A Quilt Quartet

A QUILT QUARTET

  What in the world is a Quilt Quartet? 

                 Zip Into Spring

Fall - Lime





           

     In the Pink

Summer - Pink

     

Fall Fantasy

Winter Joy

     The Quilt Quartet project was initiated by several members of our Anything Goes Quilters as a group project.  Each person could make  12 x 12 quilts representing the four seasons with designated colors as illustrated above.

    The concept was appealing to me, but, not being a quilter, rather intimidating.  Where to begin was the question.  My creative mentor had gone off on a jaunt and my mind was a blank design wall.  It just happened that my Quilting Arts magazine had arrived.  Leafing through the pages I came across the perfect source of technique.  The article entitled Stitch Therapy inspired me to begin.  I certainly did need some kind of therapy!

     Spring with color lime was my first goal.  Creating groups of strip sets with lime as a dominant hue, I was launched.    I began sewing, slicing, dicing, and recombining the strips as seen below.

     

     Now, I could easily see how to proceed.  I also decided to call upon the family yoyo collection to embellish each season's creation.  Note the design at the bottom of square.  It is a wonderful technique created by the Seminole people of South Florida in the 1800's.  I love to use it because the results are always a surprise.  And, I love the unpredictable.

       The title comes from the zipper which serves as the flower base....

     I was so happy with Zip Into Spring....... 

 that I decided to attack the summer pink 12 x 12 quilt.

The yoyos fit right into  In the Pink

     Note the seminole patchwork on the vase.....just a bit of variation on a theme.

    The quilting energy continued with Autumn.  Mustard did challenge me a bit so I went to Safeway to check out the mustard colors.....

What a variety of colors!

     The family yoyos had another home.

 

Details of  Fall Fantasy

     Here it is.  Fall Fantasy

  By this time I was getting totally burned out.  My husband insisted that I let it go for awhile.

                                    So I took a break!


     Not for long though.....A yoyo wreath kept me enchanted and I was having yoyo dreams day and night.  If you've ever experience it, you know what I'm talking about.
      The challenge for winter proved to be creating a background with an exciting turquoise dominance.
  Voila!  Use my Stitch Therapy  group of strip sets: slice, dice, and recombine.  Yes, that was the answer!  I felt like Christopher Columbus discovering a new world.  Using the familiar technique was even more fun  the  second time around.

     Note the strips coming together.  It's a great way to use remnants and   Very theraputic

Hooray!!!!!!!!!!!

     

     Winter Joy came to life and I was delighted with the results....

    


The Quilt Quartet in final form...  Now, I can get back to playing with my free form anything goes style!

 If you have any questions or comments, don't hesitate to contact me.....I'd love to hear from you.  Nomad Sally.

Jim's Seminole Vest

          
                         
                         Jim's Seminole Vest

Examples of Seminole Patchwork

     A promised Christmas present for 2011.  And imagine it's only June 2012 and already completed!  

Great  Seminole Pattern Variety

     The inspiration for the vest came from a Seminole class with Ann Bowker during summer 2011.   I learned the basic techniques of the seminole patterns created by the Mikusaki-speaking Seminole women of southern Florida around the end of the 1800's.  


     These women developed a structural patchwork by joining strips of cloth lengthwise into long, multicolored bands, cutting these bands into segments, and assembling the segments in a preplanned order into long bands of geometric pattern.  These, were then cut and joinged with each other and with plain strips of fabric to make material for garments.  This colorful apparel has become the hallmark and the most visible art form of the Seminole culture. ( Seminole Patchwork by Beverly Rush with Lassie Wittman is a great source of instruction.)


     The delight of seminole work is the unpredictable patterns that  often emerge from the cutting and joining of these strips.   


     With my collection of seminole pieces, I was ready to begin the creation of Jim's vest.  The following steps illustrate my process of development.


     1.  Select basic fabrics for entire vest.  I chose 3 black cottons to enhance the bright seminole patterns and several rust/brown fabrics to fill in where necessary.

Getting Started

     2.  Look for other embellishments to complement the piece.  I found a cotton wood block print of a mighty elephant of similar hues that I had made in Jaipur, India.   I also found many thread colors and textures.
     3.  Choose the pattern to best illustrate the seminole patterns and the wood block.  The Algerian Suit pattern (which had a basic vest) from the Folkwear Collection seemed to fit all my needs.


Vest Back
        As illustrated in the photo, the back piece was my first challenge.  I wanted to know how the elephant block would befriend the seminole pieces.  It turned out to be fun creating a window for my elephant which I embroidered to add a slight dimensionality.

Have you ever seen an elephant with a gold tail?

          The gold metalic stitching on the back added interest to the plain boring black fabric.  Combining a subtle patterned printed cotton with  soft flowing edges seemed to gently the elephant.

My Embroidered Elephant

       The next step was to create a design for the two front pieces.  This was difficult.  My desire was to integrate the seminole pieces subtly creating a harmonious lively scene.  Playing with the pieces always produced a paste-the-piece look, lacking the beauty of a flowing harmonious work of art.  

Another Back View

     A wonderful embellishment idea for bias binding.  Desiring a very simple black colorwith subtle tones, I decided to paint lines on some of my black fabrics.  Using the bias line, they would result in a soft diagonal which is evident in this photo.


Vest Fronts
     Leafing through my Lois Ericson design book (Options by Lois Ericson) inspired me tremendously.   The first brain storm was to divide the fronts with facings of a brown and black print.  

Note the slight variation side front

     Then I  remembered the concept of creating small windows of design.   Using chalk as a marker, I drew the curvy window opening, liked it, and completed the window as illustrated below.

 Additional fabrics brighten the black.

          
       Now, the design elements seemed to flow much easier....I could add small seminole pieces more or less randomly thus  making each front slightly different in design but related in spirit.  


     Then, I used twin needle machine stitching as a way to integrate the diverse elements and add a more textured look to the entire piece.  In the photo notice how the black comes to life. 


     The difficult designing work was done.  Finishing the vest included: stippling the brown fabric areas, joining the fronts to the back, cutting and sewing the lining, adorning the lining with a pocket, label, and yoyos,  assemble the vest with lining, binding all the borders of the garment, and add a few complementary beads.

Note the stippling on brown fabric

   

Bead Trim

Views of Jim's Vest

Thank you for your visit.  If you have questions, please email me or leave a comment.  

Experimenting with Knits

Entering the Knit World

Marcy and Katherine Tilton's Knits

Marcy's Pattern with Fabrics

     It seems that the world of fabrics is being taken over by the comfortable and very adaptable knits.  And I want to become a part of that life.  I love so many of the stylish and colorful leggings, sport clothes, and fashion that is appearing in the apparel market these days.   I just love the wonderful wear by the Canadian company, Lulu Lemon and others.  So, now is my time to play with knits.

     My plan of action began with the purchase of an array of coordinated colors with polka dots and stripes at the Marcy Tilton       booth at Sewing Expo in Puyallup, Washington.  While there I also sat in on several Knit How -To mini-classes.  After finding some simple basic patterns, I was ready to launch my Make-It-With-Knits period. 

     The first experiment was the construction of a shrug from two different black patterned knits.  I encountered one frustrating element which was the border pleating instructions.  I had to redo the piece two times.  Then, I discovered that the easiest way to create the pleats with such flimsy fabric was to sew the outer band together and then add the pleats.   

Imagine that it's a Shrug. 

     A Pilates outfit was to be the first project attempted.  With a great Burda pattern #7520,  selecting the fabric design, and reading the knit note instructions from my technique notebook, I was read to begin cutting.  

     The assembling and sewing was relatively easy.  I found that the zigzag stitch worked best for seaming because it allowed more stretch and flexability.  The microknit machine needle was the smoothest choice and there was no need for a serger which made me happy.  The knit advantages was the easy fit, no need for hems in some cases, and the forgiving nature of the fabric.  

     My first  Pilates top and pants outfit was so much fun and fast that I moved right into another more mod outfit.  I was able to make a poka dot top, two contrasting legging bottoms, and a headband from left over fabrics.   Marcy Tilton's Vogue pattern #8582 was perfect for style and fit.  Then, I got adventurous with the bottoms, making variations of pattern and color as you can see in the photos.

Headband and Top

Top with Pair of Pants

My Bozo Pants

Great combos for fun

     Now, I am dreaming of the green and black stripe double weave knit with a contrasting green sweater weave fabric.  Am looking forward to using the stripes as a design elements

The Next Challenge!