Hi there! How's things? It's been a beautiful fall here, though lately the colorful leaf show has about ended, and in its place, wind and rain. Actually pretty perfect sewing days, and though I'm currently in the middle of a small but challenging commission, I've felt pretty good about finishing WIPS lately, but am also in the mood for some improv play, so we'll see where that takes me. How 'bout you? Let me know what you've been up to, ok?!
WHAT'S UP
Lined, a collaborative quilt with Bee Sewcial, was my major accomplishment since last issue. Once I had all my bee blocks in hand, it took a few weeks to narrow in on a layout, but then, things sped up quite nicely. I loved working with the mix of blue solids for the background, and I'm glad I chose to continue incorporating the fine-line piecing prompt there too. Happy to have another finished Bee Sewcial quilt to add to the collection!
Saija's delightful "Stained Glass" has an intriguing backstory. Designed by Tracey Jacobsen, Suija saw her Leaded Glass quilt but didn't find where to buy the pattern, so asked Tracey, who then sent it to her! The 'bright and delicious colors' Saija chose for her version of the quilt are inspired, don't you think? [saija_elina]
The second in a series, Teresa Duryea Wong's "Harvest" (aka "The Yellow One"), is improvisationally composed of over 3,000 bits of yellow gold fabric. Every piece received its own free-motion stitched quilting design using silk thread. Wow.
[third_floor_quilts]
(62" x 62")
As much as I love improv curves, and I do love these, the combination of Katy's hand and machine quilting on this piece just makes it. In her post about it, Katy said, "I love the effect, but I enjoyed the process even more." Makes me want to try it too! [katyquilts]
Meet "Welcoming Lamp," a collaborative quilt spearheaded by Ellyn Zinsmeister and Karen Bolan. After setting some basic parameters (size, colors, inspiration theme), they each worked with a group separately to create half of the quilt. Their inspiration? The sentiments expressed in the poem, The New Colossus by Emma Lazarus, found at the base of the Statue of Liberty.
You'll definitely notice that in addition to the engaging improv and bright colors, the quilt has a very unique feature: a separating zipper that connects the two collaborative quilts, both physically and metaphorically. Read more to learn the story of this remarkable collaboration. [Ellyn's post / Karen's post]
