My Blog List

Friday, December 14, 2012

Robot Quilt



My 2 year old grandson wants a robot quilt.  He will have a double bed, so the quilt will need to fit it.  I am planning on 12 blocks, sashing, and a border to finish it.  So far I have 2 blocks finished, and a third one almost done.

http://ninamariesayre.blogspot.com/search/label/Off%20the%20Wall%20Fri

Monday, December 3, 2012

More Gabaldon covers

I finished 2 more small quilts based on covers from Diana Gabaldon's books.  One is from Drums of Autumn, the one with the tree on it.  I sewed down tiny bits of green to serve as leaves.  The tree trunk is made from a commercial fabric usually used for costumes, I guess.  I added beads.  The background is as piece of dupioni silk.

The other one represents A Breath of Snow and Ashes.  I used a  piece of navy blue polyester for the background.  I had a doily, but it was ecru, so I painted it with acrylic paint and added tiny bits of white embroidery to imitate snow.Link to Off the Wall Fridays

Friday, November 16, 2012

a gift for Sandy

My art quilt group had a challenge for December.  We had saved bits and pieces that would normally be thrown away, put them in a bag, and distributed them to the group.  No one knew whose bag they got.  Sandy only had a small amount of blue. I had an idea, to make a weaving aka Jude Hill, and attach a doily in the middle.  I wove the blue strips on a piece of fabric, put a piece of batting behind it, and sewed invisibly down the sides of the strips.  Then I attached the doily, and another piece of blue fabric (from a Goodwill shirt) on the back, and folded the shirt to the front.  Hope she likes it!

Friday, September 28, 2012

Stitched Pelican

I finished stitching the pieces down for my Pelican.  Haven't quilted it yet, nor have I bound it.  I might pillowcase the piece--haven't decided.
I sometimes take the color out of a picture of the piece, and using tracing paper, audition possible quilting designs.  Hence the black and white Pelican.

Sunday, September 16, 2012

about style





I've been working in Pamela Allen's online class, about style. Her class will help me to develop my own personal style. The first lesson involved choosing a work of an artist and roughly interpreting it in fabric. Then, using the same palette, making a small quilt that epitomizes my style.
I chose Auguste Herbin's Corsican Landscape for this exercise. I used a picture I had taken at Asilomar, California as my guide, and made a piece I call Pelican. He isn't stitched yet, but I think I will finish Pelican.

Monday, September 3, 2012

Echo in the Bone cover art


I love Diana Gabadon's Outlander book series. I also like the cover art for the books. So I am attempting to do a series of small quilts (8 inches square) based on the covers. The quilts will all have dupioni silk as the background. I had some trouble with the first one. I hand embroidered using metallic thread the Celtic frame. Then the piece did not lay flat. I soaked the whole thing, and it got a little flatter. Then I remembered Jude Hill's kantha stitching, so I used a matching thread in the middle and stitched many rows across, which worked. I used a gold machine quilting thread to quilt the background. I don't know if you can see the little sparkles in the background. It was hard to do, but I like the result.

Saturday, September 1, 2012

New Jude Hill class



Jude is starting Spirit Cloth diaries. I am in, also doing a sketchbook challenge for Missouri Fiber Arts and a new and exciting Pamela Allen class.
I made the bird piece for a friend, Gina, whom I met on a trip to China.
I also turned some pieces from Jude's previous classes into pillows. Rosemary

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Zentangle knight


My art quilt group had a zentangle challenge. I decided to make a knight. He sort of turned out like a paper doll.

Monday, April 30, 2012

Snow White finished











Ellie's princess quilt is finished, and ready to be given to my princess. It has 9 blocks, scenes from the Snow White story, and a green border. As her request, the back is red--polka dots. I had a lot of fun making it, and hope that 3 year old Ellie enjoys princesses for years to come. The quilt is hand appliqued and hand quilted.

Sunday, February 26, 2012

the Rose mysterq quilt


I made this piece using methods taught by Jude Hill. I call it my rose mystery cloth. Jude thinks we should all have a symbol, so due to my name my symbol is a rosebud. this piece features a block I made for an Asian quilt that I never finished, and weavings including the rosebud motif.

Sunday, February 5, 2012

Platero and I


I have finished the literary challenge for my art quilt group. The book I chose is Juan Ramon Jimenez' book Platero and I. I bought this book when I was in college, and when I was nervous or upset I often read about the little donkey, Platero. I still love the book. I made a background for the figure by machine crazy piecing the background. I used brown paper for the path and an indigo dyed old doily for the sky. I am pleased with the result, and maybe will have to find him a place to hang in my house.

Monday, January 30, 2012

Snow White quilt






It has been a while since I have posted. I am getting quilts ready for our march show, and spending a lot of time making a princess quilt for Ellie, my granddaughter. The theme of the quilt is Snow White. I have completed 4 of the 12 blocks, and am in the process of planning the next block, which will feature Snow White in bed with surprised dwarfs looking on. I hope to get the top finished this spring, and then hand quilt it. Hopefully it will be completely finished by summer.
I have a small problem with the mirror block, as her crown, done in gold embroidery floss, is not showing up that well. It does better in person than in the picture. I have been thinking of couching some black yarn in the crown.