Lastly I sewed them all together in another version of my Mini Museum Bag and added a zip pocket on the inside.

In quilting news, recycled men’s striped shirts cut at odd angles has been keeping me busy and a Triangle in a Triangle quilt is evolving.

Happy Spring Break Everyone!

Hillary

Old Blue Eyes

Posted on March 24, 2015March 24, 2015 Posted in QuiltingTagged modernquilt, Quilt14 Comments

Losing myself in some thoughtless creativity this week. My work has been especially brutal from an emotional perspective-too much tragedy for certain. Can sewing be therapy? YES, YES, YES!!!

I finished a quilt top that has been several months in the making. I was initially inspired by wood panelling made by artist Ariele Alasko (ariele alasko) For me, is easy to see many of her designs interpreted as quilts. It morphed in the making, as my creations always do and required sewing and unpicking several times to get right.

On my daily drives I pass by a beautiful abandoned gas station. It is a remnant of the old Lincoln Highway that is now virtually unused since they built Highway 80 here in Northern California. The blue wall and wood paneling of the station called for pictures (and that color combo deserves a quilt too don’t you think?). While I stopped and set up my portable backdrop, the elderly owner came out to chat. No question he was leery of me at first but warmed quickly when he saw my quilt. It is hard for anyone to be threatened by that. As I drove away I realized the quilt needed to be called “Old Blue Eyes” as the blue diamonds remind me of a steel blue gaze and in reference to the lovely old man who let me take pictures on his property.

Hillary

Hello Spring!

Posted on March 18, 2015March 18, 2015 Posted in Bags, Quilting, TravelTagged Bag, modern quilt, recycled, recycling, repurposed5 Comments

Hi everyone! Are you feeling the seasons change in your part of the world? We are definitely in the midst of some major shifts and boy is it nice.

A couple weekends ago, I took the kids to the Sonoma Valley for some hiking and exploration at the Jack London State Park and on the way there we went to the “Unconventional and Unexpected” exhibit to check out the quilts from the book of the same name. What a treat this whole trip was. We loved hiking around Jack London’s estate and seeing his homes. That man traveled to the far reaches of the world (Alaska, Hawaii and Australia), established a working ranch and wrote several well known books and short stories all before he died at the age of 40-INSPIRING! Minus the philandering and alcohol/drug abuse, I want to be Jack London when I grow up. 🙂

The quilt exhibit was also fantastic. Being the only ones there, the person at the front desk kindly gave us our own private tour. She showed us the quilt backs and even the glass window effect shown on the last pic above (evidently they discovered the pretty effect when showing off the quilts to some local Elementary School students.) Those bright polyester quilts are dreamy!

In my own creative world, I have continued to play with the Triangle in a Triangle blocks and have started working on one of my scrubs quilts in earnest. (One of them is going to be a bias tape quilt which I had alluded to in a previous post. My wandering mind has veered me in other directions since I last posted but I will come back around to it.)

I have also been playing with recycled leather and made up some Springy bags. At some point I need to share my tricks for leather appliqué as I have discovered a few really helpful techniques. The orange leather by the way is from a skirt donated by Bianca (Thanks! I made them!). That generous donation has spawned at least 4 different recycled leather projects-AMAZING!

In my attempt to Spring Clean I have also been tackling my UFO pile and combined two quilt backs to make one quilt. It is so simple it would almost more qualify as a blanket. This heavy quilt out of remnant bin red denim and silver corduroy, red linen from my enormous fabric stash and ikea canvas Triangle block pleases me to no end however. It is HEAVY and the texture is squishy and it is made of non-boutique substrates; a WINNER for me on all counts This quilt will get used and loved in our house and will fit right in with my crew.

Wishing you some similar sublime weather and creative vigor.

Hillary

Playing with Transparency: Bee Sewcial Blocks for March

Posted on March 6, 2015 Posted in QuiltingTagged modernquilt, quilt block, quilting bee9 Comments

It is feeling like Spring here in Northern California. I am appreciating my bulbs that have already bloomed and the warmer weather which seems in stark contrast to the rest of the country. (We would gladly take some of that snow and rain however given the multiple year drought we are in the midst of. Yikes!)

In any case, the March Bee Sewcial block challenge matches in palette and mood our current weather. For details on this month’s challenge, check out Melissa’s instructional post on Flickr (Flickr: Discussing March is for Melissa! 🙂 in Bee Sewcial). I must reiterate how fun this Bee has been. It is forcing me to step out of my creative comfort zones and I have learned so much.

When planning my blocks for the month, I searched high and low on Pinterest and in Flickr for “transparency” inspiration. Nothing seemed quite right so I finally settled on images that came out of the blue. Translating those images to fabric was the big challenge and after considering several options, I decided to simply convert the scale pictures I had drawn directly into paper pieced patterns.

Making the points line up perfectly was the only real challenge of it all (along with picking the left over paper pieces off the back of the fabric.) I can imagine glue basting would work well for this (another new method to try out). I am now completely hooked on making paper piecing patterns.

And I think I can now call myself an official quilter after making two ginormous design walls. That’s right, I will no longer be doing design layouts on the floor. What a concept! Now I just have to find a better fabric cutting spot as the floor is still my go to. Kneeling, bending and squatting are good for you right?

Though I enjoyed playing with the new colors in Melissa’s palette I needed to nurture my creative rebel side a tad and made up the block above. This design has been in my head for awhile. I can imagine a quilt made of several similar equilateral triangles. Unfortunately my darn new ideas keep competing with old plans for time on my sewing machine. I have so many plans lined up I’m going to have to farm out some tops for quilting by others I think.

My mailbox and heart have been bursting with love from the huge hearted quilting community I now feel a part of. Anne de Waxholm (Holland) (https://www.flickr.com/photos/anne_de_waxholm) and Berene (Canada) (@happysewlucky on Instagram) sent me their contributions to the “Nude is Not a Dresscolor” project. Don’t they play well together?

I also got some similar blocks from Krista (Poppyprint) while at Quiltcon along with other special goodies and a signed copy of her new book (Martingale – Make It, Take It (Print version + eBook bundle)). I can’t wait to make a couple of projects highlighted in it.

Chawne Kimber (completely cauchy.) was super sweet and sent me some of her Quilting business cards, some fabric and a pin of one of her gorgeous Quiltcon quilts. I was bummed to miss her at the event but appreciate our ongoing dialogue online and look forward to a face to face meet up sometime in the future.

Lastly, along with her gorgeous Shirt Blocks, Berene sent me some hand printed linen tags that make reference to my day job. They read “Quilts are the best medicine” , “Inject a little creativity into life”, “flesh and fabric are my canvas” and “give me sutures or thread and I will stitch beauty”. Crazy amazing and generous right?! These are going on some of my quilts for sure.

Wishing you a creative weekend.

Hillary

A Quilter’s Dozen

Posted on March 2, 2015 Posted in QuiltingTagged modern quilt, Quilt, quilting12 Comments

I finished my pieced Maze and Vale Circle Quilt today. It reminds so many people of donuts that I am calling it “A Quilter’s Dozen” Quilt. (the name was suggested by an Instagram friend. Thanks T. Ninoe) To see the details of my planning and piecing look back at my previous blog post about it (Quilting Calm | Entropy Always Wins).

Concentric Square quilting with Aurifil thread centered over the upper secondary square pattern was done in hopes of highlighting it. I used pepper cotton in a blue for the backing to match the Japanese indigo dyed circle on the front and bound it all in a natural linen.

I am about to embark on a complicated bias tape quilt (my first attempt at bias tape quilting). Wish me luck!

Hillary

Quilting Calm

Posted on January 21, 2015January 21, 2015 Posted in QuiltingTagged modern quilt, Quilt, quilting16 Comments

I think most of us who “make” would admit that half of the motivation to do so is in the therapy it provides. Have you ever made something because you needed the excitement or the calm the object channeled? I’m not often conscious of these motivations until I’m done with a piece.

Lately I’ve needed a little calm and this quilt top filled the bill. At the end of December, I took advantage of a sale Leslie Keating was having and bought some beautiful Maze and Vale fabric along with one of her quilts. If you don’t already know, I have a huge soft spot for hand printed and dyed fabric. Leslie’s work is amazing. (Maze & Vale.)

I actually drew out a design but then quickly abandoned it and started piecing half circles and circles. I hated the idea of cutting this gorgeous fabric up so tried to make big blocks to keep it intact as much as possible. I threw in a Japanese Indigo dyed linen and some mustard linen as well. Can you see my inspiration in the printed mustard circle of Leslie’s baby blanket?

There is a hidden square on the piece on the top middle. It was a completely delightful “accident”. I LOVE this quilt top and the calm I get gazing at it. This one will go on my wall once finished. I’m auditioning names for this guy and somehow the cheesy 80s songs which have been my naming inspiration of late don’t seem right. If you have any suggestions, I am all ears.

Hillary

Paper Piecing in Rubber and Chihuly Improv

Posted on January 12, 2015January 12, 2015 Posted in Bags, QuiltingTagged Bag, chihuly, modern quilting, paper piecing, quilting13 Comments

Creativity comes rushing in at least for me in frantic bursts. And ideas are served up best with some great materials to create with. This last week I gathered together a suede coat donated by a friend, some scrap upholstery leather and left over coat leather and a motor cycle inner tube.

An encounter with a paper piecing pattern I have wanted to try and a desire to use nonstandard materials for this very traditional quilting method collided and a bag front in paper pieced suede and rubber materialized. Of note I did have to rely on my industrial machine to piece these together and ended up quilting them down to a heavy interfacing to help it all lie flat. It turns out rubber doesn’t iron very well.

Encouraged by some instagram friends to make this a girl bag instead of a boy bag and the fact that it was rocking a Joan Jett/The Runaways vibe (thanks Kirsty) set the stage for a “Cherry Bomb” back with reverse appliqué in leather and rubber.

I used some leftover coat leather for the sides, bottom and handle. If you look closely, you can see a 007 insignia barely visible on the bottom, a remnant of the coat with that marking that was donated for my creative cause.

It’s already been claimed by an interested friend (to be honest with most projects, I can’t wait to give them away fast enough so as to clear my space and brain). Although not shown, the bag has an inserted zipper pocket inside and a magnetic clasp at the top. The bag design from top to bottom is my own.

I completed the first blocks for our first Bee Sewcial month this last week as well. This month’s inspiration was the Chihuly exhibit in the Denver Botanical Gardens. What an interesting exercise this was. I feel a bit like I am in art school watching myself and everyone else make their self portraits. I find myself surprised how different all our blocks look from each other’s (heck, my three blocks don’t share much similarity). I wish Stephanie the best in putting them all together into a cohesive creation (no small feat).

I experimented with curved piecing (which was a tad tricky when trying to make the vertical “glass” overlap) on the first block above.

On the second block influenced by some of the “hard lines” of other pieces in our group, I improv pieced triangles together. I inserted some pieced blue orb scraps that were cut from a failed too literal attempt at stacked blue glass balls.

The last block is probably the most “me” and was inspired by some of Sarah Nishiura’s work. I needed a break from all the red I have been working with so concentrated more on the blue and yellow colors in Chihuly’s work trying to mirror the vertical bursts of blue and yellow glass seen in the garden.

I have made some more wonderful connections this week, there is more collaborative work coming and I am anxious to start hand quilting my 5/325 quilt.

Happy Monday all,

Hillary

Happy New Year

Posted on January 1, 2015January 3, 2015 Posted in Bags, Quilting10 Comments

Looking forward, looking back. In 2015 I hope for more family, more friends, more travel, more creating with purpose and definitely more collaborative work. And this collaborative piece is a hearty one as it is setting down roots and blooming in this cold of winter.

Stephanie (Spontaneous Threads.) and Leanne (she can quilt.) have collected quite a group of quilters (Latifah–Latifah Saafir Studios | One Stitch. One Seam. One Quilt.., Diane–random thoughts…do or “di”., Felicity–Felicity Quilts., Kari–Craft Happy., Melissa–We Shall Sew., Marci–Marci Girl Designs – Home., and Debbie–A Quilter’s Table.) and they are leading us on a fun journey. Check out Stephanie’s plans for our first month on her website and our progress together on instagram (#beesewcial) and in flickr (Beesewcial group).

Looking forward also to finishing up a project I started last year with many of my sewing friend’s help. I have asked several special people to join me in making a Carolyn Friedlander shirt in their own skin color so we can collectively send a message that “Nude is Not a Dress Color”. Email and plans coming soon to those who offered to help.

Continuing with the collaboration theme, Christine Perrigo (Contemporary Custom Quilting.) has graciously agreed to custom quilt my Queuing Theory Quilt. It is coming together beautifully!

Lastly I’m looking forward to plans with Luke Haynes (Luke | Just another WordPress site.) who has offered to make me some fabric. I am curious to see what he has in store and my mind is already spinning with ideas for this collaboration.

I end by including some pics of my last minute Christmas creations and photos my brother took of my work at my parent’s house.

Happy New Year everyone.

Hillary

5/325

Posted on December 21, 2014December 22, 2014 Posted in QuiltingTagged 5/325, modern quilt, Quilt40 Comments

Working in an Emergency Department sometimes feels like being at ground zero of a community’s addiction issues and my medical career thus far can be classified by the locations and eras I have practiced and favored drugs of abuse: Seattle – Heroin, Cleveland – Crack Cocaine, Sacramento – Methamphetamine and now in Northern California – Prescription Narcotics. Wanting to portray the mixed blessing of prescription narcotics and inspired by the modern painter Cecil Touchon, I dreamed up a statement quilt. 5/325 stands for the most common dose of hydrocone/acetaminophen my colleagues and I prescribe. I have long admired the hand dyed fabrics of Kim Eichler-Messmer and am a huge fan of her book. This quilt and a few others I have planned call for these kinds of special fabrics. With limited time to make my own, I went straight to the source with my kooky ideas. Although Kim didn’t know I was planning to make a quilt specific to prescription narcotics, amazingly she was willing to play along and hand dyed fabric for me on commission. (If you ever get a chance to see or purchase her quilts, fabric or book do it!)

To start this piece, I grabbed my laptop and projector, found a bold font I liked and traced 5/325 onto the white fabric.

I then hand basted the it to Kim’s beautiful blue fabric. Channeling Touchon, I cut up the fabric randomly and then needle turn appliquéd each wonky piece.

Finally, I put together the pieces like a mixed up puzzle and machine sewed them together again. I got to try out Y seams for the first time with some luck. Finger pressing the seams as I wanted them to lay then sewing on the folds I had formed seemed to work.