5th Chunk of the Month!

Posted on July 13, 2022 by silvert@catskill.net

When Julia first told me about Chunk of the Month, she was hoping I would do wonky versions, that would contrast with her more traditional ones. I did curved triangles for the first chunk, but none of the other chunks seemed to lend themselves to this treatment. I tried curved piecing for #5 but didn’t like the result. Here’s the process:

First, I cut curves.

Then I cut the same curves into the second fabric. It’s important to cut both fabrics right sides up!

I sewed the pieces together and cut it down to size.

This is what Chunk #5 would look like. I didn’t like it. It wasn’t worth the effort to make it wonky. I decided to change colors as I haven’t used any light blue since the first chunk.

Now I just need to make 7 more of these!

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4th Chunk of the Month!

Posted on June 20, 2022 by silvert@catskill.net

I have now finished the 4th Chunk of the Month. Here are all four of this month’s chunks.

I played around with chunks #3 and #4, not sewing them together, but just exploring the possibilities.

I really like this combination!

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Chunk of the Month #3

Posted on May 14, 2022 by silvert@catskill.net

This is the third Chunk of the month. I made four of these blocks. In Julia’s example, all of the light fabric was the same white.

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Sing back

Posted on May 8, 2022 by silvert@catskill.net

I decided to use the word sing as the back of my second lone robin quilt. I haven’t figured out the quilting yet, but I’ll make it up as I go along. Below is the front of this quilt.

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Words!

Posted on April 25, 2022 by silvert@catskill.net

Today I was the Zoom host in Cheryl Arkinson’s EBHQ class on piecing letters and words into quilts. It took me most of the day to make this. Singing is what’s kept me sane though the pandemic! Well, maybe both singing and quilting!

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Chunk of the Month

Posted on April 22, 2022 by silvert@catskill.net

March began with a new mystery quilt activity designed by Julia McLeod, who brought us our two Lone Robin activities. Each month Julia will provide a new PowerPoint of the Chunk, which will be revealed at Quilters Gather. Participants will sew four or eight Chunks each month, then set aside those Chunks for future assembly.

At the end of six months, the quilter will have 44 Chunks, which will create a 48” square quilt. Julia will provide yardage requirements and measurements for each Chunk. She will suggest a variety of settings for the Chunks. No two quilts will look the same!

Julia has asked me to do wonky/curved/my own take on the Chunk of the Month. Here are my first two chunks of Chunk of the Month. More details are on the EBHQ website.

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Voices in Cloth quilt show is next weekend!!

Posted on March 21, 2022 by silvert@catskill.net

Here’s the quilt I just finished quilting and delivered with my other quilts for the Voices in cloth quilt show!

Claire_Sherman The East Bay Heritage Quilters’ show- Voices in Cloth is March 26 & 27. You can find all the info at EBHQ.org

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I’m teaching in person!

Posted on March 10, 2022 by silvert@catskill.net

I’m teaching an in-person workshop! And it’s free (plus $5 for art supplies) Details below:

Making a Paper-Cut Hamsa

A New Lehrhaus workshop with Claire Sherman

Free plus $5 for art supplies

March 20, 2022- 11:00 am – 1:00 pm

Masks and vaccination plus booster if eligible, required!

A hamsa is a stylized hand for protection against the “evil eye,” frequently worn as jewelry. Made by both Jews and Muslims, hamsas are found all over the Middle East but are older than either religion. Learn about the folklore of hamsas, the basics of paper-cutting – a traditional Jewish folk art – as we make them out of paper using scissors and/or Exacto knives, and glue them to a background. No artistic talent required to make stunning hamsa designs! The finished paper-cut hamsa can be framed and hung on the wall.

Bring $5 cash, or check made out to the instructor, or PayPal, for tools & art supplies.

Location:

Congregation Netivot Shalom

1316 University Ave

Berkeley, CA 94702

Claire Sherman creates quilts, ceramic sculpture, and Jewish ritual objects out of fabric, paper, and clay. After graduating from the Rhode Island School of Design, with a BFA in ceramics, she spent a year in Israel, where she learned about hamsas. She has taught art workshops in paper cutting, quilting, and Jewish ritual objects for adults and children throughout California.

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Amazing Abstracts with Julia Graves

Posted on March 3, 2022 by silvert@catskill.net

I just spent two days in Julia Graves Amazing Abstracts EBHQ workshop. It’s foundation piecing on a muslin foundation. The whole quilt design is mapped out in advance with little snippets of fabric on double stick tape, on an index card or smaller. Here’s the quick sketch i started from:

Here’s my mockup with fabric stuck to it.

Now a sheet of plastic is placed over the design, and a grid marked.

I stayed up past midnight on the second day of the workshop to finish the first 9 blocks. I decided it was done! Somewhere early in the process, I forgot that I wanted it to be a spiral, and not concentric circles. I also neglected the step of drawing out guidelines across all the blocks, because I hate planning out everything in advance. That’s just not how I usually work.

I’m happy with how this turned out, even though it’s not a spiral. I’m glad I learned a new technique!

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Basket quilts!

Posted on February 17, 2022 by silvert@catskill.net

Today I walked past Julie Silber’s antique quilt store on Hopkins in Berkeley. There was an elaborate basket quilt in the window, which reminded me of basket quilts I’ve done in the past. Mostly I do “liberated” baskets ala Gwen Marston. This quilt was in my first post for this blog!

Baskets and Hot Lemonade 2014

Below is a basket quilt that I assembled from blocks donated by other EBHQ members as a present for outgoing president, Orna Pascal. I chose the basket theme because Orna makes actual 3D baskets as well as quilts.

There were so many blocks donated that mine, with 2 baskets in one block, ended up on the back.

Here’s a disappearing pinwheel variation that forms a basket.

Posted in Improvisational piecing, Liberated basket | Comments Off

Claire Sherman Art