Designing a Medallion Quilt

It has been a long while since I last made a medallion quilt.

I made  a Marcella Medallion by Alexia Abegg in 2014 for a fabulouc friend who turned 40. The quilt is being loved and used by my friend and family - including the dog!

When I finished the quilt I had plans to make another medallion quilt for another friend who also turned 40 in 2014. But I had run out of mojo and inspiration by then ,I couldn't find the right fabric and pattern. It felt like I was wading through design treacle!

Then I saw the Blueberry Fabric by Karen Lewis, and I was totally smitten!

I bought some grey Kona - Silver, Iron and Steel to be exact. I like the contrast in the brights of the pink/red and the grey. I then bought the plain Kona fabric to match the Blueberry Park and the Fog pattern from Blueberry Fabric. Now I have bundle of fabrics, both solid colour and patterned.

But what about a quilt design?

I wanted a central star again and I found the wonderful paper piece patterns by Wombat Quilts. If you have never visited Wombat Quilts you are in for a treat. Cath Hall as has gathered a fabulous collection of paper pieced patterns for anyone access. I love this one:

It is called Ellen's Snowball and there an instructions for 12" and 16" blocks. I have chosen the 16".

Next up was getting the quilt designed around the central block... for this the amazing app TouchDraw comes in very useful!

There is a mixture of simple sewing, paper piecing and some blocks I am still figuring out how to piece...

So the journey begins with a central star.... hopefully it will end with a finished quilt by October 2016 when my friend turns 42!

City and Guilds Module 5 - Form

My City and Guilds course has been taking a back seat - much like all my sewing in the last 8/9 months.

My job has expanded and changed, which is fantastic and I love it! But it has led to less time for me to create.... and less time to complete the work load that is a level 3 certificate.

BUT I am still working, slowly, steadily and in every spare moment that I can!

Module 5 was all about form and focused on the Media. I am not going to lie - it took me AGES!

But I think the results were worth the perseverance and time:

 My design development had to be presented in 3D, so I created a radio themed exploding box.

Which opened to reveal sections of design work based on the radio speakers, radio in society and speakers.

In centre I placed my artist exploration and explanation of the design element Form.

As part of the module I explored water soluble fabrics and created samples based around the speaker designs

I also explored using the computer to create repeat designs. I then cut acetate stencils to use in my new printing screens. This was stressful, but great fun.

I used the design to create a shadow quilting sample - hand dyed wadding and cotton backing fabric.

This technique uses water soluble thread. I kept forgetting it was water soluble when trying to thread the machine need.... yup, when you lick to get it through the eye of the needle it disappears!

Taking inspiration from Rosie James, I created a stitch sample of a 1930's family gathered round the radio. 

This unit was quite unusual as I didn't need to create a large final sample, but I did experiment with all the techniques I had learnt and created this simple piece. I am pretty pleased with it!

I was so frustrated that this module took me 6 months... but the satisfaction of getting it and then getting great feedback made it all worth while.

I am currently plodding through module 6 which is different again - no more design elements to explore, just techniques to experiment with, samples to make and design notes for a large piece that I will be creating in the future... all very exciting!

Much love 

Year 1 done!

Phew, I have been gone a long time!

It has been a long 8/9 weeks of work, children and trying to get module 4 handed in..... that and 2 nasty injuries finished me off!

So as the title suggests I managed to get module 4 handed in and my first year of the 3 year course is done! Yay!

Here are some of the things I made for my portfolio...

Mono Printing

Raised pebbles

Collage

Mark Making with tracing paper.

Lulworth Cove.... It is honestly!

More collage.

Mini book with designs.

Larger handmade design book.

Stitch sample.

Ruffled, gathered fabrics.

Mixture of textures.

My first attempt at cords with beads - love these!

A year seems to have gone by so fast - although sometimes it has felt very slow!

I have moved so far from my starting point that when I look back I am slightly shocked! When I started last August I was in a panic, it all seemed so hard and my dream seemed impossible. One year on, and 4 modules completed, I feel ore confident of my skills and that my dream is almost on the horizon...

It has not been easy though. Teaching lots of classes, looking after 3 boys, being a Scout leader and working through the course has left me very little time to think! It feels worth it though!

So to year 2... well, there is one more design module looking at Form and then I get to work through my designs to create 3D pieces of work. They look scary when I look at them in my student booklets.... but oh so exciting!

I am also turning towards the new teaching year and I have been working hard to pull together a fun and versatile teaching schedule. I will be sending out the details of classes and workshops in a newsletter tomorrow, so if you want to receive the newsletter just drop me an email: quiltingthegrain@btinternet.com.

Scouring

At the moment I am having a bit of trouble sleeping and I am not able to just lie in bed... once I am awake there is no hope!

But waking at 4.30am ish has some advantages...

the house is super quiet,

I get to listen to my boys sleeping and dreaming,

a mug of tea with no pestering is bliss,

I can work through my course work,

I can make plans for what I want to try next....

Trying to put the time to good use is important me, otherwise I feel frustrated that I am just sitting there!

So this morning I was up at 4.15am and lay in bed for a while, then started planning my day.

After out textile trail day I have been researching natural dyes and how to prepare fabric to dye with leaves and flowers. The effects are really stunning.

One of the things I have discovered is that shop bought cotton needs to scoured before it can be used for dyeing. Even when it has been machine washed it still has chemicals and additives in the cloth that stop the dyes from fixing permanently to the fibres. I have been using Prepared For Dyeing (PFD) fabrics, but having run out I picked up some cheap cotton from Ikea to have a dyeing session.

I wanted to dye some black and charcoal for my course work, which needs to be worked in black, white and grey only.

As you can see the results were varied:

The fabrics are top left to right: Hessian, PFD cotton organdie, Ikea calico. Bottom Left to right: cotton scrim, Ikea cotton and PDF natural cotton.

They were all placed in the same dye bag and the hessian and organdie have absorbed the most black dye. The others came out grey and the Ikea cotton was variegated. Even those these are pretty cool I want more black!

The charcoal came out much better:

The Ikea cotton, which is quiet thickly woven came out blotchy again.

So at 6am I decided it was time to try scouring my fabric form Ikea and some cotton organdie. I know 6am is totally crazy!

It is a interesting process that requires Soda Ash, Metapex, water and time to simmer the fabric for at least an hour!

This is the second pot full this morning and is the Ikea calico. I am hoping this works because this is cheerfully cheap and took the colour well last time, just want to see if I can improve it!

The other Ikea cotton and organdie are drying on the line...

Fingers crossed this works!

Can I also say that I am expecially proud of my dyeing book?

Lots of experiments and colours! Need a new book soon!

Also mixed some Manutex dye thickening paste this morning which is currently being stored in clean margarine tubs... best label them before the boys put some on their toast!

City and Guilds Module 3

Last term was filled with teaching classes and working on Module 3: Colour and Applique.

I love colour and have 3/4 books by my bed all about the chemistry of colour, the meaning of colour and the development of synthetic pigments.

As usual I had to investigate colour, which was fun! Then I had to choose an artist to research. In February I visited a exhibition about Henri Matisse's paper cuts at Strouds Museum in the Park.

His paper cuts were completed when he was too ill to paint and sculpt, but the need to create art remained. With the help of an assistant he used paper to create huge murals, that were colourful and vibrant:

La Gerbe, Henri Matisse (1953)

I love the mix of colours and the scale of the original pieces is huge!

As well as exploring colour I had to develop the portfolio using a historical theme. I visited Bath and took lots of photos of the gorgeous Georgian buildings and the Fashion Museum. The course notes suggested developing a design around a piece of historical textiles. I chose an 18th Century embroidered ribbon:

From this I explored colouring pencils, felt tip pens and paint!

It was great fun playing around with colouring pencils and pens! Lovely to have the freedom to just play!

The applique element was developed in making my samples for the module:

Needle Turn Applique

Reverse applique

Machine applique with painted paper, plastic, Roses wrapper and hand dyed fabric/felt

Machine reverse applique using felt

The loved completing the applique and I was lucky enough to use Oakshott fabrics. The bundle I used is called Lipari and is simply gorgeous! The best bit is I have loads left to make another quilt!

My final piece was developed from the first portfolio - Line:

I experimented with hand dyeing different weights of fabric, threads, bubble wrap and postcards. It was great fun and I really love the final piece.

Next it's Texture and Landscapes/Geological.... and it has to be done in black and white! So exciting!

Being Too Much of a Mathematician!

On Friday I had the privilege of visiting the studio of local textile artist Sue Green.

Sue has a studio called The Cowshed Studio in South Cerney. It is an amazing space! It is huge and crammed with so much yummy fabric, painting supplies and examples of her amazing work.

We agreed to do a skill swap: I helped Sue understand all of the icons on Facebook and connected her new tablet to her phone, she talked me through my portfolio and taught me a new technique using tea bag paper - who knew right?

It was an amazing experience and one I hope to repeat regularly...

I learnt a lot, in fact so much that it has kinda blown my creative mind a little bit!

You see my portfolios are really neat and follow my process in a methodical way, they are so tidy... my work is really methodical.... I need things to be neat...

The thing is everywhere I look on the Internet textile artists are layered! They have portfolios and sketchbooks filled with content that is wonderful to look at, but is crammed in and all over the place to my eye... this is just isn't me at the moment....

So I have been worrying and worrying that I will never make it as a textile artist because I like things to be neat and structured.... it is the mathematician in me... I knew that the Astrophysics degree side of my brain would take time to wither, but what if it never leaves me?

What if the only way I can work is in a neat, methodical way?

I am still going to be able to work as a textile artist?

Can I follow my own processes of creation and still be a valid artist?

Having a little bit of a crisis....

My lovely friend Liz pointed out that I have passed both of my modules so far with no need to change my work, so I must be doing something right.... but still...