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Backtack: Finale. Quilts: And Then There Were Six.
Backtack: Finale
My backtack arrived while I was off in Minnesota, of course, and not here to greet it.
Is that a button on your bum, or are you just happy to see me?
Quilts: And Then There Were Six
So let's see here... We're working on 1&2) two Strippers of the Orient (scroll down a few posts for a quick look); 3&4) two Friendship Stars (I'll put up some updated pictures of those next week), and 5) the Mystery Quilt (last post).
Oh, did I not mention the 6) Kaleidoscope Diamonds? Yes, technically there is a sixth quilt in the works; ironically it is the one closest to completion!
Every year at the quilt show, my mom and I take a class (at least one). This year, we took the best one we've taken so far: Kaleidoscope Diamonds, with Bobbie Aug, who was a really great, super enthusiastic teacher and if she's ever giving a class at your local quilt shop or a festival near you, I highly recommend it!
Basically you're doing a two-color (for most of us) kaleidoscope quilt, but in the center, instead of putting in an alternate block (light), you "mistakenly" put in another dark ... which creates four big diamonds in the center of the quilt (with a sort of radiating circle around it) and completely changes the look.
As opposed to the other class we took this year, where we were there from 8:30 to 4:30 and got almost nothing done (bad choice on our part, eh); in this class, three people completely finished their tops, and all the rest of us were pretty much done except for the borders (except for my Mom, because she chose a more complex layout...more on that later).
Now our materials list called for two contrasty colors. Mine contrast, but are a bit more blendy than a lot of people's were...
All it's waiting on are borders! And then I can start quilting it! WOOT! (These are lap quilts, about 50"x50".) Oh and sorry for the shitty hotel room photo, but I didn't manage to have anyone take a photo of it in our classroom like the others....
The lighting is a little weird in that photo - there's a lot more green in my batik print than it seems....
Here is another, that had a very similar look to mine, with a batik combined with a deep solid. Here are the two sisters, who had very similar colorways when looked at from this distance; yet closeup they were actually very different fabrics.
The original quilt was in black & red, and when you see the next two, you'll really get a better idea of how dramatic this quilt can be. Elizabeth was the second to finish, isn't her's gorgeous? And here is Cindy's, the first finisher of the day, and one of the most striking. Wow! Don't you just love it? (That's our teacher on the right.)
So if you know my mother, you know she walks her own path... She decided rather than stick with two colors, she would use the aboriginal print fabrics I bought her in Australia. Most of them had very dark backgrounds, just one light. So she bought an orange for another "dark" and coordinating light fabrics (all with lots of dots, which all the aboriginal fabrics had) and made more of a scrappy quilt. It was really amazing watching her work on it -- while the quilt takes on an entirely different look, you can still see the diamonds in the middle and the sort of exploding star fanning out from it.
And oddly, even though her quilt is of many colors, blue & orange really stand out when you're looking at it as a whole.
Her quilt isn't quite as close to finished as the rest of ours (two more seams to sew plus borders), but she had a lot of decisions to make when laying it out that the rest of us didn't have.
Here, take a look:
Pretty amazing isn't it? She's got a great eye; I never would have been able to put all those different fabrics together.
Now, aren't you glad I decided to put up this post instead of doing laundry tonight? Yes, just for you I'll keep tripping over the piles of dirty clothes I have purposely put in my way so that I will be forced to deal with them...
Next week: progress on the Friendship Stars and hopefully will get at least ONE quilt (Kaleidoscope Diamonds? or one of the Strippers) pin-basted and on to the next step in the process...
And of course you can get your usual 8,000 daily doses of me over at Snip should the wait be too long for you.
p.s. Isn't it cool looking at really, really different versions of the same quilt? One of the lectures we went to, the speaker brought out four or five completely different colorways of each of her current designs. It really opens your eyes to how much a simple fabric choice can change a design!
Posted by Duff at June 22, 2006 10:13 PM
I love those!
Posted by: Carolyn at June 23, 2006 05:30 AM
those are so cool. those quilts are like those pictures that you stare at for the longest time and can't see anything pop up so it just looks like some random picture etc. and then one day you figure it out and your eyes can't help but see what you're really suppoesd to see. know what i mean?
they're all so beautiful
Posted by: maryse at June 23, 2006 06:29 AM
I like the green and purple one best--yours right? The bottom one is neat for the fabrics, but at least in the photo the center square & "special diamonds" don't show up as well to me.
Now I want to make one!! but I have no time.
Posted by: Heidi at June 23, 2006 06:49 AM
Go Mom! Her quilt looks fabulous with those aborigine prints. Thanks for the pics. It's the kick in the pants I need to get quilting again.
Posted by: Charleen at June 23, 2006 08:32 AM
What Maryse said. Looking at yours at first I could only see the squares, no diamondy thing in the middle, no radiating anything. And then I looked at one of the other ones, and there it was! And then when I looked at yours again that's all I could see. Makes me want to try quilting again, even though I decided after my first one that I didn't like it...
Posted by: J Strizzy at June 23, 2006 08:42 AM
You're quilt is awesome! As is your mom's!
Who made your wee bunny?
Posted by: alice at June 23, 2006 09:35 AM
Very fun to see them all. That is one of the reasons I almost signed up for a class to see what fabrics everyone would choose! Fun to see you are so close to done with another quilt.
Posted by: Amy at June 23, 2006 10:46 AM
I love the bunny!! Your quilt is lovely! And your mom's too.
Posted by: monica at June 23, 2006 12:41 PM
I've always had admiration for people who can make quilts. Mostly because the people who make quilts usually enjoy doing puzzles. And people who enjoy doing puzzles amaze me because puzzles are like knowing how to speak three languages...just plain crazy cool.
Posted by: Anonymous at June 23, 2006 02:06 PM
beautiful work!
Posted by: melissa at June 23, 2006 03:52 PM
Make mine pink and green please...
Posted by: Silvia at June 24, 2006 11:50 AM
What's up Chica!
Everybody's quilt looks great. I'm ready to take up quilting.
Posted by: Jeanine at June 26, 2006 03:09 PM
Looking at all your sewing projects makes me want to take out my sewing machine and use it! But I am lazy. So I will just look at your pictures instead.
Posted by: Gloria at June 26, 2006 05:58 PM
cute bunny
Posted by: Kwon at June 26, 2006 07:18 PM
I like your batik one the best, and your Mom's is so cool although it kinda makes me dizzy as I keep trying to look for the pattern sequence she used. I would have never been able to get it right. Brilliant!
Posted by: myra at June 27, 2006 09:34 PM
Dude. That bunny is super cute, and the quilts are AWESOME. It took me a second to see the circle in the middle. Is it super hard?
Posted by: Carrie at June 28, 2006 08:28 AM
I had the same experience as Maryse and J Strizzy -- remember that black/white drawing that's either a young, Victorian-like lady or an old lady w/headscarf and big nose?? That's what I thought of when my eyes popped or clicked. Well, that's what it feels like! Anyway, they're beautiful.
Posted by: Mary at June 29, 2006 01:30 PM
i like your quilt the best!
Posted by: melanie at June 30, 2006 09:48 PM
Wow they are all great! You guys do nice work!
Posted by: Jade at July 1, 2006 06:04 AM