5/325 Quilt Complete

Posted on February 13, 2015February 13, 2015 Posted in TutorialsTagged modern quilt, modern quilting, quiltcon29 Comments

-You are more likely to die these days from a Prescription Narcotic Overdose then a car accident.(CDC – Facts – Drug Overdose – Home and Recreational Safety – Injury Center)

-There were enough narcotics sold in 2010 in the US to distribute 40 Percocet and 25 Norco to every citizen in the country. (Addiction USA: Painkiller sales soar across nation – NY Daily News)

These may seem like shocking statistics but they are not at all surprising to those of us who work in the Medical Field and despite this news Narcotics remain an important tool especially for acute pain and end of life care.

I finished my 5/325 Quilt, a statement piece highlighting the mixed blessings of prescription narcotics (in this case, the most common formulation of hydrocodone/acetaminophen). To see the process behind my quilt top construction go here: 5/325 | Entropy Always Wins.

Once again, I used Kona Cotton in White and Hand Dyed Fabric in Blue by Kim Eichler-Messmer (Kim E-M Quilts). Trying to echo the pluses and minuses of narcotics, in the white spaces I machine quilted echoing Plus Signs and in the Blue fabric quilted Minus Signs using Aurifil thread. I hope the echo effect reflects the impact both pain control and addiction have on the community as a whole. For the back, I used linen in khaki and scrub bottoms from my time working in Seattle and Cleveland.

I will begin soon to look for venues to get this quilt and it’s message out.

In other news, I finished a quilt block for the Bee Sewcial group. Kari is leading us down a more graphic design path this month. I had an idea that morphed as I was making it, once again without a drawn up plan. It is miraculous that these turned out to be equilateral triangles that made the whole thing work. I would like to explore this design concept more. See Kari’s blog post here: Craft Happy: Bee Sewcial: February.

I am also prepping for Quiltcon next week and am so excited to meet many of you. I grew my “garden” of linen flowers and will bestow them on my Bee Sewcial and “Nude is Not a Dress Color” friends. Say “HI” if you spot me!

I am waiting on some buttons to pass out as well. Did I really make and order up buttons to share? (so not me but love the message)

Lastly, check out the gorgeous lanyard Stephanie (Spontaneous Threads.) made me. It it constructed out of Doe Fabric and a repurposed Sari. I am one lucky duck.

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

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.

I’m hoping to hand quilt this piece and would like to explore finishing the edges without binding.

Wish me luck.

Hillary

Vivian Maier, QuiltCon and Why We Create

Posted on December 11, 2014December 21, 2014 Posted in QuiltingTagged modern quilt, pillow27 Comments

Has anyone seen the documentary, Finding Vivian Maier? It is a story of one of the more accomplished American street photographers of the 20th century who took thousands of pictures during her lifetime . . . and never shared them with anyone. Her amazing art was discovered posthumously and this woman who worked as a nanny for her whole life never claimed the title of artist she so deserved. Why did she spend every free minute perfecting this art and never share it?

This movie came to mind as I watched the people prepare their art in the form of quilts for Quiltcon 2015 and then acknowledge their entrance or rejection from the show that so many of us are looking forward to attending in February. It had me thinking much about art, the judging of it, why we share, what makes it art and what makes us artists in the first place? In some ways the phrase Art Contest seems like an oxymoron. How do we judge art? And for those of us who create in fabric, do we call ourselves artists? None of my local friends sew but many paint, take amazing photography, create jewelry and are creative ceramicists. All appropriately so would call hemselves an artist but I would never refer to my work as art.

In our modern age it would be almost unheard of for an artist like Vivian not share their work with the world via Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, blogging etc. Why do we feel the need to share it? When we share it, does receiving a ribbon in a contest or acceptance into a festival make it more worthy or more arty?

I don’t know the answers to any of these questions for anyone else but myself. I create because the process of creating makes me unbelievably happy. I love exploring new ideas, using my imagination and mastering skills. I choose to share it because I love kibitzing with and being inspired by other creative folks. I so look forward to going to Quiltcon this February to meet some of you artists. And someday, when I am comfortable with how far I have come with my own art I will bravely enter my work for consideration in big shows like Quiltcon. Then again, maybe not. 🙂

I would be oh so happy to hear why you create and why or why not you share your work to a broader community.

(I am including a little bit of my recent work. I made my first concentric circle experiment into a pillow and played around with improv curved piecing to make up a quilt top I am calling “Batten Down the Hatches” as we in Northern California face the “storm of a century”. By the way, I have learned so much about curved piecing with my latest projects. I may be done with circles for a bit . . . maybe.)

Hillary

You Spin Me Right Round

Posted on November 30, 2014November 30, 2014 Posted in QuiltingTagged aurifil, modern quilt, modern quilting, quilting28 Comments

Do you remember that song by the 80s one hit wonder band Dead or Alive? Well after a lot of consideration and great suggestions, it seemed the perfect fit for my new quilt. What a labor of love this quilt has been. The design was inspired by a modern poster and per my usual I picked some fabric and started cutting and sewing. My husband’s woodworking measuring tools once again came in handy and at the end I got pretty good at piecing concentric circles. I did crosshatch irregularly spaced quilting with Aurifil thread for the first time and used my ever-dwindling mustard linen for the binding.

The very best part of this quilt was the practice of making a vision come to life using my own methods. More and more I find myself straying from quilt patterns made of repeated squares (though this quilt does use 10 inch squares that I cut up and put back together in different order). The big and bold patterns are calling me and I have so many other ideas waiting to be made. I hope to come back to this pattern sometime soon as I have visions of one with a bold red background.

Hope you had a peaceful Thanksgiving.

Hillary

I Heart Minimalism

Posted on November 17, 2014November 17, 2014 Posted in QuiltingTagged baby quilt, minimalism, modern quilt, Quilt, quilting18 Comments

Let me introduce you to my Minimalist Baby Quilt.

My son who was riding his scooter all over the property was kind enough to stop and hold up my quilt for a picture. It tickles me to see a quilt with he and his scooter in the background. 🙂I got the idea for this design from a modern poster that I saw somewhere but can’t remember the exact source. Yep, I’m all about cirlces these days. I must admit this was a pretty darn easy design to make with a large pieced circle that I then cut in half and inserted a strip of Kona white. The striped fabric is Ikea canvas. The tight quilting I used with the design made up for the ease in piecing. I used my walking foot with aurifil thread and tried to emphasize the simple pieced shapes. I don’t know that I have ever done such tight quilting before and it was interesting to see how it changed the feel and form of the quilt.

It felt great to finish this lovely up before I embark on a busy work week.

Have a good one.

Hillary

Blogger’s Quilt Festival Small Quilt Entry – Flower Pots Quilt As You Go Wrapped Hexagon Quilt

Posted on October 25, 2014October 26, 2014 Posted in QuiltingTagged hexagon, hexagon quilt, modern quilt, modern quilting, QAYG14 Comments

Every Spring and Fall Amy’s Creative Side Blog hosts a Blogger’s Quilt festival. (Follow the link above to see all the lovely quilts there.) My first introduction to the festival was last spring and I am pleased as punch to participate again. I have already entered Big Blue seen evidenced in my last blog post into the category of Modern Quilts. Today I would like to introduce to those who are new to my blog my Flower Pots Quilt As You Go Wrapped Hexagon Quilt.

I gleaned the techniques for making this quilt from a much smaller project in the book Quilt-opedia by Sarah Jane Taylor

Amazon.com: St. Martins Books-Quilt-Opedia 9781250044792: Books.

Using the techniques described in her book and employing Peppered Cotton and Little Folks Voile I designed and made the quilt you see. My favorite part of this quilt is that it is ALL MACHINE PIECED AND QUILTED. I used a special flower motif decorative stitch to machine quilt the pieces together. It measures 38 x 44 inches or 164 inches in circumference. I call it Flower Pots because it to me it represents the perfect balance of soil and flower/neutral and color.

Be sure to check out all the amazing quilts at Amy’s site. Thanks for visiting.

Hillary

Blogger’s Quilt Festival Modern Entry – Big Blue

Posted on October 24, 2014 Posted in QuiltingTagged modern quilt, modern quilting, Quilt, quilter's blog festival, quilting33 Comments

For those who have not already met him I would like to introduce my submission into the Modern Category of the Fall Version of the Blogger’s Quilt Festival, Big Blue. (And for the folks who have already seen this quilt on my blog thank you for bearing with me.) This quilt along with many of my recent makings is inspired by the clean hard lines of Modern Art. Specifically, the work of minimalist painter Alain Biltereyst and one of his tiny paintings highly influenced my big quilt.

Alain Biltereyst.

As I made this quilt believe it or not I did not draw up a plan but instead started cutting and sewing pieces together. Crazy as it is, that is how I make up most quilts and also likely why this quilt that was meant to be a baby quilt became much larger then expected. I used Kona Cottons on the front and Robert Kaufman Essex Yarn Dyed Linen for the back and it measures 60 by 86 inches.

The quilt was beautifully quilted by Emily Sessions of Emerson Quilting.

emerson quilting | longarm quilt design.

Please check out my quilt as well as all the beautiful quilts being featured at the Blogger’s Quilt Festival via the link below.

Happy Weekend!

Hillary

I’m Done Breaking the Rules

Posted on October 13, 2014October 14, 2014 Posted in QuiltingTagged baby quilt, modern quilt, Quilt, quilting9 Comments

Ha, that would be a no! I am done however with my Break the Rules Baby Quilt. Like most quilts, this one started as an image in my brain that was made into fabric without much planning. There’s some magic for me cutting and sewing without putting it on paper first. I explain the origins of this quilt in a previous post here:

Let’s Break the Rules. Shall We? | Entropy Always Wins.

You might hate me if you knew how easy this quilt was. No question it is a design that could go a few different ways. This is the third quilt I’ve made with canvas which gives a definite matte look and also adds weight. I think it will hold up to the rigors of a baby/toddler well.

My recent love affair with minimalism is reinforced by the fact that I like the back as much as the front. Though the substrates may have been “low brow” (ikea canvas, remnant bin denim) it was quilted with “high brow” Aurifil thread. (Oh my, I love that stuff.)

I’m hoping to break out my newly purchased fabric dyes later this week. There are a few projects in my brain that “need” hand dyed fabric.

Hillary

Let’s Break the Rules. Shall We?

Posted on August 31, 2014August 31, 2014 Posted in Knitting, QuiltingTagged baby quilt, Cowl, Knitting, modern quilt6 Comments

Let’s break the rules. Let’s deviate from the pattern or not even use a pattern at all. Let’s create with nonconventional/non-flavor of the week fabric. Let’s repurpose when we can. Let’s think outside the box. Anyone with me?

Ha! I sound like such a rebel don’t I? Obviously I’m being a bit dramatic but must say I’ve been pondering a lot recently on the substrates I use for creating. I don’t know if anyone else feels this way but I am often left overwhelmed by all the newest fabric lines that seem to appear every hour. And don’t get me wrong, I cherish my designer fabrics and special threads, etc. Sometimes though, I feel like bucking the system and deviating from the norm. This theme helped in the making of my latest baby quilt pictured above. Not surprisingly, I named it “Break the Rules” baby quilt. It garnered this name as I used nontraditional fabrics (ikea canvas and denim and cotton from the remnant pile off my local fabric shop), made up my own design that is pretty modern and nontraditional for a baby quilt. I also mixed techniques making this using both traditional piecing and needle turn appliqué.

I followed the same theme with a cowl I made yesterday. Once again though the beautiful green yarn was lovely, my rebel streak made me add a postage stamp splash of orange.

For some real rebels check out Luke Haynes who often makes his quilts with repurposed clothing. His fiber art is off the hook cool.

LUKE! – Luke Haynes.

Also check out my friend Bianca who sews almost exclusively with vintage patterns and fabric. She is amazing.

Thanks! I made them!.

Now I need to play with some of my plentiful designer fabric and work on a sweet toddler girl sweater because we modern girls are allowed to be girly and traditional too.

Hillary