I’m working on another UFO from the same class as the previous UFO. I think it will be my 12 x 12 for this month.
My quilting buddies gave me some good comments about whether or not the previous UFO looked like a peace sign. My favorite advice was from Nann on the Lib-Quilters list. She wrote, ‘give peace a chance.’ I love that! However, my tentative plan is to turn it upside down so that it looks like a tree.
I’m working on the same old UFO. I cut it apart, then sewed the pieces back together again. I thought I would sew it back into a circle, but now I’ve got spaces between each piece, that I think I will piece a contrasting strip into. It looks a little like a peace sign. I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. I like peace, but peace signs are overused. What do you think? Does it look like a peace sign? If so, do you think that is a good thing or a bad thing?
You’re invited to the opening of our show! I have eight small quilts hanging in it. Come say hi to me and 27 other alumnae of the “12 x 12 challenge.” The opening is 12/4/16 from 1-4 PM, 5327 Jacuzzi St. Richmond, CA. The show will be there from 12/3 to 12/28, so you have a month to see it if you miss the opening.
Although the address is in Richmond, it feels like El Cerrito because it’s off the Central Ave, El Cerrito exit.
I made a little bit of progress this evening. It’s interesting that this UFO started out round and then I cut it up. And now that I’ve got most of the pieces sewn together, it’s back to being round again. Maybe I’ll piece it into a darker blue background. I’m almost out of these fabrics, since this is an old UFO. Now I’m sorry that I used some of it for postcards. The fabric I have the most of is the light blue one.
I was having a hard time getting started on a project, so I decided to make some fabric postcards for EBHQ out of an old UFO. (A UFO is an unfinished fabric object). These two postcards looked really interesting, so I decided to see what I could make out of the rest of the UFO.
This UFO is from an EBHQ class I took several years ago on sewing circles by Gwen Maxwell-Williams. I have similar UFOs from a class I took from Sherri Lynn Wood. Maybe I’ll combine them.
I’m talking to Lehrhaus about teaching a three hour class on making hamsas. It will be in Berkeley in the spring of 2017. Leave me a comment if you want an email as soon as the date is confirmed. Here’s my description of the class:
Exploring the Hamsa: A Hands on Workshop
A hamsa, is a stylized hand for protection against the “evil eye,” frequently worn as jewelry. Found throughout the Middle East, hamsas are made by both Jews and Muslims but predate either religion. Come learn about the folklore of hamsas and Jewish amulets, as we make them out of paper or fabric. The basics of paper-cutting, a traditional Jewish folk art, will also be taught. No artistic talent is required to make stunning hamsa designs. The finished papercut hamsa can be framed to hang on the wall and a fabric hamsa can become a wall hanging, a challah cover or more.
The hamsa in the photo above is a work in progress. The purple one is fabric, with fusible web on the back. The white one is a piece of scrap paper that I’m figuring out the design on. When I’m done cutting it, I’ll trace the design onto the paper side of the fusible web, and cut the fabric with an Exacto knife. This type of hamsa is a “bird hamsa.” You can see the eye on the thumb.
Last night I finally did the beading on this hamsa. It is now finished, and ready for a show at Bay Quilts in December. I’ll say more about the show when I have more details, but the opening is December 4 from 1-4 pm. If you’re reading this, you’re invited.
Unfortunately the two classes I was supposed to take with Jacquie Gering were canceled. Instead, I worked on a new 12 x 12 for next week’s meeting.
I haven’t decided which way is up for this quilt. Maybe this way, but maybe this is upside down?
I’m taking 2 classes from Jacquie Gering http://www.tallgrassprairiestudio.blogspot.com/ in a couple of weeks, through EBHQ . I’m auditioning background fabrics for both classes.
The first class is called Precision Lines. I know I want to insert orange strips as the lines, on a blue background fabric. The background fabric is supposed to be a solid color, or read as a solid color. I think the top two fabrics are my favorites, although I love them all. I think I will use some of the other blues for the hamsa/healing quilt I’m about to start.
The second class is called Stitch and Flip Improvisation. That’s the technique I used for the four pointed stars in my previous post. I’m hoping she’ll teach me variations on stitch and flip that I don’t know.
I didn’t have enough of this light blue fabric, so I went shopping. There was only one fabric in the whole store that worked. The fabric on the left is the one I was trying to match. The one on the right reads as almost the same color, from a distance of ten feet. I bought it at a lovely, brand new, local quilt shop: Bay Quilts, in El Cerrito, CA. http://Www.sfbayquilts.com
Here is the quilt with the new border.
The inner border is the old fabric, and the outer border is the new one. They do look remarkably similar, from a distance. This quilt top is done, and ready for backing and quilting. I’m not going to quilt it yet. I want to start work on a quilt for the Sacred Threads show, which is due at the end of December. I expect to be working on it all Fall, with occasional breaks to work on 12 x12 quilts.
