Tree of Life

Well, I'm finally back again.  Yep, the same old stuff keeping me away from updating the blog, you know, life.  But, I've got a fun one to post today.

Some really good friends of mine got married in November and Ang and I wanted to do something special for them.  We decided to work on a quilt together, make something from one couple to another.  But, what the hell kind of quilt would the two of us come up with together?  I like modern, solids, bright, off-kilter things and Ang is much more traditional and folk arty in her tastes.  

Ang had a great idea revolving around a tree of life idea with two birds representing the couple.  Her various ideas and doodles led to our starting point below:

The drawing led to the appliqued tree on the right.  I still can't believe the tree is one piece.  It is hard enough for me to imagine cutting it out, let alone sewing it on.  There could be a good tutorial in here about enlarging the 5x6" drawing on the left to a 30x30" panel.  But, since I didn't really take notes at the time, let's just say it took a bit of trial and error with my printers enlarge/poster function.  Eventually it worked and we ended up with a full size template for Ang to use.

Okay, great, we've got the central part of this quilt figured out an in progress, what about the rest?  Well, that was my part, and for all the doodles and ideas I came up with none were any good. (Well, that's a bit judgmental, none felt right for this.)  Of course, Ang saves the day, or at least my butt.  When walking the dog one day she notices a neighbor's front door has a nice Frank Lloyd Wright inspired window panel.  She sends me over to check it out and see if I like the design too.  I find the house and yes, that panel is cool, so I draw a picture of it real quick and head on home.  Now we have our basic design elements.  That window panel we saw inspired the top and bottom panels on our quilt.

If I had been smart, and had some extra time, I'd have written down a lot of notes during this project.  There could have been half a dozen posts related to this quilt along the way.  Working the way I do, "just diving in" like I've written before, we ran into numerous headaches and "learning experiences."  

Overall, I think it worked out well.  

Ang's Tree of Life design

(Hand applique, leaves and flowers wool felt)

Oh, and another thing!  My daughter and I were in the wedding party for our friends' ceremony.  Our daughter Madelynne was so excited to be in the ceremony and have a dress like the bridesmaids, Ang wanted to make something special for her as well.  Ang knitted this really cute scarf/shawl to compliment her dress.  It looked great and Madelynne never took it off the whole day.

(Here's my obligatory super cute kid picture. Look out maybe next month I'll post some pics of our super perfect meals too, hahaha...no.)

Sunday afternoon play time...

I'm between projects and waiting for Ang to finish her part of one so I can finish it so I had some time this afternoon to play around and experiment.

Nothing too exciting, just playing with scraps again and trying out some ideas.  These little experiments are helping me sort out some visual ideas and work on some basic techniques without being worried about messing up on a serious project.

I did manage to get a pouch done for her bag.  This one came out much better than the first attempt.

...still not thrilled with zippers though...

New Toy, Old Project...

First, thanks to everyone who stopped by during Amy's Creative Side's Blogger's Quilt Festival.  I've been amazed at how many people have come by my little blog over the last week.  With over 600 quilters involved, it was very cool to see other's work and flattering that people were interested in mine.

So, we got a new toy the other day.  Ever since I started infringing on, if not commandeering Ang's sewing room, she's wanted to get another sewing machine.  We've been looking around for an affordable second machine, but one that would be at least one step up from our old machine.  Considering our old one is a cheapy Brother that we bought at the PX years ago, it was not hard to find machines that were a step (or more) up, but keeping it on the affordable side was our challenge.  It turns out that Costco was running a special on another Brother model (XR7700), still one that would be probably be considered entry level, but with more options, computerized and a dozen attachments included.  Boy, this is starting to sound like a commercial, sorry.  But hey, if any Brother reps do see this, I'd love to talk about an endorsement deal:)

Anyway, Ang had started on this little bag a while back and since she's in the middle of two other projects with deadlines, she asked me to see if I could finish it for her.  Great chance to play with the new toy! 

Below is the simple pouch she had started made from old jeans and a Moda print.  My job was to finish it some how. 

                 

Ang's beginning...

My finish...

It turned out okay, especially for not having done this before.  It is a cute, simple functional messenger bag/purse kinda thing that'll do well for holding her wallet and stuff, as well as her knitting.  Now what's going to happen is a couple weeks from now, she'll say "This is cute and all and I really like it, but I can't..... and I need......can you make me one that has X and Y too this time?"  So, I'm sure I'll be posting about another bag at some point:) Meanwhile, she's asked for me to make a couple small zippered pouch for inside.  I tried my first zipper the other night and man, that sucked.  I get it now, but you should see how lame that little pouch looks, well no, you shouldn't, I'm not going to post it.  It went together okay and works, but, oh man, it's all lopsided and looks like something out of a Dali painting!

The new toy...

   

Blogger's Quilt Festival: Fall 2011

So, Amy's Creative Side is hosting a Blogger's Quilt Festival. 

Since I noticed this event this morning and this afternoon I finish the quilt below, it seemed like a perfect thing to take part in.

Amy asks participants to:

 "Share one quilt, and it’s story.  Why you made it, why it is special to you, what you learned about quilting/yourself while making it."

Wow, I'm gonna actually have to think about this stuff...

Why'd I make it...I enjoy solids, wonky/improv shapes and bright colors. This one started with me just playing around with greens and that odd print in the center.  I was really digging what was developing, so I just kept going.  You can see the print in the 'center' of the blocks provided my colors and something to unify the blocks.  Why is it special...Heck, I'm still new at this, everything I finish is special to me! But seriously, because of the things I mentioned above, the colors and wonky factor.  I like just diving in and experimenting, especially when it turns out well :)  What did I learn...Ha, I learned fleece is not a bad option for a batting!  I used black fleece for the batting on this because I was afraid of the regular cotton batting poking through. Other than being a bit stretchy, it worked great.  I also did the binding in a different way for me.  I don't know what it is called when you do this, but I made the backing a bit larger and wrapped over the top to create the binding. I know purists will be up in arms about that, but oh well. The quilt's not going to be in a big competition and the whole point is to try new things and learn from them.  So, "Quilt Police" you'll just have to deal with me:)

Thanks for visiting my blog, I'm still trying to get the hang of these things, quilting and blogging.

I don't post that often because to be honest, when I have the time, usually I'd rather be working on a quilt than trying to figure out what to say about them.  If you have the time, please check out some of my other posts, my last post was part of the Men Quilt Too! online show and has a little bit more about me.

Men Quilt Too!

 Welcome. My name is Jay Martin and I'm a relatively new quilter.  When I saw discussions about the Men Quilt Too! online show hosted by Thearica Burroughs at Pigtales and Quilts, I was excited to take part.  Now, after seeing the talent and workmanship of the men who've already submitted for the show, I am a bit intimidated, but what the heck, they all started somewhere too right?  Plus, it might be beneficial to show the various levels of experience and technique of men quilters and the fact there seems to be a lot more of us than people think!

Who am I and how did I end up quilting?


Well, I'm a musician by training and profession and currently live in the D.C. area.  As for the quilting thing...it just kinda happened.  Really, it came down to a couple of factors; 1. I need a creative outlet that wasn't related to my 'day job.' 2. My wife is involved in a variety of fabric arts, so she's got a ton of books & magazines and a pretty good fabric stash! So, finally one day after always looking through her books and stuff (just at the pictures, I didn't bother to read anything) I decided I needed to give quilting a try.  She showed me how to use the sewing machine and sent me on my way.  The result of that first attempt is the quilt above.
That was just over a year ago.  (I still haven't read any of the books, I prefer to just dive in and figure it out.)

At some point, I'd really should take a class or get to a workshop and really learn some things, but I'm enjoying the freedom that comes with ignorance:) I do have the benefit of another quilter in the house though, so Angela helps me out when I get stuck and has been a great tutor.  We have also worked together on some quilts and are looking forward to combining our styles and strengths as we both grow as quilters.

Not being active in any quilting groups and the only other quilter I really know is my wife, I look to blogs and Flickr for inspiration and motivation.  There are a couple quilters in particular who's work constantly motivates me Marianne Haak , and Victoria Gertenbach.

What I've been up to:

Gavin's Quilt.

Luke's Quilt. 

Improv 1

Improv 2

Amish-ish

Mini-Mondrian

Yep, it's a clock.

Okay, not really a quilt, but it is pieced! 

 A couple of WIPS:

This is the top panel of a quilt Angela and I are working on. When completed it will have a large tree of life applique in the center with this panel and its mirror above and below.

Um, not sure where this is going yet....I like it that way.

Baby Quilt for Project Linus DC!

It has been a while since I posted (as usual) but, I sent off my contribution to the 100 Quilts for Kids quilt along yesterday so I had to post something!  It's a simple little quilt, but very comfy.  These cute flannels had been sitting around for a while, one a left over from a project and the other from an abandoned one.  When I saw the info about the 100 Quilts for Kids drive on the DC Modern Quilt Guild's page, I knew what to do with them.

I will be getting better about keeping up with this blog.  Between family visits, work and a broken car, quilting time has been minimum.   Ang and I have a WIP that's starting to take shape and I'd like to share a bit about that soon.

Q&A: Ben Venom - my love for you is a stampede of horses.

Cool article.

Q&A: Ben Venom - my love for you is a stampede of horses.