2018 Study of Watercolor Roses

Roses are blooming in December in Mobile, Alabama!

The painting of the single rose, and bud was traced from a photo, with the focus on painting. Then I decided I needed to draw my rose. Shown here is a photo of the speciman, the photo placed in a grid sleeve, and an inked line drawing. To preserve my original sketch in the sketchbook, I scanned it and opened it in Adobe Classic Lightroom to heighten the contrast. Then the saved copy was printed, and the lines traced over with a Micron pen. The sketch is now ready to transfer to watercolor paper - 140 lb Hot Press Arches.

To make a "grid sleeve" I started with a presentation folder that had several clear page protectors.I put an 8.5" x 11" piece of paper with a 1 inch grid inside the page protector. Then with a "Sharpie" fine point, I drew the grid lines on the front of the page protector (I call them "sleeves"). A Micron Pen will not work on the plastic sleeve, but will smear. When the Sharpie ink dried, I sprayed the entire page with art fixative. To make a 'copy' of the photo in the sketchbook, I drew a 6" x 6" (i inch) grid and drew the rose. To help focus on the central object, I cut a 6" x 6" piece from cardstock to isolate the image. I also cut a 1" square from card stock to isolate each square. This was especially helpful for the complex center of the rose.

Helen Powers' Wedding Gown

100% Silk satin dress, with Swiss and French lace.

Getting ready

Detail of the skirt front

Detail of the train

Photo of Helen's sister Mary, wearing the dress in 1949.

Compound Learning

I think I want to learn something, so I pull up a You Tube Video

 and play it, while doing nothing else.

Overview

1. Watch and listen to the video (questions? If no, stop here. If yes, continue)

Visual

1. Turn off the sound and watch the video (questions?)

Audible

1. Close my eyes and listen to the video (questions?)                                                                                                                                                                            

Contemplation

1. Turn off the video and think about the video (questions?)                                                                        

Utilization

1. Apply the content of the video to the creation of something.                                                         (There will be questions)                                                                                                                                  

      Engage other senses: touch, smell, taste, where applicable.

What are some ways to experience the experience ?

Expand and constrict

Extend

Enlarge and reduce

Connect and sever

Density:  Gradation  and absolute

How does "it" contribute to the development of society

How does "it" contribute to the destruction of society

Consume or sustain

          Nourish AND replenish (the beehive in the carcass of the lion)

Stimulation

Respite

Cross Training:

         What does learning to spin fibers into thread have to do with building a rope ladder ?

One strand is weak - 12 strands is 100 times stronger. Why ?

               The twist, and opposing tension

If a two by four in a vertical position can sustain the weight of a section of roof, 

why does a two by four in a horizontal

Position break under the same weight ? 

Does the grain of the wood

have anything to do with it?  Does bamboo have a "grain" ?

How does it compare with wood ?

Does one large stick have the same strength as

a hundred fine sticks bound together ? Which is stronger ?

What does flexibility have to do with it, if anything ?

At what point is a subject exhausted ?

Flax to linen:

   grow

   harvest

   crush and rot

   comb

   spin

   weave

   cut

   sew

Silk ?

Can this material (content) be transformed ?  The simpler the content, the more potential there is for transformation.

The more potential for transformation, the more creative the experience.

 

 Delete my answers to questions and provide your own.

Dimensions - thoughts on Abundant Learning

Learning to see is a wondrous thing.
 First I saw a thought in a single dimension,
and wondered if there were more dimensions:
to thought, speech, learning, expression.
 ~Are the masterpieces of the ages merely multi-dimensional expression?

Learning styles: Since the 'experts' have debunked the theory of
 (1) one learning style, and
 (2) a learning style among several

 Is it possible to have all learning styles, at once, one at a time ?

On fabric:

What happens to the fabric when it is ___________.

     (subject to changes: wet? pulled? ripped? folded? wadded?)

What is the history of the fabric? The organic source? 

Its uses in earlier cultures? 

Its contribution to enlightenment?

 Its contribution to destruction?

Can the use of fabric be applied to infinite sustainability?

What if a stained and torn "rag" were ground up

and re-manufactured?

South by Southwest, the Quilting

Each quarter block will be marked with a stencil. The sewing line is not continuous,

 but I choose to use it regardless of the extra attention it will require. 

The stencil will be cut using the Cricut Explore Air 2. It's not yet decided if

I will use freezer paper, Contact paper, or cardstock sprayed with adhesive.

More on this later...

South By Southwest, the Pattern

South By Southwest

By Elaine Rutledge, © 2018

(re: the copyright – this pattern may be shared freely but may not be sold)

(Made using 2.5" strips, except the center of the center, which is cut 4.5" square)

Angled 45 degree Cuts are named by the direction they slant

Each larger unit will have all four corners the same color.

Then they are assembled alternating with a second color to form the 4 Patch Accent.

All units must have the same color placement for the flying geese to provide contrast.

FG = Flying Geese

Making the center

Sew the brown FG to the turquoise corner. Make 4 for each larger unit. For the second block,

Sew the brown FG to the Dark Brown corner. Make 4.

Sew the turquoise FG to the 4.5” square. Then sew to the brown FG.

Sew the 4.5” NW to the left of the center. The unit is made with a background, and a print each cut

With a NW slant, and stitched.

The 6.5 print/4.5 background piece added. It is made by cutting 6.5 strip, and a 4.5 strip, that when sewn on the NE angle, will measure 8.5”. The 6.5” measurement refers to the longest edge of the piece, if cut using a template.

The medium brown NW piece added, then the medium teal NE piece completes one fourth of the block. It should measure 10-1/2" including seam allowance

If you wish to make templates, download the Quilt Assistant, and draw the block in the

“Regular Pattern” option.

After you draw and color the block, according to the instructions provided with the software,

You can PRINT – Calculate Yardage! – Print SUPER ACCURATE TEMPLATES –

I tried making my own templates…(arrgh. Not Good). So, I printed the templates in Quilt Assistant, cut

them out and glued them to my template plastic, (the old-fashioned kind from Collins,

 that will melt if you try to iron over it.) If you cut down a piece of cheap white construction paper to 

print templates – the paper has “tooth” - it will slide less on the fabric. Using a 1/16^th hole punch,

I made the holes at each stitching intersection and asterisk on the template – to guide the machine,

stitching sewing dot to dot, ignoring seam allowance, and using a wider presser foot for more control.

I was afraid that making my templates, cutting/marking each piece would be too fiddly, but it really beats having to trim to size (maybe not the SAME size accurately.) It was so satisfying to lay the block next to my two tape measures, and have it the right size.

Assembling the Quilt

Blocks Set on Point

Note that corners are 2 halves of one quarter block. Side triangles are two quarter blocks, with one cut in half and sewn to the other quarter block.

Tame the Bias Edges!!

The dark brown border is Kona Cotton. I had 4 yards that I cut 3” strips on the lengthwise grain for stability (the lengthwise grain stretches less than the crosswise grain.) Three strips joined surrounded the quilt with some left over.

1.       Measure 14.25” on the border strip, and mark with a pin – Let’s call the point “A”.

2.       On the quilt, put a ruler down with the edge aligned with the corners, and pin alongside the ruler on the edge. Call it point “B”.

3.       Pin the border to the quilt, matching points A and B.

4.       Gently ease any quilt fullness into the border and pin. I had to go to the machine a couple of times to correct a poorly sewn seam. Steam set the section of border. Cover with something to absorb the heat and moisture and allow to cool and dry.

To absorb the heat and moisture, I have used:

A section of unfinished wood (1 X 2 or 2 X 4)

The cardboard from the back of a used tablet, weighted with a book

Brown Kraft paper, weighted with a book

The weight doesn’t have to be heavy. I don’t use a weight with the section of wood.

If an area of bias has stretched – you can resew to take up the excess. I prefer to guide it back to shape with the steam iron: gently moving the iron with the grain of fabric, first lengthwise, then crosswise…as many times as necessary until the ruffles flatten.

The Organized Quilt Maker!

Next to my sewing machine, I placed a sturdy TV table to hold a pressing board,
with a small cutting mat, and small iron.
The strip sets were pinned to the edge of the board,
 and when I wanted to cut one, I would lay that strip on the mat, and cut, then let it fall.
After stitching, I was ready to press without leaving my chair.

South By Southwest

Quilt in Progress for Joseph

When my youngest daughter Kristina was killed, I was devastated.
 Kris loved my decor of the southwest, where I grew up on a desert ranch.
 Some of the items I had given her survived

 the house fire that took her life the
 same month her only son Joseph turned 21.

For Joseph's birthday in 2018, I plan to gift him the quilt

South By Southwest.

Eager to start the quilt before the pattern arrived, I thought I had the

pattern figured out. But months later, when I tried to finish

using the pattern - nothing worked! Although similar,

my quilt and the pattern were critically different.

 I would sew for a day and

 rip for two days. 

Quilt Assistant v.2.25

To the rescue! It is FREE block drawing software, designed
 not to replace The Electric Quilt, but

to provide a CAD for specific drawing tasks.
 It has proven easy to learn, and use

to create and print my own personal pattern.

Color Plan #1

To create the interesting corner treatment, I made two color plans -
 with a difference only in contrasting corner colors.
 Otherwise, the coloration is only a guide for

a scrappy look made with 2.5" strips on
 a cream background yardage.

One fourth of the block is created 4 times,
 and joined to make a 20" block set on point.

The direction of the angled cuts are important.
 I hate wasting fabriccutting pieces that won't work.
 So I labeled the pieces:

NE and NW refer to the angle of the cut

If you  think of a compass,
 the NW angle points to the West, and the
NE angle 

points to the east. 

The number inside each unit indicates the finished size of the
 longest edge of the unit.

(After mindlessly cutting some "F-NE" units -
 I realized I couldn't use them

and still follow my plan. It's OK,
they will work in the side triangles.)

A note about cutting:  

For 40+ years, I have used the rotary cutter and acrylic rulers in specialized 

shapes and sizes. Lately, I decided my results were way too inaccurate,

whether due to my advancing age, or loss of skill for relying on

oversized and trimmed blocks!

While doing Jinny Beyer's 2017 Mystery quilt, I decided to use her method of 

making templates and marking them as if for hand sewing - 

except I would sew

by machine.

 Then I saw in a Quilt Show video that Sally Collins

does much the same, but takes it further, and cuts with the tiny 

rotary cutter, being oh so careful not to cut her template.

 It works!! 

And doesn't take any more time than all that silly trimming. 

It is done correctly the first time. The method also has the 

advantage of using my wide presser foot for better control of the seam.

Instead of sewing by a scant quarter inch seam allowance, my sewing

 guides are the dots transferred from the templates.  

So nice!

Sea Swept !

The first section done on my Sea Swept quilt. It will honor the historic mariners in my husband's family - including the grandson who now sails in the Pacific on sea going tugs. Gerald's career took him around the world more than once. I envy his memories! His family history goes back to the grandfather (great?) who played a pivotal role in the confederacy ships reaching Mobile to replenish needed salt supplies.

The pattern is by Laura Flynn from The Cotton Patch Quilt Shop. It is paper pieced, combining Storm at Sea and Ocean Waves, aka Snail's Trail.

A scan in the pattern ©2014 by Laura Flynn that I used to plan my sequence of construction

 

This is a great pattern for those who "teach themselves" to quilt. It is complex enough to require thought and planning. The repetition gives plenty of practice for that pesky paper piecing upside down and backwards method - a sure thing for accuracy. And I would call it "semi-scrappy" - providing the advantages of a controlled scrappy quilt within a set color scheme.

First I purchased two small plastic drawer units to organize the many small pieces - in both prints and background. These have proven indispensable - and the drawers can be removed from the "cabinet" to serve as trays on the pressing center to have each size and color handy to laying out the fabric on the foundation paper.

 I literally hate repetitive, boring, endless cutting and sewing. The only pieces I cut the entire amount needed were the diamond shapes - I saved fabric by cutting diamonds instead of rectangles. Waiting 2 months for a bundle of fat quarters that never arrived didn't help either, so it was doubly necessary to organize the cut strips, squares and triangles, a little at a time. This aversion to boredom is also the reason I decided to make my quilt in sections, like a 9 patch. The sequence gives me enough variety to keep things interesting. I made the four blocks of Ocean Waves, and lay them out to plan the colors for the diamonds and centers...semi-scrappy at its best.

A Successful start to the New Year's Resolution to Plan My Work, and Work My plan!