Four in Art Reveal

Urban Structures Reveal

Today is the reveal of the Four in Art Urban Structures theme for this quarter. I am happy with the results of my piece. I did more than a month's worth of thinking, sketching and pondering as to how I would depict Structure under our theme of Urban. I had so many ideas; some of which I will use in later projects. What I did execute was the use of words used in the building trade to create the piece. There are a number of words on the quilt, in fact, every part of the building contains printed words. From a distance the quilt looks like a building. But it is interactive, as the viewer will approach the quilt to examine it and begin to "read" it.

In an AQS class taught by Bill Kerr this past August, he told us that if one were to use fabric with words printed on it, there should be a number of word prints throughout the quilt. Otherwise, people would focus on the few words on the quilt and lose the ability to view the entire quilt. 

I wanted to use my computer printer to print on treated fabric for this project. I had so many thoughts on what to print, but the final idea came from my memories of building a treehouse with my dad as a youngster. He believed that even I, a girl, should learn to use tools. Then my husband and I built our own house during our first year of marriage with the help of his father and some friends. It was a wonderful experience. 

I have built many things using mostly wood; but, to build the home we lived in for 5 years was a great accomplishment. I have always viewed with awe, the buildings that people have constructed. From that of early man, the longhouse, wigwam, sod house, lean-to, or log cabin, to such great structures as the Eiffel Tower, the castles of Europe, the Empire State Building, Taipei 101, and the Tashmahal Hall, to name but a few. So with that I decided that I would print words on the printer fabric and construct a building--the shape of which one might see in an urban setting. I titled it, "Building Structures in Urbanania."

I did not put a binding on this project. Instead, I quilted the 3 layers, then trimmed to 12-1/2" square. Using a technique I saw Ricky Tims demonstrate, I covered the front with a solid black fabric, right sides together, and sewed around the entire perimeter. 

I cut a hole in the solid black piece that covered the quilt front and trimmed off the corner tips. This allowed me to turn the solid black piece to the back and the corners did not bunch.

I sewed the raw edge under by hand as if appliqueing. Ricky Tims makes wonky shapes on his quilt backs using this method, but the circular shape suited me just fine.

I attached a printed label, this time including the Four in Art logo.

Have you been able to try a new concept on a quilt project, or make a small project using some new idea? What was it? Leave me a message telling about it. 

Take time to visit the other Four in Art projects revealed today.  Here is the list:

Amanda @What the Bobbin
Anne @Spring Leaf Studios
Rachel@Life of Riley
Carla @Lollyquiltz
Elizabeth @Occasional Piece-Quilt
Betty @Flickr Site
Leanne @She Can Quilt 

August's Summary

August has been a busy month for me. My husband and I took a trip for our 30th anniversary to see the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore in Michigan's Upper Penninsula via the cruise. It was spectacular. I took many photos thinking I would incorporate some into quilting projects. I don't know what those will be yet, but I will let the creative juices simmer for a few months. 

AQS Show Grand Rapids, MI I attended the AQS Show in Grand Rapids, MI, on August 14 -16. I took two classes with Bill Kerr which were spectacular! The first was "Rediscovering Your Stash." He has us looking at our fabric collections now in a new light. I am so pumped to use his methods of combining fabrics in new ways that my previous idea of shedding some of my untouched fabrics from a few (cough, cough) years back may not happen. 

We all brought fabrics to class and chose one to bring to the circle. Bill paired two fabrics and those two people had to work through the stashes they brought to come up with a palette.  The first photo below shows the palette my partner and I developed. Bill is pointing to the fabric I brought to the circle. My partner's contribution was the fabric in the bottom left corner. The next 3 photos show how my partner and I combined the palette to each make a sampler quilt. 

Bill Kerr discusses our choices. 

My peices cut for sewing.

My quilt sample.

My partner's sampler.

Samples from all the participants as we discuss them.

The second class he taught was "The Role of Color in Your Quilts." I have tried to learn about color in the past: color wheels, etc. but never could understand how to work with it in quilts. Finally, I get it! The way Bill taught really helped me see how to use, choose and work with colors in quilts. He is a wonderful teacher, very interactive, gets the students discussing, talking, doing!

"Thirty-Nine & Holding"  was the class I took with Klaudeen Hansen. She taught us her "fudge factor" piecing and the blocks we made were quite easy to make. Sharing fabric with others so we all had a great variety was fun. 

HEXIESI followed the Hexie Queen blog hop during August.  In fact, out of necessity, I began sewing hexies about a week ago. I had a bout of vertigo and could not use my sewing machine or bend my head down to rotary cut fabric. I got out a small box of fabrics, scissors, needle, thread and the new Fiskars Hexagon cutter I bought on my way home from the quilt show. (Thank goodness they were all in one place so I could get to them without much discomfort.)  I was able to work with them while sitting on the couch. I am not sure what this is going to become, but here is what I made so far:

CLUB EQ CHALLENGE

I designed a quilt for the Club EQ Challenge for August. This is the link if you'd like to see it: Stars All Around Quilt. I actually think I will try making it. (Can't believe I am saying this after making two-colored blocks similar to these for my daughter's queen-sized bed 3 years ago and having a doozy of a time sewing them.) But I do like the quilt, so I have to give it a go. 










Quilting: Cheaper than Therapy
I saw the quote above on the Quiltmaker website. I think they have some very cute quotes. And as of today, I am using my my machine again! Sewing makes me happy. 

I am working on a star block exchange through Beaquilter's blog.  I have 6 of the 12 blocks completed. They are paper pieced. After making a few of them, I discovered something that made it easier to align and match the intersecting strips in the 8 pieces. I will blog about that tomorrow. Here is a photo of the 6 I have done. Each of the 6 participants gave their color preferences, so we are working with a number of colors.