thank you, International Threads!

You will remember the gray scale challenge that was the second quilt in International Threads' existence.  Our dear late Ita Ziv was the one who gave this challenge, and the rules were that you had to use a wide variety of shades of gray, plus only a tiny bit of another color.  I loved the quilt I made for that challenge, which was a new technique for me.

I wrote about it here.  Some time after this post, I decided on a name:  Linear A, after the ancient Greek writing that was eventually deciphered by archaeologists.

Linear A, 2013, 16 x 32"

I loved the technique, and the quilt, so much that I decided to make it again, virtually identical in design and fabrics, except almost three times the size.

Linear B, 2014, 42 x 73"

I'm so happy to report that the big one is now in Art Quilt Elements, a juried show at the Wayne Art Center outside Philadelphia, and it won the juror's award, which is the second prize, right after best in show.  And it never would have happened without International Threads.

seven finished - working on sketch...

So I had already shown you my Blue one, over a month ago. Since then I have worked hard (not only these Prague quilts, but...) -
This is my report:

Finished Repetition - pattern:

text messages 6

text messages 6, detail

Then Kathy had this problem about one being too long, and out of sheer solidarity I made one that is also approx. 10 cm longer than our normal size. At first I planned it for the 'lines', then I thought I might substitute it for my black to grey to white with colour, which I thought I didn't really like.

Play of Lines XXXVII

Play of Lines XXXVII, detail - all the seed stitches are done in
four different shades of grey (no pun intended)

But then I took another look at my original solution for the grey challenge and didn't think it quite as bad as I had remembered - so I decided this one was going to stay my piece for 'lines' after all. By then, however, I had already started another one that could have served for 'lines', which I finished, too. Figuring it might give me a good excuse to drop out of making one for sketch, which I was really having a hard time with - mainly deciding, which sketch I was going to use...

Play of Lines XXXVIII

This one is green, because Barbara had mentioned that she had made a green one extra - and, again, it is slightly longer than the usual size, thus another companion for Kathy's long one.
In between I thought I would never be able to really come up with that nice sketch, then made several, neither of which seemed feasible. However, after I finished all of these, counted to seven and thought I could consider myself done for Prague, I finally took the plunge, chose the sketch least workable - and am currently working on it. This is the sketch.

To be honest, the sketch was done on the computer - but Gillian had not said we could not do that, so I consider the method legal. It will not be a quilt proper, but I am doing it in the style of Jan + Jean, the double-troubles, whom I took a workshop with last year. But again, we didn't say they all have to be quilts proper, so I think it's legal. (And it will be faster to finish before the big date.) Kathy can say no to it when we are hanging, if she thinks it's not appropriate. I will show a picture before we hop on the train.

Second attempt - right size!

As I had promised, I took a second attempt at fulfilling Ita's guidelines including the size restrictions.
I started off with some of the cut-out circles from the larger piece.

Other remnants from the first piece were included as well, and I did a bit of weaving.

 Fixating with satin stitch:

A few pieces of reflector fabric are noticeable only when special lighting conditions apply.

And here is the finished piece.

Already looking forward to tackling Kathy's set.

Grey Challenge - Inky Index

This is my response to the challenge of  greys - my touch of colour is  the greys themselves. The black and white photo of my stained finger came out of the printer with a purpleish cast!

When I was on the Human Marks workshop with Dorothy Caldwell in Puglia, I took a photo of my index finger stained and ingrained with Indian ink after a morning of making fingerprint marks.
I  manipulated the photo in Photoshop, dividing it into 6 overlapping sections, and printed it out on a commercial batik (with marks that reminded me of my fingerprints) treated with bubblejet set.
Machine quilted .

I'm enjoying working to the 40 x 80 cm size although this is actually  38 x 80 cm as I didn't 'measure twice, cut once' when trimming to size as I usually do.  An extra 2cm on the RH side would have  made all the difference.  Ah well, lesson learnt.

Grey Challenge / Happy New Year

First of all, I would like to wish all of you a Happy New Year 2014!

Mine certainly had a  happy beginning, because I finally managed to get my grey piece done.

Grey is definitely a challenge for me, being a color I would never choose on my own. But I did not need to stretch too far out of my comfort zone doing this one, since I am working on a monochrome series which includes spirals and insects. The spirals representing the ongoing repetition of life and the insects being the most successful species on earth conquering life's challenges.

But - just to add a new element - I did incorporate hand applique this time, which I have never done before in this series.The silk fabric is really a grateful fabric when it comes to hand applique, the stitches just seam to disappear on their own.

The monarch butterfly is machine embroidered with it's wings added as 3-D features.  The pattern is a design I digitized according to my own pattern.

Almost finished - but wrong size...

When Ita announced her color scheme for the second assignment I immediately had an idea that fit nicely into what I am working on for my exhibition in October 2014, "Inspiration Bauhaus". However, it does not fit into the 40 by 80 cms scheme.
Nevertheless, I worked it all out and have now started quilting it. And although it doesn't fit in, it is the only thing I can show right now, and will. Here are a few stages of development:

A plan to give me an indication of how things will be arranged.

Free-cut squares

the squares were surrounded by 1/2-inch-wide lines
and another free-cut round - note the reflector fabric!

all sewn together

had a helper putting the sandwich together

And now it is in the process of being quilted.
But I have a sufficient amount of leftovers, which have already triggered a few more ideas for a quilt abiding by the rules, and in the right size. It won't be finished in time, but I promise to try to get it done soon.

Quilt #2 finished!!

So I was the last one to finish my quilt assignment #1, and now I am proud to be the first to finish #2.

I have been using commercial striped fabrics for some time as the fine lines in my piecing, and have several boxes worth.  For this quilt I used the stripes in very skinny lines, as usual, but instead of using them as spacers between larger pieces of fabric, I decided to just have the skinny lines by themselves.

Here's a view in progress showing how thin the lines are -- the grid lines on the design wall are one inch apart.

Here's the finished quilt.  No name yet.