Claire Sherman Art

Improv quilt

Posted on September 7, 2016 by silvert@catskill.net

I’ve been working on this quilt top for a couple of weeks. It’s an idea for a class I’d like to teach. I’m getting ready to sandwich it and quilt it. Any suggestions for how to quilt it?

Posted in Improvisational piecing, liberated stars, Uncategorized, Work In Progress | Tagged improvisational quilting | Comments Off

Tree Of Life Hamsa, continued

Posted on August 22, 2016 by silvert@catskill.net

I practiced cutting out hamsas with vines/trees in them out of paper until I was satisfied with this one. I fused the green fabric to fusible web before tracing the paper hamsa onto the paper side of the fusible web. I cut out the hamsa using small scissors and an Exacto knife. For a short explanation of what a hamsa is, see the post from 8/4, titled, “Hamsas”. I’m trying to decide if I need to zigzag around every single cutout or not. Leave me a comment if you have an opinion one way or the other.

Posted in 12 x 12, Improvisational piecing | 4 Comments

Tree Of Life hamsa, in progress

Posted on August 22, 2016 by silvert@catskill.net

I’m working on a different hamsa than the one I blogged about on 8/4. That other one is still a work in progress. This new one has a subtle tree in the middle, so I’m calling it a Tree Of Life hamsa. I pieced wedge shaped strings together for the two sides. If you look closely you can see that the two sides are not symmetrical.

Posted in 12 x 12, Improvisational piecing | 1 Comment

A trip up the Oregon coast.

Posted on August 15, 2016 by silvert@catskill.net

I recently returned from a trip up and down the coast of California and Oregon. It’s amazing how many tiny coastal towns have a quilt shop, selling lots of lovely fabric. I also visited the Latimer Quilt and Textile Museum in Tillamook, OR, which even my husband and non-quilting best friend found worth visiting. At each quilt shop I bought small amounts of fabric. At the end of the trip I was surprised by how much I’d accumulated.

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Hamsas

Posted on August 4, 2016 by silvert@catskill.net

I’m working on some small quilts with hamsas. A hamsa is a stylized hand for protection, from the Middle East. Hamsa is the number five in Arabic.

I pieced a lot of orange scraps into a piece of “made fabric” then cut out the hamsa from blue fabric, backed with fusible web. I haven’t fused it to the orange yet. It’s very much a work in progress.

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Rectangular Disappearing Pinwheel

Posted on June 9, 2016 by silvert@catskill.net

Well I’m still here, exploring disappearing blocks. This one is a disappearing pinwheel that only gets cut and reassembled in one direction, so it becomes a rectangle.

Here it is, cut into three even pieces.

Here it is, reassembled. Note that it is now a rectangle.

Posted in disappearing blocks, disappearing pinwheel | Tagged disapearing pinwheel | 2 Comments

Disappearing pinwheels

Posted on June 6, 2016 by silvert@catskill.net

I’m continuing to experiment with disappearing blocks. Here’s a pinwheel. I started with squares that were 5″.

In the next photo I have cut it apart into nine pieces, each 4 1/8″ square.

Then I rearranged the pieces. Here is option number 1:

But wait, there’s more. Here is option number 2, which creates a friendship star, with a pinwheel in the middle:

Before I made the successful block above, I made an interesting “mistake.” I cut this pinwheel 3 1/8″ from the center seam, four times. Here it is: I think this one is interesting too. Here is how I rearranged it.This is sort of a checkerboard pinwheel. Like all of these disappearing blocks, it looks a lot more complicated to make than it actually is.

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Library show again

Posted on May 19, 2016 by silvert@catskill.net

Here’s a not very good photo of my “quilt” in the central Berkeley Public Library’s quilt show. I say “quilt,” because it’s actually nine of my 12″ x 12″ quilts, fastened together with safety pins. It’s hanging above the reference desk, on the second floor.

To the left of my quilt is Lee Feinstein’s quilt. The show is up until June 5.

Posted in 12 x 12, Improvisational piecing, improvisational stained glass, liberated stars, Quilt Shows | Comments Off

Disappearing all over the place!

Posted on May 16, 2016 by silvert@catskill.net

Have you heard of a disappearing hourglass block? I hadn’t until I saw a YouTube video by the Missouri Star Quilt Co. I would have called this a “disappearing broken dishes block,” since that’s what I call the base block, before cutting into it.

Hourglass/broken dishes, before cutting

Here it is, sewn together, before I started dissecting it.

Each section is 2 1/4″ square. That’s four cuts. Then I had fun, rearranging the pieces.

Here is possibility #1. The corners of this block, when set next to more of the same blocks would form an eight pointed star, with a diamond in the center.

This is possibility #2.

This is how I decided to sew it back together, which is the same as the YouTube video. Note that the triangles on the block corners will form a diamond when multiple blocks are placed next to each other.

If you’re wondering why I’m suddenly exploring all these disappearing blocks, it’s because I offered to teach a “tips and tricks” about disappearing blocks at the EBHQ Thursday night Meet Up in June. It’s June 9, if you want to come.

Posted in disappearing blocks, disappearing four patch | Tagged disappearing four patch, disappearing hourglass, East Bay Heritage Quilters | Comments Off

Another four patch

Posted on May 15, 2016 by silvert@catskill.net

I found an interesting four patch here: http://round22.blogspot.com/2012/07/disappearing-4-patch-with-twist.html .

There are complete instructions on how to make it on the link, but here’s my quick version.

Here is my four patch with 2″ from the corner marked on all sides.

Here it is again with four cuts, cutting from one mark to the next. You have to be careful, handling and sewing these pieces, since each cut has a bias edge.

diagonal four patch

I’ve rearranged the pieces and sewn them back together. I think this one is really interesting. It looks way more complicated to make than it really is.

Posted in disappearing blocks, disappearing four patch | Tagged disappearing four patch | 2 Comments