Three little seahorses – 2020.09.29

Posted on September 29, 2020 by TerryAske

My three little seahorses are finished. Scroll to the bottom of the post to see the finished quilt. Or read through for information about my construction techniques.

Here are my three seahorses about a week ago, temporarily fused to parchment paper, and pinned to the background with layers of tulle pinned behind and over them.

3 little seahorses, pinned in place

I debated whether to add the tulle under or over the seahorses, or both. Also, how many layers of tulle. I found the tulle dulled their bright colors a bit, and decided it would be better to have the tulle only under the seahorses.

I layered the seaweed fabric with batting and backing. Then I added one layer of tulle and basted around the edges. I quilted around the seaweed shapes. Then I added more strips of tulle and quilted them – some strips have one additional layer of tulle and others have 2 or 3 layers. I think this looks like sunlight shining into the water.

  • one layer of tulle, seaweed quilted
  • more layers of tulle

I thought it might be difficult to fuse the seahorses to the tulle. So I fused and then stitched each seahorse to a piece of felt – now they look dimensional and even more colorful! Then I trimmed the felt very close to the seahorse. Here they are pinned in place.

  • seahorses fused and stitched to felt
  • seahorses pinned to background

Then I quilted around the edges of each seahorse through all the layers. The edges of my mini quilt are faced, and the finished size is just under 12 x 12 inches.

Three little seahorses, by Terry Aske

I need to put a label on the back and get this in the mail, as it needs to arrive in Florida by the end of October for the SAQA Florida region exhibit Fresh Fish. I’m shipping from Canada and the mail can be quite slow these days.

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Thanks for stopping by. I’m linking up with these blogs – click on the links below, where you’ll find many other creative and inspirational projects.

Edited October 3 to add – linking to these blogs:

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Seahorses on my design wall – 2020.09.18

Posted on September 18, 2020 by TerryAske

I’m working on a fun little mini quilt for the SAQA Florida region exhibit Fresh Fish. The theme is fish or other underwater creatures, realistic or imaginary. The size is no larger than 12” in length or width.

While searching my stash for suitable underwater background fabrics, I found this 13 x 13″ fabric sample. It seemed almost perfect, except maybe too white. So I tried covering it with some aqua-blue tulle. In the right photo below, I’m experimenting with 1, 2 and 3 layers of the tulle. I think I’ll use a variety of layers.

Regarding underwater creatures, I think the seahorse is one of the most unique and interesting looking. When I searched for information about the colors of seahorses, it seems they come in almost every color. And since this can be imaginary, I used some of my brightest fabrics for the seahorses. Here are the first two. I plan to add a third one.

Seahorses in progress

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Thanks for stopping by. Today, I’m linking up with these blogs – click on the links below, where you’ll find many other creative and inspirational projects.

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View art quilts online – 2020.09.13

Posted on September 13, 2020 by TerryAske

I want to share a couple of online quilt shows you may be interested in viewing.

Check out the first annual Everyday Objects Quilt Show 2020 conceived and organized by Brandon Wulff. I was intrigued when I read Brandon’s call for entry, and I had a lot of fun going through my quilts looking for ‘everyday objects’. You can see all the entries here, and you can vote for your favourites until September 29.

Two of my entries to the Everyday Objects Quilt Show

SAQA Benefit Auction – There are almost 500 submissions this year to the SAQA Benefit Auction. Each year, SAQA invites each of its members to create a small 12 x 12 inch piece of art and donate it to the online auction. The auction is SAQA’s premier fundraising event and is taking place online from September 11 through October 4. All proceeds help support SAQA’s exhibition programs, publications, and education outreach.

This is my entry for 2020. The title is TILT. My artist statement: A study in black and white, focusing on contrast, line, balance and movement.

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Thanks for stopping by. Today, I’m linking up with these blogs – click on the links below, where you’ll find many other creative and inspirational projects.

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Colours of Summer – journal quilt – 2020.08.16

Posted on August 16, 2020 by TerryAske

Last week, I started working on my quilt for the annual art exchange of the Fibre Art Network.  You can see my inspiration photos and initial fabric selection in last week’s post.

As I said last week, I decided to just pin the background fabrics in place rather than fusing them down (my usual technique). Then I straight-line quilted them to the green felt base. I was pleased that when I was finished quilting, I only found 2 pieces on the floor that had fallen off! I just placed them on top of the other pieces and added a few more quilting lines.

Then I started playing with the flower fabrics. I decided to cut the squares smaller and scatter them around (photo 2). I felt I needed more colour variety, so I added orange (photo 3). Then I added purple (photo 4). As I was adding colours, I was also rearranging the other pieces – this part can be a little addictive, and I had to force myself to stop before I totally covered the background!.

the evolution of my fabric selections for wildflowers

At that point, I applied a tiny bit of fusible web in the center of each flower piece. This was sufficient to keep them in place while I quilted around the edge of each square.

I fused fabric to the back of the felt base to give the piece more body (and coincidentally cover my messy tread ends on the back). I finished the edges by zigzag stitching with green thread.

Here is my finished piece. I think I have successfully captured the essence of the wildflowers that were my inspiration.

‘Colours of Summer’ by Terry Aske

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Thanks for stopping by. Today, I’m linking up with these blogs – click on the links below, where you’ll find many other creative and inspirational projects.

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Colors of summer – 2020.08.09

Posted on August 9, 2020 by TerryAske

I’m working on a journal quilt (8.5 x 11 inches) for the annual art exchange of the Fibre Art Network. 

My first step was to look for a source of inspiration. I scrolled through my photo collection, and found myself drawn to the bright colors of summer flowers. Here are a couple of my favorite photos.

I decided to create an abstract garden scene and grabbed my scrap bags. I’m building my composition on a piece of green felt. Once satisfied with the layout (middle) I removed the flower fabrics, so I can stitch the green pieces first. I’ll add the colorful flowers later.

I like to experiment with small quilts – because if the experiment doesn’t work, I can always start again. I decided to just pin the green fabrics in place, and stitch them to the felt backing without glue or fusible. I figure if there’s a problem, I should be able to cover it up later when I add the flowers. I’m stitching straight lines about 1/4″ apart, adjusting the width as necessary to catch the raw edges of the pieces.


I plan to have this finished in the next couple of days.

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Thanks for stopping by. Today, I’m linking up with these blogs – click on the links below, where you’ll find many other creative and inspirational projects.

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Quilting is underway – 2020.07.31

Posted on July 31, 2020 by TerryAske

I’m about halfway done quilting vertical straight lines on my re-imagined quilt. I started quilting in the middle and worked to the right, quilting lines 1/2″ apart. I’m marking the lines with my yellow gaffer tape. Now I’m quilting from the middle toward the left edge.

Here’s a close up ‘glamor shot’ of the quilted section.

I have a few ideas for additional quilting – perhaps more vertical lines closer together, or maybe some horizontal straight lines. I’ll finish this quilting first, then consider some options for additional quilting.

My One Monthly Goal for July was to finish piecing this quilt top. So I’ve achieved that, and more. Linking up to Elm Street Quilts One Monthly Goal – July Finish Link-up.

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Thanks for stopping by. Today, I’m linking up with these blogs – click on the links below, where you’ll find many other creative and inspirational projects.

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Pieced, layered, and basted – 2020.07.19

Posted on July 19, 2020 by TerryAske

Last week, the top half of my quilt top was sewn together. This week, I finished piecing the bottom half. I was very pleased that when I sewed the top and bottom sections together, all the lines were straight. (I had anticipated that I might have to un-sew and re-sew a few seams to achieve that, but it wasn’t necessary.) It’s about 26 x 40 inches.

Here it is on my design wall, ready to be quilted. I’m thinking vertical straight lines, about 1/2″ apart.

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Thanks for stopping by. Today, I’m linking up with these blogs – click on the links below, where you’ll find many other creative and inspirational projects.

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Redesigning my quilt top – 2020.07.12

Posted on July 12, 2020 by TerryAske

I played around with the blocks on my design wall from last week (left photo below), and thought about what color to use for the background.

I settled on a dark gray background for the upper left quadrant and light gray for the upper right. The top half is now sewn together (right photo below). The bottom half is subject to design changes as I sew the blocks together. I’m thinking the same dark gray background for the lower left, and a medium gray for the lower right – but that is also subject to change. I’m really enjoying this improv process!

Finishing this quilt top will be my One Monthly Goal for July. Linking up to Elm Street Quilts One Monthly Goal July Link-up

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Thanks for stopping by. Today, I’m linking up with these blogs – click on the links below, where you’ll find many other creative and inspirational projects.

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Reconstructing my quilt top – 2020.07.05

Posted on July 5, 2020 by TerryAske

A few days ago, I chopped up my black & white & brights quilt top. It was 44 x 46 inches, which is bigger than I usually work. I think I will make it into a couple of smaller tops, which will allow me to explore a variety of design ideas.

I started with the pieces that had colors, and cut some of the pieces even smaller. I decided I wanted the black lines to be skinnier, so I’m cutting those narrower, or removing them.

Here is my first re-design, pinned to the design wall. The “background” is the gray fabric on my design wall. I may use a similar gray fabric, or perhaps a variety of grays. Right now it’s about 22 x 4o inches, but will it get smaller as I sew the pieces together.

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Thanks for stopping by. Today, I’m linking up with these blogs – click on the links below, where you’ll find many other creative and inspirational projects.

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Clapping hands – 2020.06.29

Posted on June 29, 2020 by TerryAske

Have you heard of Ian Berry? He’s an artist who works in the medium of denim jeans – check out his website www.ianberry.org to see his amazing artwork.

I’ve been following Ian on Instagram and Facebook, and was intrigued by his ‘I Clap For’ project. You can read about the project on this website www.iclapfor.com. Recently, I saw that Ian was inviting other artists to make clapping hands for the project, and I decided to participate.

I emailed Ian on Friday night saying I would like to participate. He replied, asking if I could have my hands done by Monday – because there are special displays planned for July 5th, the birthday of the UK National Health Service.

There’s nothing like a tight deadline to motivate me, so I spent Saturday designing and creating my 2 pair of hands, and on Sunday I finished them up and emailed my photos to Ian. He animated them, and you can see my clapping hands with many other artists here on the website.

Here’s how I made my clapping hands. I used Ian’s templates for the hands, which saved me a lot of time. I wanted to use wild colors, so I pulled out a lot of fabrics, and spent an hour or so finding 2 sets of fabric with light, medium and dark values.

Auditioning possible fabrics, and checking values

For each hand, I cut the entire hand from the medium value fabric, then added the shadows and highlights. I used Steam a Seam fusible, which I can finger-press in place. If required, I can reposition the pieces before using the iron to fuse the fabrics together. After cutting and positioning the pieces for the first set of hands, I checked to make sure the values were working.

Satisfied with this, I continued to trace and cut the pieces for the second set of hands.

I fused each completed hand to black felt, then quilted the detail lines with thick black thread. Then I trimmed the felt close to the hand, leaving a thin black outline.

Hand fused to felt, and stitching details with thick black thread

Here are my 2 sets of hands.

My clapping hands, animated by Ian

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As I was working on this project, I made a note of a couple of tips about using fusible web and synthetic felt:

  • Pen or pencil – normally I trace my designs onto the backing paper with a mechanical pencil. But I noticed that I was getting smears of pencil all over my fingers, and then on some of the lighter fabrics. Part way through this project I switched from pencil to permanent marker. I think that will be my new standard practice.
  • Parchment paper – always put a piece of parchment paper over the paper and fabrics before pressing. This prevents the pen or pencil from transferring to the sole-plate of the iron. It also prevents any wayward fusible web from adhering to the sole-plate. And if you are pressing synthetic felt, it prevents the felt from melting to the sole-plate (guess how I discovered that!)

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Linking up with Nina-Marie’s Off the Wall Friday

Edited July 1 to add: I’m linking up with these blogs – click on the links below, where you’ll find many other creative and inspirational projects.
~ Love Laugh Quilt Monday Making
~ WIP Wednesday @ The Needle & Thread Network

Posted in Art quilts, Inspiration, On my design wall, Portrait quilts | 5 Comments