Going in Circles...

The annual Honeybee Quilters' Retreat in Jacksonville was a couple of weekends ago, and the group did their usual fine job of organizing several days of classes and fun for dozens of quilters. This year, I took a class taught by quilt artist Carol Taylor titled "Arc-I-Texture". You can see a series of quilts made using her techniques in her gallery section.


Our supply list included a selection of fancy fabrics like satins, silks, sequined, sheers, and drapery fabrics. We were to adhere them to fusible web ahead of time. In class we then created a background using squares and rectangles of the fabrics cut from the fabrics by fusing them to a muslin base. There are no seams, so we next learned to couch yarn. This method allowed us to cover the areas where the shapes butt up against each other. If you look closely, you can see the red yarn I used to accomplish this. Carol sold an assortment of yarns suitable for the project in class since it requires yarn with a fair amount of texture... but not too thin, not too thick, not to furry. The piece changes quite dramatically with the next step.




Once the background was couched, we got to the fun part... sewing the circles on the surface. Carol is an excellent instructor and we got the hang of doing this quite quickly. The circles are also completed by couching.

The class was very enjoyable, and this is my "practice" piece. That's beacause at the half-way point while driving to Jacksonville, a thought popped into my mind- did I, or did I not, bring my fused fabrics?? In all my preparation of things to bring with me, I did not pick up the tote that had them. Next question- well then, did I pack the red backup fabrics which were not yet fused? They were not my usual color pallette, but fabrics I had on hand. Happily, the answer was yes. So I spent some time the afternoon before class fusing the fabrics you see in this project. I have another potential project waiting in the wings, all fabrics fused and ready.


Lily, who considers my sewing room to be her personal playground, was enchanted by yarn couching. Carol uses a rigged-up drinking straw attached to the sewing machine to feed the yarn smoothly. All that yarn moving was pure delight for Lily, who interfered often, causing several stops and starts for me while finishing up the project.


These photos show two classmates' projects. One, just the background, the other, background with couching.
Love the faux-fur piece in the one on the right, and the plaid at left.

Below is one of Carol's class samples. By the way, these are not large projects. Each of ours measures about 15"-17" square. So I need to think about how to use it. Pillow? Tote? Wallhanging?

Workshop results...

This small quilt, described by our instructor Jane Sassaman as a "sampler" of circles, is the result of a one-day class titled "Sun, Moon, and Stars". The class was one of many offered at the annual Honeybee Quilt Retreat in Jacksonville, FL. Not only were we treated to an inspiring image show of Jane's beautiful quilts, but also learned about her design and construction methods. Then we began to make circles, using iron-on interfacing to stabilize them for stitching to the background fabric. And the stitching became a sampler of its own. Edges were secured using a selection of decorative sewing machine stitches and threads. It was fun to experiment and get to sew stitches that are under-used for the most part.

To reduce the bulk of fabric layers, we trimmed out behind the shapes. That created leftovers too pretty to get rid of. I have a paper grocery bag half full of the bits and pieces that didn't get used in this quilt. Just look...they're fun, too!








My friend Joanne Nolt flew down from Philadelphia to attend this retreat and participate in another two-day class also taught by Jane. That's Joanne on the right, teacher Jane Sassaman in the center, and me, left.

In the two-day class titled "Shapeshifting", we explored designs more deeply, and learned to isolate design elements that appealed to each one of us. We then drew those elements and began to use them by overlapping and repeating them until we arrived at a design we would then translate into fabric. Seems I'm drawn to paisley, plumes, and plump cresent-circles. Here are a couple of versions using the paper shapes.



I've chosen most of the fabrics, but only a few shapes are cut. They've been arranged and rearranged. And will be again! Who knows where this will end up? So this is a project to finish in the weeks ahead. No pressure. Much of the enjoyment is in the process.

The first photo below has a "borrowed" element from the circles quilt shown at the beginning of this post. I placed it in this design temporarily, but decided it belonged where it was originally intended. Can you find it?

The middle photo below shows a good reflection of how I work... kind of messy, making lots of piles, and requiring a good deal of space.




Since we're talking about circles, here's looking at you, kid! Whose eyes are these?? Stop in later this week and I'll show you who.

Oh, You Beautiful Dolls!

While attending the Honeybee Quilters Retreat in Jacksonville, FL, this week, I reconnected with Alice...a new friend from last year's retreat. I had learned that Alice is a doll maker, so this year I asked her to bring some of her dolls. I especially wanted my friend Joanne, who is also a doll maker, and attending this year from Pennsylvania, to see them. Imagine our delight when we were greeted with this bevy of lovelies when we walked into the hospitality room! Alice is so talented and imaginative, and these are just a few of her creations. The detail is amazing, right down to tiny fingers, and lacey hosiery. One had her own miniature rocking chair, another was daintily perched atop a wooden candle stick. The stork is wearing a bikini and a feather boa, and sports sunglasses.

In last year's class, Alice and I, along with our classmates, learned to "make faces" with quilt artist Yvonne Porcella. Alice went on to make several of the whimsical faces, and had them matted.

My class project, below, is named "Vege-mina" and is created largely from vegetable motifs cut from assorted fabrics. Eventually it will be made into a sewing machine dust cover. It's almost time that Vege-mina meets Bernina!