"Baltimore Rhapsody" Block #6 - the oboe, part 2

This is part 2 of "Baltimore Rhapsody," block #6, the oboe (see part 1 here).   "Baltimore Rhapsody" is a music quilt in the Baltimore album style.  All the blocks measure 15 inches square.  The first 16 blocks are instruments you find in an orchestra, but then I will make additional blocks of other folk, jazz, church, and rock instruments. 

I know some of these tiny pieces may seem too difficult.  The blocks could be enlarged to make a 18" or 20" block.  There will also be larger instrument patterns offered...without all the fruits, flowers, and birds.  Soon the blocks will be available for purchase on my web site, either individually or in groups.  I want you to be able to make up your own music quilt, in any size, with the instruments of your choice.

OK...the oboe.  I took lots of detailed pictures when I put the oboe together.  After a few emails asking how, I decided to post the pictures...a picture is worth a thousand words. 

All four orchestral woodwind instruments are constructed in a similar manner.  Don't panic when you see all the tiny pieces!  Yes, they are more fiddly than the fruits and flowers, but they are do-able.  I stitch these by hand with the edges turned under, but you can use Ultrasuede, raw edge machine applique, heavy-duty raw edge fusible, or embroidery if you don't want to hand applique. 

One of the challenges of making these slender instruments is that the body of the instrument is either black, brown, or grey...not opaque like the background fabric.  How do I see where to put the pieces without being able to see through the background to use the pattern as a guide?

First I work right on the pattern to build up units, just like when I make my flowers and other motifs.

I work in several areas at one time...starting with levers, rods and pieces that appear to be under other stuff.  I use the Roxanne's glue baste ("dot-dot-not-a-lot") and put a weight on the glued area and move to another area while the glue sets a bit.

Somewhere I misplaced my American penny that I use to show scale, and I had a Canadian one mixed in the change in my pocket...being less than 50 miles from Canada (Windsor is across the river from Detroit), half my pocket change is usually Canadian, LOL.

I usually leave the freezer paper on for a while when I am in "assembly mode" so I don't get confused.  I use my stiletto and forceps to loosen the paper edges on the tiny pieces when it's time and handle everything with my forceps because my fingers feel clumsy.  I can barely pick up the penny, much less the tiny keys. 

My brothers used to put together a lot of model cars when I was a little girl.  This woodwind construction reminds me of all the little detail pieces my brothers used to lose...thank goodness this glue doesn't smell, LOL.

I also use the weights to hold the pieces down in place while I work on the other end, prying up and gluing.

Do you see the taller white pattern weight below?  It was made by  Bruce, my applique buddy Julie H's husband.  He is very handy, and he worked with some chair leg caps, lead shot, plaster, and little felt circles to make a set for Julie and for me (thank you, Bruce!!).  If you have a handy husband, maybe you could have a set made for you (I think fishing lead weights would work as well in the plaster - the plaster alone isn't heavy enough).  I also use some large washers for weights sometimes, also pictured below.

Once I get segments constructed, I place the black oboe body on the pattern and glue the segments into place, using the places where the levers and keys stick out on each side as my guides. 

Here is is, all glued up.

Here it is, all stitched up on the block.

Tomorrow, the tuba...

In stitches,
Teresa  :o)

"Baltimore Rhapsody" Block #6 - the oboe, part 1

The oboe is the next block in "Baltimore Rhapsody," a music quilt in the Baltimore album style that I am designing.  It is the soprano member of the double reed instrument family... double reed because two pieces of thin, narrow reed are shaved and tied together with thread and placed in a holder affixed to the small end of the instrument.  When blown, the softened, wet reeds vibrate to make the distinctive sound.  

The modern oboe was invented in Paris, France about 300 years ago by a bagpiper in the court ballet orchestra, but it is based on similar ancient instruments.  One of these, the Aulos, was popular in Greece and took much strength to play; the player's cheeks were strapped with a leather belt to keep them from bursting, LOL!



It is said that the instrument is not so much blown, but that the air is allowed to escape into the instrument to produce the sound (maybe that is why oboe players always appear a little tortured while they play...). 

My high school band director used to tease that playing the oboe killed brain cells, due to all the back pressure in the head.  Oh my!  (I had expressed interest in the oboe...I think he was trying to discourage me...)

The oboe gives the "A" for all the other orchestra instrumentsto tune to.  This is because altering the pitch of this instrument involves actual carpentry!

The pink Sweet Williams are made petal by petal, glue basted together with tiny dots of Roxanne's Glue Baste.  Petals are prepped with a glue stick first, then the order of the addition of petals is based on which petals are "behind" and which petals are toward the "front."

My fingers are so clumsy, I handle the little pieces with forceps as I line them up, working over my pattern.



I place the tiny dots of glue away from the intersection of the pieces so that I don't have to stitch through the dried glue later.  I use this Roxanne's glue so that I don't have to work with pins.

I find this pre-assembly work very satisfying!

After the glue baste is dry enough, I carefully remove the ironed-on freezer paper patterns (they can be reused!) and hand applique the blossom together using YLI silk thread.

I lay out all my prepped pieces on the pattern to make sure I haven't missed any.  I do as much of the unit assembly BEFORE working on the background as I can...I find it easier and more accurate working right on the pattern to "build" the motifs instead of trying to see the pattern through the background fabric square. 

When all the units are glue basted and the larger ones stitched off block, I center the background square on the pattern so that the design is showing through as my guide (a light box makes this easier). Then I glue baste everything to the background square using as little glue as possible ("dot-dot-not-a-lot").

Here is one of the blossoms, all stitched together, ready to be placed on the background square, using a light box to reveal the pattern through the fabric.  These blocks that I stitch off block are really portable for sewing away from the quilt cave.

At this point, I hand appliqued all the blossom, leaves, buds, and vines to the background square before adding the oboe.  I just find it easier to applique the more involved instrument pieces when I'm not catching my thread on the unstitched edges of the flower pieces.

As this post is getting too long, I will show detailed steps of building the oboe in my next post (the oboe, part 2).  Soon, all these patterns will be available for purchase on my web site.  All the blocks finish 15 inches square, and they will be available individually or in groups.

In stitches,
Teresa  :o)

Block 2 - hip-hip-hooray for all the clarinet players out there...

Block 2 of "Baltimore Rhapsody" is the clarinet block.  ("Baltimore Rhapsody" is my original musical pattern series in the making - to learn the back story, click here).  As a clarinet player, of course this had to be one of the first musical instruments drafted!

The clarinet, a single reed instrument, is one of the four typical kinds of woodwind instruments found in a symphony orchestra. It was invented about 1700.  Besides a symphony, clarinets are used in chamber music, concert bands, jazz ensembles, Dixieland bands, and waking up a napping Grandpa...

Admittedly, the size and shape of a traditional 15-inch block makes the long, skinny instruments more of a design challenge than, say, a tambourine or a stocky drum.  I finally settled on the instrument in the center of a heart wreath, which is appropriate for one of my favorites.



When I make this one again (I'm sure I will make a few of each block...), I will use a batik or similarly high thread count fabric to make all the silver keys of the instrument.  The grey that I used was a little testy as I glued/turned under under all the edges of the little circles or long rods.  I also want to experiment with some grey ultra suede, which has the advantage of being used "raw edge."  Alternately, it will also give me an opportunity to work on my raw edge applique...

After gently soaking the block to remove the glues, there was one tiny piece that I neglected to hand applique all sides down.  Due to the looser weave of the grey fabric, it was hard to wrangle the raw edge by needle turn to stitch it down.  No problem!  I just invented an extra key to cover up the area that looked a little threadbare...can you clarinet aficionados out there see where I fudged?? 
  

Picking the fabric palette for this project has been fun.  I felt I needed to use sort of bright fabrics for the flowers, fruits, birds, etc. due to the rather limited, muted palette of the instruments (blacks, greys, browns, and golds).  Then, I picked more traditional greens for leaves and vines to tone down the brights.  Hopefully the contrast of tones and values will cause movement in the finished top.

After drafting the heart wreath, I didn't like the empty spaces in the bottom corners, hence the loose blossoms.

It probably makes the gardeners crazy, but I am just making up flowers, right and left (I'm not sure I've ever seen this color blue in an actual blossom before, ha-ha).
 

The first 16 blocks will contain instruments found in a symphony orchestra.  But don't worry, the rest of the blocks will feature everything from organ pipes to accordions!

In stitches,
Teresa  :o)

Teenie-tiny flowers...

I have managed to do a little glue prepping on my secret project...LOTS of tiny, challenging pieces, but with this applique method, I am up to the challenge!  I now have about twenty large blocks drafted...I like how they look on paper, and I've got 3 fifteen inch blocks glue-basted and ready to stitch.  I think I will be pushing the envelope with my glue method on some of these blocks...the pieces are so TINY!

I hope I can show you more of this project soon, but I have created (drafted) something I have never seen before in the quilting world (just when I thought EVERYTHING had been done...), and I want to copyright the designs after I see if they work in fabric as well as they do on paper
.  

I hate to be a tease...just afraid of the Internet.  Mostly, I just hate to have nothing more than these little snippets to share with you!  I am giddy with excitement about the project!

Since I hate choosing fabric, I am choosing not to choose.  I'm just using every fabric I can lay my hands on.  It's like going to a dinner buffet and having a little bite...of EVERYTHING!  (and NO calories!)


Yee-haw!


In stitches,
Teresa  :o)