Tuesday, March 11, 2014

"Rose and her sisters"



I finished the first quilt for my etsy shop (not launched yet), which I call "Rose and her sisters." I feel excited about my goal for the shop: to create homemade modern improv quilts from 100% repurposed fabrics and fabric scraps.

This quilt really expresses my aesthetic. It has an old world feel, with deep, rich tones and lots of close quilting. It has the colors and feel of a tapestry. The toile linen in the two panels of "Rose and her sisters" was leftover from a chair recovering project. More about the quilting in a minute. The brown mini-floral is from my fabric stash and must be thirty years old. The large cabbage rose print is from a Ralph Lauren dust ruffle my sister Nancy gave me long ago. I never used it as a dust ruffle. It is a beautiful soft cotton with the sheen of chintz.

This could also be "Ruth and her sisters" since I have three sisters.



I sewed straight line quilting on all the panels and strips except for the two toile panels with ladies, which I free motion quilted. The sisters remind me of characters in a George Eliot novel, maybe that's because I'm reading Middlemarch now.

I can picture Miss Brook sitting in Mr. Brook's library reading with this quilt on her lap. All my quilts will probably be this size: 65" x 43 1/2" or so, perfect for laps, naps, thrown on a bed, sofa, or porch swing.

I only learned about improv quilts recently, since getting back into quilting. Back in the 1980s I only pieced traditional quilts (log cabins, lone stars, traditional blocks). When I started following Pinterest quilt boards recently, I discovered the exciting world of improv piecing. (My Pinterest quilts board is here with inspiration galore.) No measuring or straight lines. Just cut and create as you go. This is so satisfying for me and feels just right. You can see the wonkiness of the four brown bars in the full top below, like tree trunks or fence posts in the ladies' rose garden.

Cutting up the fabric into strips this way deconstructs the elegance of Ralph Lauren's world and puts it back together with an embrace of folk art, of women who for centuries have used what they had to create beauty for themselves and their family. She may think the sumptuous life of toile ladies is gorgeous, but she will probably never attain it. She'll piece together what she can.


The back of the quilt is pieced with more scraps, mostly from my 1980s stash. The rose print on the top right was another gift from Nancy, an upholstery linen. The deep red and the olive green were scraps from Henry's quilt and my granddaughter's quilt (due to be born Thursday!).


You know how they say you should follow your passion and see if you can find someone to pay you for it? Well, that's what I'm about these days. It will be thrilling when someone decides they need to own this quilt.


For the binding I chose the same olive green I used for my granddaughter's quilt. I wanted a bright contrast.

Now a bit about the quilting. I stitched straight lines on the strips and panels, except for the linen toile. I alternated horizontal lines with vertical from panel to panel for interest. Because the fabric is flowery, I wanted straight lines as a balance. The great news is that the walking foot worked very well on my old Singer! I still didn't get it to fit just right (it knocked a little), but it breezed over the layers without a pucker! The back of the quilt testifies to this (above).


About three quarters through the quilting I decided to invest in a new quilting sewing machine, the first new sewing machine I've ever owned. It is a Brother PQ1500S. The "new product shock" was incredible, and wonderful. On the old Singer, I had to crank the wheel with my right hand to start every new row of stitching. If you imagine this with every turn of the quilt, back and forth, back and forth, over the whole top, I was an aching mess. With the new machine, I only have to touch the pedal with my toe! What a breeze. I guess I've been living in the dark ages, happily. So I finished the straight rows of quilting, and I saved the two toile panels for last.

Though I'd tried free motion quilting on the bottom half of James's quilt on the old Singer with decent results, I knew I could not progress in FMQ with the old machine. You really need to lower your feed dogs (though a few quilters don't), and I could not figure out how to lower mine. I found instructions online for an old Singer, but it wasn't the same model as mine. This contributed to the decision to buy a new machine, one that had all the settings, feet and possibilities I was looking for.

After some practice, I tackled the free motion quilting on the ladies. I was terrified. But the control I felt with the new machine was much greater than on James's quilt, and I am happy with the result of the echo stitching.



For me, the best part of creating a quilt is designing it. I have the next two in my head and will post about the process. After the deep old world hues of this quilt, and after such a very brutal winter, I am ready for a spring quilt next, which I'm calling either "jelly beans" or "crocus and jonquils." After that, a black and white one from Goodwill skirts.


9 comments:

  1. So very beautiful! I love the fabric choices...and I can hear the excitement in your words! Well done!

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  2. Thank you so very much for your encouragement, Jean!

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  3. You floor me.. I am so excited for you! And I agree about investing in a better machine. Soon here as well as I have the desire to quilt but when I free motion I have to rig the darning foot with an elastic and in general it is a bit clunky. I just finished a navajo/aztec inspired one as a request by my daughter and the more exact measuring also doesn't appeal to me, although I do enjoy stacked coins or bricks but still can't avoid wonky :) Love them that way anyway. Again, so in awe of all you do Ruth. You are an artist in every fibre of your being xo

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    1. Deb, I wish we could sit with coffee and talk quilts (and many other things). Quilting is like painting for me, and now that I've discovered the wonky improv style, I am so happy. I did love the very precise piecing too, but maybe life just shifted for me, because now that doesn't appeal to me. Thank you for kind words, and for the way you put love out in the world. I receive so much from you. xo

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  4. Oh, H E L L O! Now I know what you've been up to, Ruthie. I LOVE IT ALL. And YAY for your new sewing machine. Astrid has a good one, too, and will love seeing what you've done here. BRAVA! I love you and your creativity. (Am looking forward to our Skype tomorrow!)

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    1. Boots, did you notice I was not "around"? Maybe in Words with Friends I was a little slow? Yes, I've been lost in this, happily. I did not realize Astrid also sews, what a pair you are. I can totally see you making quilts if you had another lifetime, with great artistry and precision. Talk with you in a few hours!

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  5. Well I'll be- improv quilting- how cool. Made me think of a program I saw years ago about the quilters of Gees Bend, Alabama, a group of women who make unique works-of-art quilts. Beautiful. As are yours, Ruth. Yet another creative endeavor for you and it sounds like it has some juice for you. Nice. I have no sewing skills but greatly admire quilts. Enjoy this.

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    1. Mary, thank you for coming in for a visit and for your encouraging words. I hope this juice lasts the rest of my life!

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    2. Wowser-dowser, Ruthie! Kathy S. is visiting me here in MB and she and I just came to your quilting site for the first time. We both love, love the free motion quilting around Miss Ruth and her 3 sisters. And love the tree trunks with vertical and horizontal quilting. This new concept of quilting is so creative, and unlike anything I have ever seen. I'm thinking you might be inspiring me. Kathy and I are going to Charleston on Monday, and now I'm more determined than ever to find a fabulous piece of vintage fabric for you. Yesterday we spent the afternoon antiquing in Georgetown and I found an old yoyo runner which I would like to turn into a hanging for my bedroom - similar to the flying geese piece you made for me that Graham finished off as a wall hanging. Now I'm dying to get home and see you face-to-face so we can talk quilting and other such stuff. Love you like crazy. Nannygoat

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