The Evolution quilt finished finally

I'm so glad I finished it!
But I still haven't got a proper name for it ((

I can't say it was too long or tedious, it really was a lot of fun and I am glad it turned out more or less as I dreamed it up (I'm not telling you about all the mistakes ;) ).

The topic of evolution first seemed a hard one, because I take everything literally and can't just come up with an abstraction to represent the idea of development - I need to delve into the paleontological record)). As I mentioned before, I fell for the idea of trying to quilt a fossil, and the "Archaeopteryx Berlin" is probably the most famous of them all as well as the most expressive and dramatic))). Another thought I had was about the birds of paradise which are "evolution gone crazy" (it's a scientific term ;) ). And so it dawned on me to put the two ideas together and to depict an array of modern birds contemplating the fossilized remains of their ancient relative and thinking about the mysterious ways of evolution.

While working I learned the spelling of the word archaeopteryx and some fun things about it. Apparently it is not considered by most scientists nowadays to be the direct ancestor of modern birds, rather a different branch of the extended dinosaur family. Its main differences from birds are his bony tail, from which the feathers grow right and left (birds' tail feathers grow straight from the butt), the teeth in its mouth (or beak?) and the claws on the wings. It probably couldn't fly properly (that must be reason this one had such a dramatic fall).

I also came to love all the company sitting around the frame and learned their names in Russian and English. Here are some of them close up.

The first one I made and also my husband's favorite, the kingfisher:

Colibri is the favorite of my younger daughter (I guess because it's the only one with some pink):

The goldfinch:

The blue tit:

The magpie and the golden oriole:

The green-headed tanager:

So, the question remains: what should I call it? The working title was "Fallen by the wayside of evolution" or just "Fallen by the wayside" for short. Now I think it might sound disrespectful to poor old archaeopteryx, I'm not sure what kind of connotations that has for native English speakers. If anyone has any ideas, please share in the comments. 

I have to enter it for the IPS National Exhibition by the end of May, and if it's accepted it will be my first show quilt.

I'm so excited to have finished, I'll be linking it up everywhere))

Monday Morning Inspiration - Free Motion Quilting Fossils

Ammonite image from fossils direct and my exercise

I'm in the process of making a quilt for an exhibition on the topic of "Evolution". As I was still thinking about what I'm going to do, it struck me how some fossils resemble quilted images in that they stand out as a relief from their background. I invite you today to take some inspiration for your quilting designs from those made by the Evolution.

Just check out this image from the Gallery of Trilobites at the American Natural History Museum website. Doesn't it just beg to be quilted?

Gabriceraurus dentatus (Raymond and Barton, 1913)

Here is another fossil - a 48-million-years-old snake on display at the Messel Museum in Southern Germany, photo by Phil from Flicr. Notice the exquisite detail, the waves in those bones, wouldn't it look marvelous when quilted?

Everybody loves ammonites (no, really, don't you?). This beautiful ammonite is from Fossilsdirect website (where it is for sale, actually). Can you resist the urge to render it in fabric and thread?

Tmetoceras scissum (Rare)

I couldn't. This actually was a piece of practice before quilting my archaeopteryx fossil, which is the centerpiece of my Evolution quilt. I had to check out how the thread and the fabric crayons would behave, and I rather liked the result, though it is not as geometrically perfect as Evolution's designs))

And here is, finally, my birdie, quilted, but not yet colored in:

Would you like to try quilting fossils? There are plenty of beautiful pictures of them on the Internet, do check them out and get inspired for the week!

Being brave and setting goals for May

I'm discovering lots of interesting things that are going on in the world of quilting/blogging/exhibiting online. And I'm so excited I really want to have a finger in each and every pie))

For now, I'll try to join some link-ups and publicly set a May goal for myself (because I very convenietly have had it, just didn't tell anyone): I want to try hand-quilting.

It feels intimidating even to write it, but I have the finished top which already has so much handwork in it, that I (recklessly) decided to hand-quilt it, although I've never tried it before and haven't even seen anybody do it in real life. Besides, I have received this week the variegated thread I ordered specifically for this purpose. And I also have the backing and the batting, so no excuses left (maybe except time, of which we all never have enough)))

This is the project I'm talking about, and it's rather large - 130 by 75 cm, if I remember right:

I set myself the goal of starting to hand-quilt it (say, make at least 1/8) in May. 

I'm taking part at 

• the #BraveQuilter linkup by Pink Doxies
• the One Monthly Goal by Red Letter Quilts
• the Fabric frenzy Friday by Fort Worth Fabric Studio

Wish me luck!

From Ireland with Love - a Picture-Postcard Quilt

As if I don't have enough WIPs, I decided to put them all aside for couple of days and make a mini quilt to enter to the EQA challenge on the topic of "Greetings from..." (Ireland in this case), to be exhibited at the Festival of Quilts in Birmingham in August 2016.

I chose the most obvious Irish picture postcard image - green rolling hills and a ruined tower - too obvious for the locals, I guess, but I still feel kind of a tourist here))).

Here are a few glimpses of the process.

First comes the draft:

The background is machined-pieced and ready for the fun to start:

Now, I didn't actually shoot the fun, because it happened after dark)), but the idea was to cut out the "stones", pin them to the tower shape, add a piece of batting underneath and sew/quilt the tower. After the tower was ready I put the batting and backing in place as usual and quilted the hills and sky. It's the trapunto principle that used to make the tower really pop up from the background. I'm not sure the pictures really render that, but it does look 3D to the naked eye ))).

The rules called for "no visible binding" and for a national stamp to be used in the design, so here it goes. The stamp was painted on a piece of fabric, fused and stitched in place.

The final size is supposed to be 25 by 35 cm, but in reality it turned out a bit less, because I hadn't done quilt facing in a while and didn't factor in the way the edge gets turned under (((. Still, there is not much chance for it to get selected for the Festival, maybe it will get to be exhibited locally, which will still be great! Now I have to fill in the form, but I still can't decide on a name for it...

Upd: I've just joined a creative link-up "Off the Wall Friday" at Creations by Nina-Marie. Check out all the beautiful projects there as well as Nina-Marie's own art quilts. I'm awed to be in such a company!

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Monday Morning Inspiration - Landscapes for Curve Piecing

If you find it hard to get in a working mood on Monday mornings, you, like me, probably need some inspiration to get up and going. I look for inspiration everywhere I go, take lots of pictures, but also browse through Pinterest, Flikr and other treasure-troves of photos.

I'm all in the mood for curved-pieced quilts now, working on some new designs and going to test them, so I thought I'd share with you some of the pictures that have those flowing curves that just beg you to sew )). Here are some breathtaking landscapes that can give you ideas for a simple curve-pieced landscape quilt (or maybe a fused one, if you prefer):

I campi attorno Castelluccio di Norcia by Patrizio Pacitti

Just look at the contrast! This one would definitely benefit from some embroidery in the foreground.

Cautious Swimmer. Isle of Harris, Scotland by Michael Blanchette

The sky would need something hand-dyed, or maybe several batiks, which reminds me of a fat quarter pack I bought last week ))

Dreamland Toscana in spring by Reinhold Samonigg

Embroidery again? or look for a nice floral? or use confetti technique? What do you think will work best here?

Stripy cliffs in Segelsällskarpet Fjord, Northeast Greenland National Park by Peter Prokosch

I can't believe this is actually real. Nature is a patchworker, to be sure.

Rolling Hills by Terence Lee

Outlandish, but definitely very pieceable ))

Namibia, Sossusvlei, Deadvlei by Dietmar Temps

This is real, too. But looks like it's already a quilt)) If the tree is fused - it's an evening's work, but if you choose to piece the whole thing...


So, anybody got inspired? Would you like to create something along these lines? Any ideas on the techniques to use?

Why every quilter needs an ongoing EPP project

Here's why:

• it's really easy to make - you only need to remember one or two basic stitches you were probably taught by your granny or primary school teacher
• it's super flexible - if you start a pillow case and change your mind, you can make it a mug rug, or a potholder, or just an appliqué element for another q
• it helps you improve your color sense - you can immediately see how fabrics are working (or probably not working) together;
• it's wonderfully thrifty - you can use up your scraps or, if you haven't got any, you can cut up your man's favorite old shirt or the dresses your kids have outgrown
• most importantly, it's compact - you can do it on the train, on the playground, waiting in a queue or on those occasions when your family insist that your sewing table is in fact the dining table

In a line, it's F-U-N. And its so much more than your grandmother's flower garden.

Here is my current English Paper Piecing which I mostly do in the evenings, watching a movie or just chatting to my husband.

So, come on, let's go beyond your grandmother's flower garden!