Words of Wisdom

Quilting Arts magazine presents a Reader Challenge in each issue, asking readers to submit quilts of a specified size that show the reader's interpretation of a particular theme.  The challenge in the February/March issue for publication in the August/September issue was "Words of Wisdom" - a quilt based on a favorite quote or words of advice that guided their life.  Sue has participated in these challenges before, having several small quilts selected for publication.  This time, however, she was not as fortunate as the finalists were announce last week and her entry was not one of the 8 selected.  However, she likes her piece and feels it is worth sharing her quilt and process in this forum. 

Her piece is based on a quote by Martin Luther: "Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree."  This was a sentiment that spoke to her, especially in the light of the current state of political affairs in the U.S. and the world, and fits with her word of the year - positivity.  She visualized an image of the world topped by an apple tree, and set out to create that image in cloth.  The finished size requirement for this challenge was 8 1/2" by 11".

With the exception of the tree, all the fabrics are some of Sue's hand dyes.  The sky background is a shibori piece.  All design elements are original drawings.  The earth and tree were fused on top of the background.

Then apples were added to the tree.

Satin stitching was used to secure the continents, and free motion stitching on the tree, branches and leaves.  The quote was printed on ExtravOrganza ink-jet printable sheets and fused in place.  (ExtravOrganza is a Jacquard product.)

Our Thermofax crackle screen was used to print over the earth to depict it cracking/falling apart.  Quilting in the sky was added.

Some hand stitching was added to the apples for highlight and to secure the fusing, and the whole piece was faced for a clean finish.  While it may not have been selected for the magazine, Sue is happy with the finished piece and will enjoy seeing it on the design wall.

Embellish with Hand Stitching

The final stage of creating Sue's "Falling Leaves" piece was to embellish with hand stitching.  The green background was really begging for some texture, so the first step was filling that in with some "ricing" or "chicken scratch" stitches.

That helped a lot, but also made some of leaves with less paint stand out more - and not in a good way!  So obviously they needed some stitching too.

Here's a close-up of the filled in leaves.

The next addition was using a backstitch to add veins to the applique leaves.

Finally, after adding the binding, which is fused in place, a blanket stitch was added over the edge of the binding. 

The variegated floss adds dimension as well as texture and helps bring the piece to life.

Sew Many Options!

Determining the placement of the applique leaves on Sue's "Falling Leaves" quilt may seem like a simple task, but she went through lots of options before settling on the final arrangement.  While working, Sue frequently takes pictures of the work in progress to get a more objective view - hence, all these pictures!

 These first 3 seemed to produce confusion rather than a focal point.

Better; the orange strip on the left serves to "anchor" the 3 leaves.  But the angle of the top one is wrong.

Having them point all the same direction looks better, but still kind of boring.

Finally, reversing the direction of the center leaf was the right combination.  Focal point created.  Next, to do something about the bland green background.

Improvisational Design

How do you design your art quilts?  Do you draw or sketch first and make a pattern?  Do you have a mental image that you work toward creating, but not a specific plan?  Do you start with a basic idea and let it build from there?  Sue says she more or less falls into the last category and calls her method improvisational design.  Sometimes it involves sketching, other times just a mental vision.  She will start putting pieces together, and let it evolve from there.  Was there a plan for her recent "Falling Leaves" quilt?  Not at all!  In fact, after the background was created, she went through many options before deciding on the final arrangement.  Here's a look at how it evolved.

Two pieces of fabric formed the basis for this 8 x 10 piece - both were printing samples with fall leaves.  Time was short, so starting with already printed fabrics helped speed the process, and use up a small bit of the stash.

After layering with fusible fleece, the orange sections were quilted with matchstick quilting, a technique she had seen and wanted to try.  Then the leaf areas were free motion quilted.

Next came determining a focal point.  You might think that should come sooner, and perhaps it should, but it didn't in this case.  One choice considered was adding a bird, but the scale was off and it didn't really relate, so sticking with the fall leaf theme, Sue turned to leaf images she had for screen printing.  In order to add variety, she chose a pin oak leaf that was not in the background fabrics and decided to make it in 3 different sizes.

The leaves were printed on hand dyed fabrics in black, had fusible web applied to the back, and then were cut out to make appliques.

Then came the next challenge - how to arrange them on the background!  Who knew there were so many options?  Tomorrow, a look at the many choices.

Published! Autumn Leaves Reader Challenge

Sue is happy to reveal (now that it's published) her submission to the Quilting Arts Autumn Leaves reader challenge!  In fact, it was one of 3 quilts from the October/November issue that was in the running for the cover.  Although not chosen for the cover, it was still a great honor to be considered, and to be in great company with the likes of Susan Brubaker Knapp who created the goldfish quilt that appears on the cover. 

There's a small thumbnail of my quilt on page 6, and the full size picture on page 59. 

Here's a photo of the quilt itself, easier to see than the magazine photo. Click on it for a larger view.

It is made from hand dyed fabrics that are screen printed (actually printing samples from teaching), with 3 printed & fused applique leaves.  Lots of hand stitching in the background and on some of the leaves, as well as a blanket stitch on the binding.   It went through several iterations before settling on the final arrangement, but Sue is pleased with the result and thrilled that the editors at QA liked it too!