Show + Tell :: From the Outside Looking In + From the Inside Looking Out

June 22 2014,

My latest creations.

Title: From the Outside Looking In
Dimension: 69" x 69"
Materials: Front - Robert Kaufman Solid Kona Cotton
Materials: Back - Batik cotton fabric
Quilted by: Timna Tarr

Progression of the above quilt:
Part 0 :: All Dolled Up And No Where to Go
Part 1 :: The Beginning... Of A Quilt
Part 2 :: The Beginning... Of A Quilt (Part 2)
Part 3 :: The Beginning... Of A Quilt (Part 3)
Part 4 :: The Beginning... Of A Quilt (Part 4)

Back of "From the Outside Looking In"

Detail of "From the Outside Looking In"

Title: From the Inside Looking Out
Dimension: 70" x 70"
Materials: Front - Batik cotton fabric
Materials: Back - Robert Kaufman Solid Kona Cotton
Quilted by: Timna Tarr

Back of "From the Inside Looking Out"

Detail of "From the Inside Looking Out"

Progression of the above quilt:
Part 1 :: The Beginning... Of Another Quilt (Part 1)
Part 2 :: The Beginning... Of Another Quilt (Part 2)
Part 3 :: The Beginning... Of Another Quilt (Part 3)

This quilt started brewing on February 2nd, 2014 when I was watching a PBS documentary call “The Amish”. The Seattle Seahawks and the Denver Broncos were playing NFL Super Bowl XLVIII. I had no interest, so I decided to watch the documentary. A friend of ours in the summer of 2013 mentioned that their family would go to Amish country for the summer, and I told my husband that it would be exciting to go visit Pennsylvania Dutch. After researching places to visit, we decided to postpone it to early spring so that it would coincide with the American Quilter’s Society Lancaster Quilt show (note that the trip never happened due to work related issues).

As I watched the documentary, at one point, there were two boys sitting at the back of a wagon looking directly at the camera, and the camera back at them. This made me wonder how it feels to be in a fish bowl, having people thump through your back yard in millions, to be more precise, ten million.¹ Most of the adults tend to ignore the camera and pretended as if the crew were not there. I guess they must be use to the gawks and stares from travelers. I could not imagine living in a community where people were continuously looking at me.

The front of the first quilt, “From the Outside Looking In” is the traditional Amish center diamond block which portrays a non-Amish (or English) person  peering into the lives of Amish living. The back of the quilt is what an Amish person would interpret as modern living - a world that is busy and full of noise.

The front of the second quilt, “From the Inside Looking Out” is the opposite, where it’s from the viewpoint of an Amish person peering out into the English world.

Yes, it's deep even for me - but I think it's pretty cool.

Now that you know how it all started, let me take you on a journey through my thought process.

So the first thing I did was open excel and block out or "sketch out" what I wanted the quilt to look like. I also did measurements so that I could roughly figure out how much yardage I needed. Let me re-emphasize "rough". I suck at math - so I always give myself extra fabric - which can sometimes yield to 1/2 - 2 yards of extra fabric. I say, it's better safe than sorry.

Next I drew it on a piece of paper and calculated how many yardage I needed and brought it with me to the fabric store. Note the final measurements - I messed up somewhere. Yes it was suppose to be 70" x 70" but along the way, I forgot the add the seam allowances. By the time I realized this, it was too late, and I carried on an "Oh Well" attitude, who's going to know except for the "quilt police" (look up "quilt police" if you have no idea what I'm talking about).

So that's the process for the Amish looking side. Oh, and the yellow and dark blue colors is an homage to my father-in-law who's alma mater is the University of Michigan.

For the modern looking side - there was really no sketch. The closest thing to a sketch is below. As you can see, I think I deviated from it a little bit.

For those of you who think there is a master plan to all this, believe me there is none. It starts out with an idea - and it just continues and continues until it is done.

These two quilts were further emphasized by the beautiful quilting done by Timna Tarr. I expressed to her my concept of the quilt being two-sided and Amish versus modern. She ran with the idea and further emphasized the concept with the quilting. Without her quilting, this quilt would have been boring. Her quilting makes this quilt.

Quilt & Bitch

Footnote:

1 http://pressroom.padutchcountry.com/lancaster-information/lancaster-statistics.asp

The Beginning... Of A Quilt (Part 4)

March 16 2014,

Progress...

Done.

Detail of the orange + red area of the quilt.

This is one side of the quilt. The other side will be a surprise.

Overall today was a bad day. Got a speeding ticket this morning and somehow a Pilot G-2 pen got into the washer and dryer. Some clothes have ink marks on them and the dryer is a mess. I started cleaning the dryer with Mr. Clean, and got most of the marks off. What a day. I should just call it a day before more shitty things happen.

Quilt & Bitch

The Beginning... Of A Quilt (Part 3)

February 25 2014,

Progress.

More progress.

Slowly but surely.

Quilt & Bitch

The Beginning... Of A Quilt (Part 2)

February 18 2014,

 

Progress.



 

Work area.

More Progress.

 

Quilt & Bitch



The Beginning... Of A Quilt

February 10 2014,

Here is a sneak peek into my next quilt. These are hand appliqued pieces that will be incorporated into the quilt.

I have no idea where this is going, but it looks to me that it will certainly be an interesting journey. I'll be presenting bits and pieces of this project as it grows.

Quilt & Bitch

All Dolled Up and No Where To Go

January 26 2014,

 

It's that time of year again, it's time to clean for the Chinese New Year. This year it falls on January 31, 2014 and it will be the year of the horse. It's coming down to the wire, 5 more days. Most of our worldly possessions are in order and tidied, including throwing out 5 boxes of stuff that we no longer need that we've been carrying around for may years. The house even feels lighter. The last minute cleaning includes mopping, wiping down surfaces, changing and washing the sheets, and cleaning the bathrooms.

 

I have been reluctant to start my next project, so in the mean time, I picked up a quilt that has been neglected. This is a wall hanging that is being hand quilted. It will be a while till this is done. The hand quilting just takes a long time.

 

My next quilt has been mulling in my mind for the last month and a half. I am thinking of doing another rainbow quilt, that looks more like the backs of my quilts instead of the fronts. I am thinking of making my backs the fronts and the fronts the back. Below are a few pictures of the backs of quilts.

Here is what I am thinking the quilt will look like. Can you see how the quilt will look like?

 

As the title indicates, "All Dolled Up and No Where To Go", I have all my fabrics ready, sorted by color. Because of the new year, I decided not to start it until the new year, so that I don't have to clean up the mess that this will eventually make. Pretty aren't they?

 

 



 

 Quilt & Bitch