Chopping up my quilt top – 2020.06.27

Posted on June 27, 2020 by TerryAske

In my last post, I said I wasn’t entirely happy with my finished quilt top, and that I was going to chop it into 6″ squares. Once I made that decision, I quickly cut a couple of squares, so I couldn’t change my mind later.

As I expected, when I posted the photo below on social media, some people agreed that was a good idea, and others said I should have left it intact.

Chop it up

Yesterday, I finished cutting it up. The pieces are mostly 6 inch squares. A few are bigger and some are smaller, because I fussy-cut some of the squares and then had some in-between pieces. I pinned the pieces on my design wall as I cut them, and here’s what it looks like now.

After the chopping

I like this a lot more! I’m going to re-arrange the blocks a few more times before coming to a final decision. I will likely cut some of the pieces even smaller and I’ll probably add some skinny strips. I may make this into 2 smaller quilts, which will allow me to explore a variety of design ideas.

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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.

Posted in Modern quilts, On my design wall | Tagged , | 6 Comments

Black & white & brights – top finished, or not – 2020.06.22

Posted on June 22, 2020 by TerryAske

As I predicted, there was a lot of un-sewing and re-sewing and partial seams involved in the piecing of this quilt – but the top is now all sewn together. It’s about 44 x 46 inches. Here it is on my design wall.

I like the mostly black & white blocks with touches of bright colors. I like that the blocks are offset both vertically and horizontally, not lined up in a grid. I like the light gray sashing, and the darker gray outside border. But . . .

But, I’m not truly happy with it. When I started this process in May, I intended it to be more of an improv design, and not as precise as it is. I wish I had not made the sashing so precisely square. And, I actually said in the first post “if I don’t like how it’s looking, I’ll cut the blocks up and reassemble them”. So . . .

So, now my plan is to cut it up! I’m going to cut it into 6 inch squares (or perhaps 6 x 8 inch rectangles), then reassemble the new blocks.

Here’s one more photo of it on the design wall. Stay tuned . . .

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Thanks for stopping by. Today, I’m linking up with Nina-Marie’s Off the Wall Friday

Edited to add: Finishing this quilt top was my One Monthly Goal for June. Linking up to Elm Street Quilts One Monthly Goal – June Finish Link-up

Posted in On my design wall, WiP Wednesday | Tagged , | 7 Comments

Improv black & white & brights – more progress – 2020.06.13

Posted on June 14, 2020 by TerryAske

Last week, I had 14 blocks pinned to my design wall over a background of solid gray fabrics. Since then, I’ve added 2 more blocks, and I’ve sewn black borders to 2 sides of each block.

When I arranged the 16 blocks on the design wall, I purposely did not line them up in a grid. As I started to piece together the blocks with light gray sashing between them, I realized I had created a bit of a puzzle for myself. I briefly thought about rearranging the blocks to make it easier to sew together. But I like the current arrangement, so I’m going to figure it out as I sew. There will be lots of partial seams, and some un-sewing, as I piece this quilt top.

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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.

Posted in Modern quilts, On my design wall | Tagged , | 3 Comments

Improv black & white & brights – progress – 2020.05.31

Posted on May 31, 2020 by TerryAske

I made 14 blocks from my black & white & bright fabrics, as described in my previous post. I pinned some black and grey solid fabrics on my design wall to see how they would work with the blocks. Here’s what it looks like now.

Here it is in gray scale to check for values. I think the black behind the blocks is overwhelming, so I’ll try another shade of gray instead.

As I completed each block, I pinned it to up without any design considerations. Now I need to rearrange the blocks, cut some of them up, and add strips and blocks of the gray fabrics. Looking at the photos above, some of the circle fabrics appear to be eyes staring at me, so those will be the first blocks I cut up.

I find that having a deadline really gives me the incentive to finish a project, rather than abandoning it partway through and moving on to a new project. There is no specific deadline for this project. I posted about it here and on my Instagram account, partly to record my techniques and progress, but also because I knew it would make me feel accountable to complete it.

I recently came across another link-up that will help me focus on finishing projects. Patty at Elm Street Quilts hosts a link-up called One Monthly Goal. Finishing this quilt top will be my goal for June.

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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.

Posted in Modern quilts, On my design wall | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Improv blocks – progress – 2020.05.27

Posted on May 27, 2020 by TerryAske

I finished sewing the curvy strips into blocks, which are approximately 6 x 12 inches. (See my previous post for more information about that step.)

Now I’m using them to make 8 inch square quarter-circle blocks. Although I’m calling this an improv project, I’m not using free-hand cut circles. I prefer the look of precise circle shapes. The improv part is how I’m going to assemble the blocks together.

To create the precise quarter-circle shapes I created freezer paper templates. I’m using the techniques described in this post to sew them together, covering each curved seam with 1/4″ black bias tape.

I’m adding bright solid strips as necessary to bring each block close to 8 inches square. I’m not trimming the blocks yet, as I will probably slice some of them up and then reassemble them.

Here are my first few blocks on my design wall. I’m very happy with how this is looking.

By the way, this design may look familiar to some of you. I’ve had this design in my head for a long time, but I was inspired to finally get it out of my head and onto my design wall by Margo Yang‘s recent quilt Subtraction. I’ll be happy if my quilt looks as good as hers when it’s finished.

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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.
~ Love Laugh Quilt Monday Making
~ WIP Wednesday @ The Needle & Thread Network

Posted in Modern quilts, On my design wall, WiP Wednesday | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Improv black & white & brights – 2020.05.25

Posted on May 25, 2020 by TerryAske

I’ve started a new quilt with only a vague idea of how it will look at the end. I’m making blocks of 6 black & white prints plus a solid black. Then I am going to do some or all of the following:

  • leave [some of] the blocks 12 inches high by 6 inches wide
  • cut [some of] the blocks into 6 inch squares
  • add some large circular shapes
  • add some other black & white prints
  • add some bright colors
  • if I don’t like how it’s looking, I’ll cut the blocks up and reassemble them

I cut freehand curves through all the fabrics, so I could mix and match the fabrics when I sewed them together. I knew I couldn’t cut through 7 layers at one time, so I made a freezer paper pattern for the curved shapes. This let me cut the same shapes though all 7 of the fabrics, by stacking them 2 or 3 at a time.

freezer paper templates ironed to top layer of fabric

I saved the templates. They will be useful if I decide to add other fabrics later.

fabrics cut and ready to sew together

I’ve sewn together some of the blocks and pinned them to my design wall. I like how it’s looking so far.

But I think I like it even better with some accents of bright colors.

Check back in a few days to where this goes.

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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.

Posted in Art quilts, Modern quilts, On my design wall | 2 Comments

Vancouver MQG 10 year anniversary challenge – 2020.05.20

Posted on May 20, 2020 by TerryAske

The Vancouver Modern Quilt Guild is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year. We have a new logo, and a modern mini challenge with the theme TEN using only the new logo colours. Each mini must be 10 inches square.

I immediately ordered a fat quarter bundle of the new logo solids, and started designing. There was enough fabric that I could make at least 2 mini quilts.

White, Wasabi, Aloe, Kumquat, Nightfall

My first mini is called ‘Ten Geese A-Flying’. I made 10 improv flying geese blocks and pieced them together to make a 10 inch square. I started the quilting by outlining the geese with a triple-stitch, which looks a bit like hand-stitching with embroidery thread – but it’s much faster! Then, I quilted vertical straight lines with orange thread. I used 1/4 inch wide painters tape to mark the lines.

I added more orange quilting in the binding.

‘Ten Geese A-Flying’ by Terry Aske

For the next mini, I started with some of the scraps from the first one, and insert skinny lines of contrasting fabric. I started with some of the Nightfall with Wasabi skinny lines, then added more fabrics to my design wall.

I decided the Nightfall was too dark. When I removed it, I liked the look of the white paper behind it, so I used mostly white instead of the navy.

I quilted each section separately and finished the edges with facings. When I looked at the completed quilt, I was surprised and delighted to see there were 10 sections – honest, I didn’t even think of that when designing and piecing this. So I called it ‘Improv 10-Patch’.

‘Improv 10-Patch’ 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.
~ Love Laugh Quilt Monday Making
~ WIP Wednesday @ The Needle & Thread Network

Posted in Mini quilts, Modern quilts, On my design wall | Tagged , , | 6 Comments

Matchstick quilting experiment – 2020.04.19

Posted on April 19, 2020 by TerryAske

My next idea for the Canadian Quilters Try-A-Triad Challenge, was to do intense matchstick quilting with a variety of thread colors to see how much it would appear to change the color of the base fabrics. This time, I’m using a lighter blue and a darker red than I used in my previous 2 entries (which you can see in my last 2 posts).

Original thread selection for matchstick quilting

Because I wanted the thread colors to be obvious, I stitched more closely together than I sometimes do. I swapped out some of my original thread colors that were quite close to the fabrics, and instead used threads that were lighter or darker than the fabric colors.

This is the first time I have used Gaffer tape to mark lines. I’ve used masking tape in the past, but it doesn’t stick well enough. A friend told me about gaffer tape, and raved about how it stuck well without leaving a residue, and that it could be reused several times. I finally ordered some – and I love it! (I bought mine from Amazon.ca, and bought yellow tape only because it was the only reasonably priced 1″ width. I would have preferred white, but couldn’t find it.)

Matchstick quilting with gaffer tape as a guide

The effect of the thread colors is more subtle than I hoped. But this was an experiment after all. (I plan to try this again in the future on white fabric and black fabric to see just how much difference the thread will make.)

Here’s my finished mini quilt. It’s 14″ x 12″, and I’m calling it ‘Color Flow’.

‘Color Flow’ by Terry Aske

Here are a couple of detail images showing the matchstick quilting up close.

Detail of matchstick quilting
Detail of matchstick quilting

The original deadline to enter this challenge was April 15th. It’s been extended to July 15th, so I may yet make another entry. However, for now, I’ve had enough of primary colors, and I’m going to create my next project with other colors.

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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.

Posted in Modern quilts, On my design wall | Tagged , , , , | 5 Comments

Optical illusions. Don’t believe your eyes – 2020.04.12

Posted on April 12, 2020 by TerryAske

As I said in an earlier post, primary colors are not my favorite colors. And yet here I am making quilts for a primary colors challenge. When I first read about the Canadian Quilters Try-A-Triad Challenge, my first thought was how I could make my entry look like the colors were different than all the other entries.

I have recently been reading about optical illusions, including the Bezold effect and the Munker-White illusion. If you search for images based on these words, you’ll find many examples. Most of the websites have lots of advertising (which irritates me, so I’m not going to link to them!) but here’s one website that explains the effects and shows a really good example. Edited to add: here’s another great website, and there are many more optical illusions to entertain you.

I wanted to try this with the primary color fabrics, but first I experimented using Excel and the Fill Color tool. On the left, the 2 squares are the same red, although they look different depending on what color stripes are adjacent to the red. In the middle, the 2 yellow squares are the same yellow. On the right, you can see the 2 red columns are actually the same red.

After spending way too much time experimenting with Excel, I constructed a small quilt using the interweave technique. First, I made two 20″ x 20″ blocks, each with a yellow circle. I cut each block into 1″ strips and pinned them on the design wall alternating the strips from each block.

The last time I used this technique, my seams weren’t as straight as I would have liked, so this time I fused some Pellon 820 Quilter’s Grid interfacing onto the batting. The grid lines really helped me to keep my sewing lines straight.

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Below is my finished quilt. I’m calling it ‘Don’t Believe Your Eyes’. The size is 18″ x 17″.

‘Don’t Believe Your Eyes’ by Terry Aske

And even though these aren’t my favorite colors, while I was working on this one, I was thinking of how else I could manipulate these fabrics to look like different colors, so now I’m starting on another one!

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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.

Posted in Modern quilts, On my design wall | Tagged , , , | 7 Comments

Primary colors mini quilt – 2020.04.05

Posted on April 5, 2020 by TerryAske

Here is my first entry for the Canadian Quilters Try-A-Triad Challenge. The only fabrics allowed are solid fabrics in the 3 primary colors – yellow, red and blue.

‘Floating Layers’ by Terry Aske

I had an idea to make a quilt that looked like 3 layers floating above each other. Normally I would use dark, medium and light values of the same color to make an object appear to be 3-dimensional. For example, I would have used a darker shade to give the illusion of a shadow from the layer above. But the rules for this challenge say to “use one tint, tone or shade of each of the three triad colours. Only three fabrics in total can be used on the face of the quilt—including the background fabric.” So I used black thread to make the shadows. I hope the black stitching looks like shadows – if not, maybe it looks like an interesting grid between each layer of color. Either way, I’m happy with the result.

I constructed each layer separately with fabric wrapped around felt, then quilted first with matching thread, and then with black thread for the shadows.

To put it all together I fused the yellow piece to the blue piece, and stitched around the edge of the yellow through all the layers. Before I attached the blue piece to the red, I sewed on the top facing, so I could position the top corner of the blue piece slightly extending off the top edge of the red piece. This adds to the illusion that the blue piece is floating above the red background.

The finished size is 11.5″ wide by 12″ high. I faced it with red fabric and used a fun coordinating print on the back. As usual, I have left the label and sleeve for a later date, as I’m now eager to work on my next entry for this challenge.

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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.

Posted in Modern quilts | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments