I am no painter, but one of my sisters asked me to embellish a potty stool for my little nephew with a train theme. Not my strong point.
After much procrastination (and too much hand applique), I finally got it done.
Am I the last person to finish a present for Christmas 2012?!? It's in the mail, Lainie...
In stitches,
Teresa :o)
"All Around the Town" is going to one more show before it gets retired to a wall in my house. Just like "Banana Joe," the winner of the recent big dog show, it is time for this quilt to relax and just hang around the house.
I shipped it off for the AQS - Lancaster Quilt Show by way of Paducah, KY and my daughter and I are shipping off to Alabama for her mid-winter break (I'm glad WE didn't get stuffed in a black plastic bag, followed by a stuffy box for OUR journey).
In stitches,
Teresa :o)
Thanks to LuAnn over at Loose Threads, I did a little Valentine's Day playing around. I collect heart/love fabrics, and LuAnn's little piece was just the thing to make. It was tempting to make it bigger because it was hard narrowing down the fabric choices (the HARDEST part for me, always!).
I don't have the HST's and squares sewn together yet, but this little project allowed me a little sewing machine time...too much hand applique lately and NO piecing. My little pieces will finish 3 inches, so the whole thing is only 18 x 18. I had hoped to make a smaller version for a mug rug, but I wanted to show off more of each fabric. I am such a fabric addict...
I hope everyone had a great Valentine's Day!
In stitches,
Teresa :o)
Well, I am trying a plan "B" idea for a swag border. I really love the plan "A" roman knot...maybe because it is fast and I get to start quilting sooner, LOL.
To make sure that is NOT my motivation, I thought I would mess around with one appliqued border to see if that is truly where my lazy heart lies.
I thought I would make the swags look like "cut work" - maybe because I was watching Downton Abbey and looking at Violet's lace hankie. Have you ever seen swags with holes in them - I think I made it up, but after looking at MILLIONS of quilts in books, magazines, museums, and the Internet, one never knows...
I managed to trace and cut up a lot of freezer paper during that nice, long episode. (Thank God, nothing to cry about in this one...all those tears and nose blows make it hard to get anything done!).
I am still messing around with the block setting. I've been considering with the suggestion of putting the conductor in the bottom left corner and trying to arrange the other blocks in some sort of "orchestra order." It's not easy with a square/diagonal setting, when the orchestra is a semi-circle, but here goes nothing...I got out all my little paper bits again...
This one is as close to the real deal, the real order as I could get. Really, the timpani should be beyond the trombone, but just not possible in this setting. To me, the bottom row is way too heavy with dark objects. I modified it a bit to get the piano off the bottom (after all...it is only a concerto instrument and not normally in the orchestra line up...).
OK...this is weighted better, and I like how the woodwinds are right, plum in the center where they should be (flute next to oboe on one row, and clarinet next to bassoon on the next). But the angles of the long, skinny instruments bother me.
OK, maybe that is better. My daughter is off from school AGAIN (snow day? really? WE didn't get the blizzard...I think someone just wanted a 4-day weekend...) and walked by and noticed that I really could turn the oboe 90 degrees and not hurt the integrity of the block. Ah, young, fresh eyes...
So, back to the quilt cave to delve deeper...
In stitches,
Teresa :o)
Boy, oh boy, am I ever up against a wall...my design wall. I am having a hard time deciding how to proceed with setting these 16 finished blocks into a quilt. I really thought I had a plan, but after seeing all the blocks together, I sort of fell out of love with my old plan A.
Then, every time I walk by the design wall, I move blocks, and try to remember to take a picture. Still no spark of inspiration.
Next, I printed out tiny versions of the blocks, and played with the layout that way.
Now I am looking at plan B...and plan C, plan D, plan E, etc.
I have been studying all my idea books where I saved pictures of Baltimore style quilts...LOTS of sticky notes of things I liked at the time I saved them.
I have been scouring all my quilt books that contain antique Baltimore album quilts....A LOT MORE sticky notes, and books scattered all over the quilt cave.
I've been doodling around on my computer, too. I am a very visual person...I really need to see it. A lot of the antique Baltimore style quilts I've been studying seem really busy. While I was making the blocks, I was thinking I would put tiny sawtooth sashing around every block.
But now I think that is too busy. Sue Garmon can really pull that off...she has a great eye for how to balance all the elements, but I seem a little lost. I doodled around with other possibilities...not sure any of them really grab me.
Even a thin, basic strip sashing seems blaring to me when done in green, red, or brown, but maybe if it is done in a very light brown so that it doesn't jump out at me, maybe I will like it. I've studied some more recent Baltimore style quilts that incorporated this idea.
Then I found examples that had sashing made from the background, which looks like no sashing, but does space the blocks out a bit more so that they are not "doing battle with each other." That started looking very elegant to me. Then I stumbled on this roman knot inner border idea.
This would have no applique border...just lots of (hopefully) stunning hand quilting (and mitered outer borders)...hmmm...
Then I wondered about a very subtle, thin, light brown sashing AND this roman knot idea...hmmm, may be getting busy again.
Then I thought about a wider sashing, but still with the thin subtle brown strips and a cornerstone, accompanied by a more traditional scallop outer border...or a vine...
With this idea, I would get thin strips of background on each side of the light brown, which would make the blocks not crowd so much against each other. But, it is also busy...what to do, what to do...
Then I thought about spacing the blocks out with sashing made from background fabric, then add an inner border around all the blocks of some kind...plain strip or sawtooth, followed by a more traditional appliqued outer border (I don't have the inner border doodled in below, but it is there, in my brain...).
I was sad to have to reject the blocks that had the G and F clef signs and the lyre in them. I could introduce those ideas in an appliqued outer border, either with a vine or scallop motif. What do you think of the heart motif?
It is actually an F clef, with its mirror image, as a very crude doodle. These clefs are asymmetrical and difficult to use unless you get creative...
So there I am...basically thinking of either plan A...
Or some version of plan B...
That is where I am...now...today. Who knows where I will be tomorrow...(maybe plan C).
Help!
We got a little bit of ice and some snow in southeast lower Michigan last night, so my daughter is enjoying a snow day from high school and an unplanned 3-day weekend (if fact, I think she is still in bed, tut-tut). Good luck to everyone who will be getting a bigger dose of snow, wind, and misery today, tonight, and tomorrow.
In stitches,
Teresa :o)
What is the orchestra without someone in charge? This is the final block for this orchestral quilt, but there will be more music blocks to come (don't fret if you have not seen your favorite yet).
The conductor not only "keeps the beat" and keeps everyone together, but also studies the musical score so much that it is memorized. This can be literally thousands of measures of music, and keeps "the score in his head - not his head in the score" so that he/she is free to make eye contact with the musicians and draw every possible drop of expression from the performance.
While a conductor probably plays at least one instrument, he/she knows much about all the instruments. They must also be physically fit...take a pencil, hold your arm out at shoulder level, and try to direct through a song on the radio...it is not easy!
Most orchestra and band conductors use a baton (stick) in one hand. It is an expressive extension of the hand, and makes crisp and/or sweeping movements that are easily seen and interpreted by the musicians. The other hand is used to control dynamics, etc (and pull up pants, if necessary, LOL).
At some point, I want to make this block, with the pants bunched around the ankles and humorous boxer shorts revealed (or a tattoo, LOL). Can you tell I grew up watching a lot of Bugs Bunny and Loony Tunes cartoons?!? (including the "Rabbit of Seville" and Wagner's "Kill de Wabbit")
Choral directors usually don't use a baton, as voices are easier to mold and direct expressively with hands.
In addition to studying and memorizing many scores for each concert, the conductor is always searching out new music.
To conduct is to be more than just being a two-legged metronome, more than just an indication of tempo...the whole body is used to interpret the music through baton flourishes, body positions, and facial expressions. It can seem like an interpretive dance.
The conductor can take certain liberties with tempo and dynamics, and can emphasize instruments and musical motifs as he/she likes. This is why listening to two different conductors recording the same piece of music can be so interesting and different.
In the past, great conductors were composers as well. Until the early 1800's, they might be the concert master or harpsichord player, directing while playing.
The level of conducting difficulty depends on the kind of musical work being performed. Operas and ballets may be the most difficult - not only does the conductor direct the orchestral musicians, but has to be concerned with singers, actors, soloists, and dancers.
To conduct a ballet, the conductor must have a sense of "muscle memory" that allows a piece of music to be conducted at the same tempo each time. This way the dancer has no surprises!
The tuxedo worn by the conductor is usually all black, but I chose a dark gray for the pants so that the coat and pants wouldn't meld into some sort of bizarre musical jumpsuit.
Most of the famous conductors of the 20th century were older men, with stylish, gray hair. I chose to make my conductor youthful, with the kind of face, hair (and body) that could cause a young, impressionable, female woodwind player to miss entrances due to staring and swooning (guilty...).
This is probably not the final block arrangement, but it is fun to see them all together, and I wanted to see what they would look like with no sashing, which is a popular setting in antique Baltimore album quilts. The setting and outer borders are my next concern.
If you would like to read more about this project, read here. Now that all the blocks are done (so that GOOD photography can be done), it won't be long until the block patterns will be available for purchase. Stay tuned! (ha-ha...get it?!? "tuned"?!?)
In stitches,
Teresa :o)
Well, I always knew that I couldn't put every music block in the first quilt of this Baltimore Rhapsody project, but I am disappointed to exclude these three from my first quilt. When I first envisioned the "symphony" quilt, I was going to put the viola in the same block as the violin, one on each side of the fruit compote, etc. I was also not going to include the piano or timpani.
Then, there is the last block I am working on right now...how could I not include it (as soon as I finish it, I will post it - it is so FUN!).
Now I see these three with a fourth block (doodled in my noodle...). Then they will make a nice wall hanging.
I couldn't wait to finish the current block to square them up and start messing around with the arrangement of the sixteen blocks. So now that I finished all the embroidery, it's time to trim and have a partial reveal.
When it all boils down, I mostly wanted to see the monster all together.
The ruler on the right has been very useful on this project. It is made by Omnigrid and measures 15 inches square. The Creative Grids ruler on the left is new and was especially designed to square up this size block. It measures 15-1/2 inches square...PERFECT!
The blocks have had a final pressing, and I carefully, carefully trimmed away the excess background. "Measure twice, cut once" is certainly appropriate in this case.
The new ruler made quick work, and I have a pile of blocks ready to be pinned to my design wall.
My strategy consists of arranging the blocks, considering color, which way the block "leans," and spreading out the various degrees of heaviness. THEN I STAND BACK AND SQUINT. The squinting is key for me.
Every time I moved blocks around, I took a picture so that I could reproduce that arrangement, if needed.
For the next picture, I inserted my unfinished block...mostly to get rid of the hideously ugly and old pink college blanket that is used for the design wall in the quilt cave.
I'm sure I will move them around some more. I am making various sashing and border pieces, so it was time to have the blocks up on the wall so I could audition sashing strips and fabrics where I can see the whole thing.
The quilt is not this dark...my indoor photography needs a lot of help, mostly a better camera, I think. It is really gratifying to see them all (mostly) and continue the planning.
In stitches,
Teresa :o)
p.s. I was openly WEEPING tonight after Downton Abbey, Season 3, Episode 4. Spoiler alert: someone dies. OMG! I AM STILL CRYING...
