Side-tracked

When I am working on plain white fabric as a background  one of my concerns is that it is - well just that - plain white. It doesn't have colour or the texture of dyed fabric to add interest. So I have been experimenting with adding texture, using scrunched up very find cotton.

It was also a lovely day, so I took the sewing machine into the garden.

Here is a close up of the final effect. The cotton is rushed and then stuck down to a backing fabric. I tried using both bondaweb and temporary glue spray and both work well, but for this larger piece I used bondaweb. I did quite a few trials of patterns to see which worked. Some are too fine and just get lost in the folds, but line, particularly across the fold work well. For a background, I always like to mix and match the patterns a bit, so I've used 3 here. The quilting has to also be quilt large.

The patterns are more obvious from the back. I also had to quilt this from the back, to avoid getting the quilting foot caught up in the folds.

Here is back and front together to see the contrast. I really like this. From a distance what you get is a much stronger, more vibrant texture than quilting alone will provide. As you come closer, variations in pattern become clearer and draw you in.

I have in mind some pieced neutrals to applique onto this. I'm going to call it 'Sidetracked' because the piecing will look a bit like tracks - but also I am of course getting sidetracked from my show quilt for the Birmingham Festival of Quilts. Some ideas won't wait to come out!

And talking of show quilts, the two quilts I sent of to the Malvern Quilt Show have returned. As well as 'White on Black, Black on White' that I blogged about a couple of weeks ago, I had also entered 'Fracture' into the small wall hanging category

There were no judges comments, but 'Fracture' came back with a 'judge's merit' rosette. I am really thrilled as I was afraid my ribbon for 'Square Spiral' might be a one off. So now I should get back to the FOQ quilt (to be named Cosmic Split) - or maybe I'll just get sidetracked again!!

Thanks for dropping by...

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/2014/06/where-has-free-motion-friday-gone.html

The Big Reveal and a call from the Delightful Angela

A couple of weeks ago I related how the 'delightful Angela' had designed The British Quilt and Stitch show entry process to cater for the likes of me who get the dates muddled up and are in consequence late with their entry. I gave a sneak preview of my quilt 'Square Spiral' and promised to reveal the whole after the show.

So here it is!

Square Spiral

Sorry, not a great photo. I had to hold the camera above my head to get it all in and I couldn't see what I was doing! I did plan to try again before this post, but I haven't had the quilt back yet.

The great news is that I have had a phone call from the to-my-mind-now-even-more-delightful Angela to say that I had won second place in the wall hanging category! So, now I am awaiting not just the return of the quilt, but my first rosette too!

As you can see it is a whole cloth, quilted in black and white. It is done in the style of a log cabin and if I've counted correctly, it has 58 different original fmq designs. I did mark the boxes for each design, but they are stitched free hand without a ruler. Close up, the lines look a lot more wobbly! The boxes vary in width - a 1/4,  1/2,  3/4 of and inch, 1 inch and the widest is 11/2 inches. This alters the density of the design and gives the impression of darker and lighter lines.

Here are a couple more photos.

Add caption

I had a comment asking why I entered quilt shows and wondering about the impact of criticism from judges. For me, the reason is simple - to get known outside of local. I have had local exhibitions, sold in local galleries, demonstrated and given talks to local groups but never beyond. It is time to spread my wings! This blog also has that aim, but people have to find you first, and quilt shows seem like a good way to get seen.

My first attempt (a few months ago) came back with judges comments that my design was interesting and quilting good, and everything else 'satisfactory'. I have to say I did find that word most unsatisfactory! It felt like 'not bad enough to complain about, but beyond that...' There has to be a more encouraging descriptor - maybe 'shows promise'? 

Anyway, it didn't put me off, but it did mean I wasn't expecting to get anywhere this time. I was all the more surprised and thrilled to win second prize for my second show. As long as that relationship - i.e. third prize for third show, fourth for fourth... does not continue!!

Thanks for dropping by...

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/ 

Show and tell Tuesday @ http://ihavetosay.typepad.com/randi/

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/

Trio of Leaves - free motion quilting cameo 26

Trio of Leaves - free motion quilting cameo 26

This is a spin off from the previous post 'Leaf Triplets'. The leaves have become more stylised and symmetrical. The curved stem has gone and the straight veins jet out at a 90 degree angle, each vein with an ending - triangles for the first leaf, circles for the second and kites for the third.

Thanks for stopping by...

Hilary Florence

Leaf Triplet - free motion quilting cameo 25

Leaf Triplet - free motion quilting cameo 25

The vase majority of my designs come from just sitting with pencil and paper and doodling. Sometimes I have an idea already in minds eye that need developing on paper, sometimes I have no idea and just wait to see where my hand takes me. That doesn't mean that I am blind to inspiration elsewhere.  The above leaf was inspired by wallpaper. The design was printed with a vast array of flora and fauna, but this one leaf immediately stood out as a potential fmq motif and I think it works well. It would be a bit fiddly to make, but it would also work well as a stamp. Although each leaf is a continuous line - up  one side and down the other, making the steam as you go along - each leaf requires a start and stop.

Thanks for dropping by...

Hilary Florence

P.S.   I've linked this post to   'Anything Goes Mondays' at  http://marelize-ries.blogspot.co.uk ,
 'Linky  Tuesday' at http://www.conniekresin.co.uk, 'Fabric Tuesdays at http://quiltstory.blogspot.co.uk, 'Sew Cute Tuesday' at http://www.blossomheartquilts.com  and last but not least 'Show and tell Tuesdays' at http://ihavetosay.typepad.com/randi/.    Do go and have a look at some of the other fantstic quilts and quilters there.

Keyholes - free motion quilting Cameo 21

Keyholes - free motion quilting Cameo 21

OK, so this quilt a jumble of keyholes all tangles up together, but that is rather the fun of it! I wonder what secrets so many keyholes are hiding?

Like Thorny Point, Cameo 17, this design is a 'there and back' one. In other words, the first line creates just one side and you need to quilt back again to finish the design, so ending up at your starting point. You could be absolutely symmetrical and make keyholes left and right the same - but you know by now I rarely do symmetrical. Here I've taken asymmetry even a step further and made the central stem occasionally shift to the right or left.

Enjoy

Thanks for dropping by...

Hilary Florence

Journal Quilt Competition 2014 - sneak preview

I have just posted a couple of entries to the Journal Quilt Competition 2014, organised by Grovenor Shows.

Beneath Our Feet - The Earth's Inner Landscape - detail. Entry into the Journal Quilt Competition 2014

 The theme this year is 'Landscape' and the exhibition of journal quilts will be shown at the Spring Quilt Festivals around the country, Quilts UK and Malvern 2014.

I am not sure what the etiquette is for showing competition quilts on line before the compeition/exhibition, so I've just giving a couple of detail shots.

My Inner Landscape - Around and around in my Mind. Entry into the Journal Quilt Competition 2014

Nobody who has been following this blog will be surprised to see I have managed to interpret 'Landscape' in terms of free motion quilting! It will be fun to see what others have come up with, but I anticipate there will be much variety.

Enjoy.

Thanks for dropping by

Hilary Florence

Frosted leaf - free motion quilted cameo 8

It is time for the next cameo.

Frosted leaf - free motion quilted cameo 8

Leaves are a never ending source for quilters. This stylised example is very adaptable. Here it is shown in a simple repeat, which also gives a nice negative shape. It can also work very well with a half-drop repeat.

Detail of Soliloquy showing Frosted Leaf

Here it is used in Soliloquy. I think here you can see the lovely curve this design gives - and how it can be adjusted in size with each repeat.
Enjoy

Thanks for dropping by

Hilary Florence

Soliloquy at the West Country Quilt Show 2013 - part 1

 I decided for the first time in my life to enter a quilt in competitive show - and what better place to start than my local one - the West Country Quilt Show.

You know by now that I love playing with pattern - not just creating new continuous line quilting patterns, but also playing about with each pattern, expanding it, shrinking it, distorting it - in short, anything but an exact repetition.

Soliloquy at the West Country Quilt Show 2013

Soliloquy grew out of a practice piece I was doing - white on white. I wanted to try white on white because it is such a quilting tradition, but i was also toying with the idea of quilting first, then dying, letting the dying be dictated by the quilting lines. Everyone who saw the piece loved it white and howled when I suggested colouring it. The problem was, how ever fascinating the quilting was close too,  from a distance, it just looked like a piece of white fabric.

So I came up with the idea of creating a single inset in a neutral tone. I wanted it to be simple but elegant, to draw people in from a distance so that they could see all the pattern work closer to.

Soliloquy - detail

I've added some close ups to show the quilting. The curved spaces both echo the idea of the inset and give a variety of stitch density and texture.

Soliloquy - detail 2

 When the space gets very narrow, particularly white on white, I really can not see what I am doing. I also find the quilting foot  gets in the way adding to the difficulties. In these situations, I try to do the shape by feel. I also try to comfort myself, if I can not see what I am doing, then hopefully neither can anyone else but with a digital camera's ability to zoom in, I may be kidding myself!

Soliloquy - detail 3

Oh, and just in case you are wondering, no I didn't win a prize. I did get a judges comment of 'Interesting design. Good machine quilting'. I got a 'good' for piecing, machine quilting and design - everything else was classed as 'satisfactory'. (The classes are -needs attention - satisfactory - good - excellent) Without knowing what the other quilts got in the way of comments and marks, I really can not judge if this is good for a first attempt or not. I do have a negative emotional response to the term 'satisfactory', which feels just OK enough not to complain about - and therefore totally forgettable. You don't notice what is just satisfactory. I've been trying to think of a term which could be more encouraging - 'promising' maybe, or 'shows potential'. Can anyone come up with a more satisfactory term than 'satisfactory'?

I'll show my second entry in part 2

Thanks for dropping by..

Hilary Florence