Changing Times, MCQ Challenge

I completed my Changing Winds: El Nino piece for the MCQ Challenge.

With my own challenge to use up all my scraps this is a scrap piece and when I brought it to Cavers I told them I have no idea what to use for the border.  I'm tired of using black every time I can't figure it out.  They suggested charcoal.  Someone said light charcoal and another said dark charcoal.  I had a piece that had both. It's only quilted in the lines of rows.

One down, several more other challenges to go.

Quilter's hands

Not so many photos this time, I forgot the camera and my phone just isn't fast enough for quilter's quick moving hands!

Video at Camp Wapo for MCQ Quilt Retreat

A couple unprofessional videos from the MCQ retreat at Camp Wapo.

Youtube link to videos

We had a lot of fun!

The Challenge "Abode"



Blue sky and grass blowing in the wind.
Knee high grass blowing in the wind on a sunny day is so beautiful it mesmerizes me.  This beautiful earth is my home.



Minnesota Contemporary Quilters "Abode Challenge". 

The piece on the left is for the challenge.   I think I must quilt a big circle in the sky as another representation of earth.
The piece on the right is for myself.  I have another idea that will result in a third piece, but I have other things to work on yet.  Maybe someday.

The Tree Project Completed Wallhanging Part 4

It's done!  Hurray!  Yee haw! Boom shuga shuga shuga, boom shuga shuga shuga!

Its called "Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall".  I was lucky to get different seasons.

Now I want to get the "Abode" challenge done this weekend.

The Tree Project by Wanda Shelton, part 3

Now that I actually marked the cutting lines, I had to remove leaves because I put some too close to the cutting lines.  Yeah-it would have been smart to mark those earlier!
Now to put the upper 2 sections and the lower right section in their own zip bags, with my name and some extra leaves; and then get a piece of fabric the same size as the whole thing and pin my lower left section to it and wait for the trade at the MCQ meeting.
All these days off from work and this is all I've accomplished so far. :-(

The Tree Project by Wanda Shelton, Step 2

Those last few leaves clinging to the tree, trying not to succumb to the cold wind.

I stopped working on it because I don't have the pattern at the moment and I realized I went a little gung-ho on the leaves without respecting the guidelines.  When I get the pattern back I'll adjust them.

The colors in photographs never seem to be true.

The Tree Project Pattern by Wanda Shelton

At Minnesota Contemporary Quilters Wanda Shelton came forward with the Tree Project where all who sign up will receive the tree pattern, make the tree art quilt front and then it will be cut into 4 quarters (on the fold lines of the pattern) and the pieces exchanged and then put back together and completed.  You keep 1/4 of your own, but you will have the 3 other quarters replaced by the other quilters who also completed their tops.

I'm inspired by 2 ideas. One being that Sharon Englund has not only already started hers, but she's going to sew on individual 2-sided leaves and I like that idea.  And the 2nd inspiration is just looking out my window at the lovely bright yellow maple with the blue sky behind.
Since many of the leaves on my beautiful maple have already fallen, I will have some of the branches showing through.  I've done a rough sketch of some arty branches.  They remind me of thorns!

Christmas Quilts

This is a Christmas quilt for my cousins, Tom Ouradnik and his wife Ann.
Feels like eons ago that I asked my family to wrap their Christmas gifts in fabric and then I collected the fabrics and drew a name from those who participated and the winner was to get something I made from the fabric.
Even when we were doing it I was years behind on these gifts.  We don't exchange gifts any more, but I still have more quilts to finish!
I'll probably be done with the machine quilting today and then start on the binding.
After I finished one, I would add all the leftover fabric to the fabric from the following year.  I've made a few quilts, a pillow I think, some wall-hangings and a 25' Yo-Yo Garland which only goes around my Aunt Joans tree 2 and a half times!
Two of the quilts I hand quilted, but if Tom and Ann wanted a hand-quilted quilt, they would have to wait another 25 years for it!  I machine quilted it on the Bernina in the picture.  Nothing like spending most of your quilting time punching the quilt through the opening of the machine!  I did that for 3 days at the MCQ quilt retreat at Camp Wapo.

My "Twin Cities on the Bias" piece is on the Textile Center Gallery Page!

What a fun little thing!  The MCQ "Twin Cities on the Bias" Challenge is still touring and is currently at the Textile Center hanging in the Library Gallery.
My piece is on the webpage where it announces the Library Gallery Exhibits.
Textile Center Gallery Page

As always a creative, relaxing beautiful time on the Quilt Retreat

At a dead stop a mile from the Stillwater Lift Bridge

Perusing a magazine



Managing slippery conditions



Creativity flowing from the mind through the pen



Holding on for dear life



Busy Hands...

The light is on, but nobody is home.

Back in the sewing room again!

mncontemporaryquilterS.net



The letter S for MCQ, approx 3" x 10", stitched embroidery floss and fiber by hand.

 "And it's about time!"
Minnesota Contemporary Quilters needs a banner.  Kathy Faust has designed a way for 26 of MCQ Members to each make a piece of that banner by creating a unique system that was inspired by the spectacular River Quilt made by the St Cloud Quilters (pictured farther down). 
At the last MCQ meeting Kathy arranged to draw the names of the hopeful participants (so it would be fair) for each person to come up and pick out the letter they wanted, mine included the blue fabric. 
S is for Svedberg.  Of course!
Kathy wants to sew the individual pieces together side by side, so the sides of my piece are actually unsewn and only basted for my picture. 
Easily undone with the pull of a thread.

The lighting in this picture is dreadful.  The 16 Quilters each got a 'pattern' with the width of the piece, the marks for where the river must start on the left side and marks for where it would end on the right side; and the rest of the sheet was blank!  Each quilter decided the height and where the river went within those boundaries. 
The different styles of interpretation were fascinating, the level of skill was impressive, and the variety of technique covered almost everything out there!  Each piece was numbered and had to go back in that order for the river to flow; and yet the cohesiveness was beautiful.
The only constant between them is the river, and even the river was interpreted with different techniques in each piece.
I'll update this post tomorrow with more credit towards the River Quilt.

Buildings

So sad, but I've had to force myself to work on this!

 Put one in, take another one out.

 I keep adjusting this way and that.

I will change the sky to a lighter blue and the earth to a darker green.  When it's completed hardly any of the green earth will show; only the edge on the right and a sliver coming down between the buildings that's showing now.

I'm going to keep working on it tomorrow, hopefully all the 'buildings' will be up on the wall, and having it look like I want.  Then in the evenings this week I'll start to assemble the piece.  The hardest part will be taking it all down so I can fuse it.  What I need is design wall that I can iron on!

I'm losing interest so I'm distracting myself...

I removed all the buildings because it wasn't looking natural. 

Seeing that it didn't look right has really made me lose interest in the piece. 

I decided that I would add some approximate sky and earth, even tho' I don't know what I'll end up with in the end.  There will be black or grey in the very center representing the street. 

So in the mean time I've been taking some of the scraps and making beads and buttons.  Most of these scraps already have fusible on them, but if not I use a little glue stick. 

I wish I were more passionate about this project.  Letting the intuitiveness direct me is a lot more fun than this.  Now it's a just a chore I wish to be finished with by Monday night!

Debra Svedberg 2011 8.5 x 11

I'm not getting very inspired about the MCQ challenge called "Twin Cities on the Bias" yet, so I went to my sewing room to play.   These are just messing with perspectives, fabric and a glue stick.