March On

It has been a gorgeous early  March day here in Atlanta and I've spent as much of it outside as I could manage. This morning our sweet Lady and I had a long walk around the neighborhood. She was determined to prowl a run down street at the edge of the neighborhood where she is likely to uncover discarded chicken bones, but I prevailed and kept us on prettier streets.

Then a wonderful friend who helped me to learn all about native plants and gardening in the South came to visit. We walked to a nearby restaurant for lunch, and had a peak at my sad post winter garden. The weeds are thriving from winter rains and a singular lack of attention on my part. I love gardening and especially like to watch the spring garden come to life, but for now at least my passion is focused in the studio with fabric and thread.

Which leads me to my third outdoor pursuit on this beautiful day. I photographed some quilt blocks. Following lessons learned from Caro Sheridan's Craftsy class "Shoot It! A Product Photography Primer", I found a spot with bright shade and an interesting but non-distracting background, hung up my closeline and went to work.

This is the Craftsy 2013 Block of the Month for March. I love the way the reds and oranges play off each other to create an optical illusion of  three dimensions. 

here is a closeup of the fabric which is from Robert Kaufman's Spot On collection, 

And this is the March block from Amy Gibson's Sugar Block Club.

Each of these blocks is so crisp and dramatic, it's hard to imagine what the finished quilt will look like. Amy is leaving the final composition up to each quilter. I have some ideas - thinking about making lots of additional blocks in quarter size and then using them as sashing. As my mother would have said, "We shall see".

And this is a good example of why you need to be aware of shadows and sunlight. It's a terrible product photo, but it does give you a sense of what a great day we had going on. Spring really is the best season Atlanta has to offer, and I'm going to have to find a way to balance outdoor time with my desire to be in the studio. Did I mention the studio is in the basement? And it has small little windows? Right. 

Catharsis

Do you remember when I was whining about my overflowing stash of remnants? Even after making

a Quilt

a bag

and a mug rug

I still had all of this left from the Ella’s Wish line.

Well I have just two words for you…

Charm Swap!

There goes the last of the green from that project,

and the greens from the Off Center Baby Quilt,

and a bit of the green from the Amy Gibson Craftsy Block of the Month.

Wow. That was kinda cathartic. We're going to have to do this more often.

Fabric Friday: Canvas

Canvas [kan-vuhs] is a name given many fabrics. A closely woven cloth usually of cotton, but sometimes of hemp or linen, it is made in a variety of weights and is used for apparel, tents, outdoor furnishings, and sails (called sailcloth). 

It became popular after WWII for bags, sneakers, and casual wear. It is also stretched on frames and used by artists for oil paintings (artist canvas). 

Generally, canvas is printed after weaving, but some yarn dyed product is also available, especially awning stripe. 

Though an equally heavyweight cotton, canvas is different from denim because it is a plain weave rather than a twill weave.

The name duck is sometimes used interchangeably with canvas, but it is actually a type of canvas with a very tight weave mostly used for clothing and accessories. 

Another type of canvas is called drill, which is used for awnings, tents, etc. Ada or java canvas is made with an open weave and used as a base for needlework, as are cross-stitch or penelope. Hair canvas is an interfacing material. The finest grade of canvas is called mosaic.

Royal Navy Canvas and Merchant Navy Canvas in England are made in accordance with strict specifications, as is the United States Government Navy Canvas. 

In the U.S. canvas is graded either by weight (from 5 to 50 ounces per square yard) or by number running reverse to weight. That is, if a canvas is a number 10, it will be lighter than a number 5. The word canvas is derived from the Latin word cannabis (or hemp) which was the fiber for early canvas fabrics.

More Selvage Talk

I’m working on ideas for that wall hanging made of selvage strips. Something long and narrow to hang in this space,

Because, really, that painting that I got talked into buying at one of those art-by-the-yard house parties doesn’t do anything for me.

I can’t decide if I want to try for a conscious color scheme or just make it a jumble. Here are a few of the combinations I’m auditioning

The orangy, yellow, brown, red pile in the background probably works best in that space to compliment glimpses of adjacent rooms. It will hang in a hallway. But I’m so drawn to blues, limey greens and aqua lately. I might just have to make both.

This leads me to a question for my quilting friends. Someone asked me the other day if I sell my quilts or if I have a warehouse someplace. He obviously thinks I’m far more prolific than I really am, but still it’s a fair question.

I have to make at least one example of everything I design just to have pictures for the pattern. Some are destined to be gifts for family and friends.

Some we use every day,

and still others sit on shelves and in trunks hither and yon.

I’ve never tried to sell my quilts, and I’ve only sold bags when they were commissioned in advance. Often enough I hear that the quilt market in the United States has been ruined by cheap imports from overseas. Do you sell your quilts? Leave a comment and let us know your secrets of success.

February Blocks

The February blocks finally made it to the top of my to-do list. Here is the block for the Craftsy Block of the Month 2013 (three as requested by the instructor and three extra to play with). The block requires a technique called partial seams that I have used before without actually knowing what it was called. I’m thinking that I should have picked this color scheme for March though. Very St. Patrick’s Day don’t you think?

And with the blocks from last month it’s shaping up to look more like Christmas.

Amy Gibson’s Sugar Block Club this month was a fun paper pieced block, and I continued my neutrals with more gray, tan and cream.

It’s called Northern Star and I think it works well with last month’s block.

But to be honest, the best part of the month was Amy’s flourless chocolate cake recipe.

Gotta love a club that gives you quilting and cake!