While my EPP has progressed exponentially, and I'm enjoying it a lot - I had to struggle to finish another project - A modern quilt using some techniques that were new to me - using negative space, saturated colors and improvisational piecing.
I decided to start with the idea of a traditional block, in this case - a log cabin - and progress from there...
This is what I made. I call it 'Etude de Cabines'
I sent it to my swap partner on Saturday... she has already received it and says she loves it. Can't wait to get mine (in a week or so, she plans to mail it sometime in the first week in March)
Anyway - while I had to watch a bunch of YouTube videos to get the concept and hang of improv piecing, I did enjoy the process of actually doing it... I will be using the technique again in the future for sure!
Due to increasing mobility issues, I have been learning (self-taught via reading, advice of friends and you-tube videos) how to do English Paper Piecing (EPP). (I still get to the sewing machine and sew there too, just not as much, and I don't take my machines to sewing gatherings very often (like sewing with my mini-groups and such).
As my first real EPP project, I opted to try the "Queen of Diamonds" quilt, then added "Queen of Night" quilt as well, so I've been working on both at once. I started Queen of Diamonds several months before Queen of Night, but I'm now caught up, and I'm working on the last few blocks of each.
I have to say that while my early efforts seemed harder than now, and my blocks may not have been perfect early on, I have gotten better.
Here are some pics of my finished Queen of Diamonds blocks (as of September of last year):
Here are my last two completed Queen of Night blocks:
Both quilts use the same blocks, just very different fabrics... Queen of Night fabrics tend to be darker as the name implies.
Both quilts are made with different lines of Tula Pink fabrics.
Hopefully they will both be done by mid - spring. I'm actually contemplating using the pattern to make yet a third version, but this one will use fabrics from my stash, all of them cat themed. It will take lots of fussy cutting, but I'm okay with that. I have 8 LARGE bins of cat fabric... plenty to choose from!
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I've also been working on a couple of quilts, one for a quilt exchange, so I can't post photos yet. My exchange partner likes improv piecing, with saturated colors and negative space. The top is completed, backing and batting cut... just need to baste, quilt and bind.
The second quilt is a challenge quilt for a guild show. The theme is music, so I chose as my inspiration a song from a musical (I LOVE musicals), and when I'm not listening to a book while driving, my radio is always tuned to the 'On Broadway' station on SiriusXM. The song is 'Sing for Your Supper' by Rodgers and Hart from the musical 'The Boys from Syracuse' (we're talking 1938, so probably not something most folks would know if they aren't musical fans). The song always makes me smile and want to sing along*:
* Note: I'm not a fan of the much later version by the Mamas and Papas (I love the group, just not their version of this song.)
While you're reading, I'd like to tell you about a great page by a sweet lady named Jennifer Fulton, 'The Inquiring Quilter'... She's personable, quirky, interesting and interested, and has some great words of wisdom to share with all creatives. You can visit her page here: The Inquiring Quilter . She also has a Facebook group where we exchange ideas, advice and enjoy lively discussions about quilting. Check her out at 'Quilting With The Inquiring Quilter' on Facebook.
