Hilary Florence Quilting Workshop: September 2014

Friday, 26 September 2014

Going to Pieces again

I have finished Going to Pieces!

Art quilt, hand dyed with procion MX dyes, pieced, gold insets, free motion quilted, original design, Hilary Florence Quilting Workshop

...at least for the time being. I got a little bit carried away when I was doing the piecing and I still have a lot of strips left over. But that will be for another project.

I had a large piece of sage green dyed fabric which fitted the colour scheme quite well, so used that for the back. I did all the quilting in a sky blue thread in both top and bobbin and I quite like the effect of the seemingly randomly placed patterns.

As the sage fabric wasn't quite large enough I added a couple of strips of darker green. I thought I would spice it up with bits left over from the quilt top. This turned out not to be such a good idea. The FMQ patterns do not marry up and quilting over two sets of seams was VERY bumpy!

I wanted both variety and repetition to hold it together. I think there are about 20 different patterns in total, but many many more strips. There is a lot more repetition than noticeable on the photos.

I quilted each strip with one of the patterns. Where a strip was constructed out of pieces I used one motif adjusted to fit each piece.

And a few more close ups.

Thanks for visiting

Hilary Florence

Please find below a list of linky parties. I may not link with all of the every week, but with some of them most weeks. Please go and have a look at some of the other wonderful quilts and quilters there.

Anything goes Mondays @ http://marelize-ries.blogspot.co.uk/

Linky Tuesday at Free motion by the river @ http://www.conniekresin.com/

Fabric Tuesday @http://quiltstory.blogspot.co.uk/

Sew cute Tuesday @ http://www.blossomheartquilts.com/

Let’s Bee Social @ http://sewfreshquilts.blogspot.co.uk

WIP Wednesday at freshly pieced @ http://www.freshlypieced.com/

WOW = WIPs on Wednesdays @ http://www.estheraliu.blogspot.co.uk/

WIP Wednesday at TN + TN @ http://needleandthreadnetwork.blogspot.ca

I Quilt Thursdays @ http://prettybobbins.com/

Really Random Thursdays @ http://www.liveacolorfullife.net/

Needle and Thread Thursday @ http://myquiltinfatuation.blogspot.co.uk/

Off the wall Fridays @ http://ninamariesayre.blogspot.co.uk/

Fabric Frenzy Friday @ http://fortworthfabricstudio.blogspot.co.uk

Friday linky party @ http://www.confessionsofafabricaddict.blogspot.co.uk/

Lizzie Lenard @ http://lizzielenard-vintagesewing.blogspot.co.uk

Thursday, 11 September 2014

You loose some you win some and Getting to the Point

So many of you have told me how one of your quilts got very different results and reactions in different shows. The question is, if it is just down the personal choice, style preference etc, when you loose, what is it when you win?!!!

Straight on top of my mixed results at Birmingham Festival of Quilts, I entered 2 of my quilts (you've seen them both before) at The Great Northern Quilt Show in the UK.

Art quilt, free motion quilting on metallic fabric, original design, award winning quilt

Cosmic Split won a judges' choice ribbon in the Large Wall Hanging category. I am really please because I love this quilt. I feel it is so dramatic, I can't imagine how I am every going to make a better quilt.

Hilary Florence, Square Spiral, Whole cloth, free motion quilting, winner of wholecloth amateur in the Great Northern Quilt Show

Square Spiral won the Amateur Whole Cloth Category - as in came first!!

In many of the quilt shows in the UK, as well as all the categories that you can enter, there are technical prizes that the judges can award to any quilt in any category. (Is it the same in other countries?)

You won't be surprised to learn that the one I covert is the one for machine quilting. In every show I've entered so far (all 4 of them!) that prize has been won by a professional long arm quilter (and yes there is a separate prize for long arm quilting, but I suppose quilting on a long arm is also technically machine quilting so they get that one too).

Don't get me wrong, the winning quilts are spectacular, but I just don't feel as an amateur on a domestic I can compete with a professional doing a huge bed quilt on a long arm. So I was thrilled to find a category for amateurs - and even more thrilled to win it! (Didn't get the overall one for machine quilting though - that one is still to aim for).

And now for something that you haven't seen before.

original free motion quilting design, continuous line pattern, on hand-dyed cotton

Getting to the Point - FMQ Cameo 40

This is another of my castellated designs (as is 'That is the question' or All Aflame). This is such a useful technique as it allows you to flip the motif on it's head and frames it nicely at the same time. I've called it 'Getting to the point' but I also see a ship being launched. I love the shape created by superimposing the 2 versions of the motif, one tall and skinny, the other fatter and squatter. It doesn't really matter which you do first, but I always start with the tall and skinny. Bit like me really - started life tall and skinny and ended fatter and squatter!