Wild Cherry Quilt

Well, if any quilt can brighten up a cold, gray day, I guess this little one can. I love all the delicious shades of cherry, and the yellows and greens give it zing. You can read about how they all came together here.  Pardon the quality of the photos, hastily taken as I shivered in the wind and rain.

I like all its wonderful quilty texture.

 I was hoping to get this one finished sooner, but life happens--you know how it goes. And I always sew and hand quilt so much faster in my head. I'm sure you know how that goes, too. Truth is, I'm not good at sitting still for long. I can sit and hand quilt for an hour or so before I go stir-crazy. Some bloggers write how they hand-sewed the binding of their bed-sized quilt in one sitting while watching a season of 'Law and Order' or something...I wish I could do that, but I get way too squirrelly. So, I'm slow. But that's okay, it's not a race.

Speaking of binding, I take a shortcut: I trim the backing fabric so I can wrap it around to the front and use it as the binding. I've done this since my first quilt. I came up with it on my own, but a while ago I discovered this tutorial, which is very helpful for mitering the corners. I have bound two mini quilts the typical way (including hand-sewing the binding on the back), just to learn it and try it, but it made me so antsy to be done already...and antsy is not how I want to feel while making a quilt. I choose the backing fabric based on the binding I want, or I piece the back to give me the binding I want. I like my binding to be a little wider than standard, so I trim my backing fabric 1 1/2" wider than the quilt top (for this wall quilt, I trimmed to 1"), fold it over twice like in the tutorial, then machine-sew it from the front. I'm always pleased with how it turns out. Who says you have to make things the "right" way.

The backing, with all its colorful stitches.

It measures 34"x 37"

This is my first wall quilt; I've already started another one that I'll show you soon, and I keep thinking of ideas for more. I've long wanted to make one of Amanda Jean's ticker tape quilts (I've been saving my tiniest of scraps), and I really want to make one with Rossie's pebbles.  I like the thought of being able to change my wall art with the seasons or as the mood strikes me. So stay tuned ;)

Linked to Crazy Mom Quilts for Finish it up Friday

Gwen Marston: Quilt Goddess

Last Thursday we had the pleasure of seeing the exhibit "Gwen Marston: Contemporary Quilts" at the Dennos Museum Center in Traverse City, Michigan. As I've mentioned before , Gwen is my biggest inspiration. Her 'liberated' approach to quilt design is so freeing and fun, and is how I most love to work. "Liberated Quiltmaking II" is one of my first and favorite quilt books; I re-read it often and those right brain gears just start turning.
I am amazed at how someone can be so creative, varied and prolific! Her quilt styles range from classically traditional patterns with reproduction Civil War fabrics, to the most modern, abstract designs in solids. The quilts in this exhibit were her modern ones, almost exclusively in solids.

So come see some of her quilts with me!

Liberated Log Cabin with String Border (2009, see its photo and description in Liberated Quiltmaking II. But here's a mystery: in the book, it's pictured 'upside down' from the way it was shown in the museum, yet it's hung by a hanging sleeve...so which is the right way up?)
This is my favorite of Gwen's quilts.

Small Study 37 (2010) and Abstraction (2012)
The small quilt is her fabric 'sketch' of her design for the larger quilt.

More small studies

Mexican Hat Dance (2008, Liberated Quiltmaking II)
This one makes me all kinds of happy.

Strippy II (2011)

Medallion in Solids (2007, Liberated Medallion Quilts)

Liberated Log Cabin (2007)
So much quilt love for this one. While this quilt is totally modern, she made her log cabin blocks with the traditional red centers, symbolizing the hearth of the home.

Liberated Log cabin with Applique Border (2008)
I love brights, but I really like the combination of these softer colors.

Framed Red Squares (2007)

High Desert Country III (2008)
These colors remind me of a wonderful road trip to the southwest, especially Utah.

Medallion with Sawtooth Border (2008)
Don't miss that lovely sliver of bright lavender.

Red on Red (2013)
Look at all those juicy reds...mmmm.

Red Square VI (2008)

I hope you enjoyed seeing Gwen Marston's quilts at the museum. These are only some that are on display, through April 27. Thanks for letting me share my excitement with you! I left with so many new quilt ideas, my head kind of hurt, but in a good way. You know, that headache you get when you're on creative overload.

It's is a little off-topic, but in case you haven't seen enough color, this was happening at the museum at the same time: Tibetan monks painting a sand mandala.

I could have stared at it for hours, just trying to take in all the detail and color and texture. Absolutely stunning. Wouldn't it make a gorgeous applique'd wall quilt?! You can read more about their mandala sand painting here.

Have a good week!

Wild Cherry

You don't need me to tell you about how awful this endless winter of our discontent has been, how the snow drifts threatening to bury the house or snowflakes sticking to the windows made me feel suffocated....nope, not gonna rant; I've already done that, and so have you, I'm sure. But really, this winter did a number on me, and if it snowed one more time, I was going to curl up in a little ball on my closet floor and stay there until my tulips bloomed.

I needed to at least look at something cheerful every day, so quilting to the rescue! I started my first wall quilt, to hang on the wall across from the bed, to be something beautiful I see when I first open my eyes in the morning (instead of the white s--- outside the window [use the four-letter s-word of your choice there])

Here's how this quilt evolved: Once upon a time, I noticed I had a bunch of pretty deep rosy-pink fabrics in my stash. I gathered them together, thinking about what kind of quilt I wanted to make with them, and put them in the project closet...where they sat for about *ahem* three years. I'd go to the closet often to get and work on the quilts I'd given priority, and every once in a while I'd think about the pile...maybe add a fabric, maybe take one away...but still no ideas for a quilt design. At one point, I realized Rosy Pinks needed some lively new friends, so I introduced a couple yellow solids and a couple greens. Well okay, the party was gettin' started.

Late last year I began thinking about making my first wall quilt. Then I re-read Liberated Medallion Quilts by Gwen Marston (she is my absolute quilting idol, for her quilts and for her liberated approach to designing and piecing). I kept thinking, "That Amy Butler 'Love' fabric would make a great center medallion..." So all that combined with some serious winter blues, and I knew it was time to get crackin'.

Here's the finished quilt top, taped up where it will hang, replacing a large Georgia O'Keefe print.
(Georgia, I really like your work, but I've been looking at that big purple petunia since I had my first apartment. It's time to go.)

Hand-quilting it shouldn't take too long. 
Soon, my pretty, soon...

Linked up with Lee at Freshly Pieced for WIP Wednesday!