This is going to be fun! – 2021.10.03

Posted on October 3, 2021 by TerryAske

For a couple of weeks, I’ve been mulling over several ideas for the next exhibition by the Fibre Art Network titled “ON THE BIAS”.

All the pieces in this exhibit will be either 16″ x 16″ or 16″ x 32″. Artists are invited to submit a piece representing their interpretation of the theme, as described in the exhibition overview: “Bias can be negative or positive, conscious or subconscious, scientific or philosophical.  It can also be a play on words, which, for textile artists, has a special meaning. When fabric is cut “on the bias” diagonally across the grain, it is more fluid and has greater flexibility and drapability.  Bias-cut edges don’t fray! “

I considered a number of different designs incorporating the concepts of positive/negative relationships, diagonal lines and secondary patterns. After making several sketches and false starts, I turned to the concepts of fluidity and drapability. And predictably, my thoughts then turned to bias tape!

Here’s my pattern. I used a thick felt pen to draw curvy flowing lines on freezer paper. (I started with a pencil but I drew the lines too close together. A thick felt pen helped me draw to a larger scale.) I’m showing it below in 4 different orientations. I’m not sure yet which way will be up.

Below you can see some of the fabrics I’m considering. I’ll cut the freezer paper along the lines, then iron each freezer paper section to the fabric as a cutting guide. Each line between fabrics will be covered with bias tape.

At this point, I don’t really know what the finished piece will look like. I’m going to design it on my design wall, making decisions as I go. I’ll select one fabric for the middle, then decide which fabrics work best next to the first one, and which bias tape will be positioned between them. I expect I’ll change my mind a few times as I go. But I can’t dither too much, because I have to have it finished before November 1st.

Check back in a few days, and see how it’s going.

I will be 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 | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Sunflower for SAQA Trunk Show – 2021.09.18

Posted on September 18, 2021 by TerryAske

I finished my little Sunflower art quilt for the SAQA trunk show.

On the left, you can see how it looked a week ago, fused to the chartreuse boiled wool. I added a few more yellow patterned fabrics, then I outlined all the petals with sketchy black stitching – look at the difference!

  • fused
  • thread sketching

I trimmed the boiled wool close to the edges of the sunflower and quilted it to a dark purple batik background. I love the way it looks!

  • Sunflower by Terry Aske

Fun fact – I took the inspiration photo in 2020 when visiting our friends in Panama. Terry and Hans brought some cut sunflowers to Jane and Barry’s. They were so beautiful and perfect. I took the opportunity to take photos from several angles. I knew I would use them in a quilt eventually.

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

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Sunflower for SAQA Trunk Show – 2021.09.12

Posted on September 12, 2021 by TerryAske

I’m working on my entry for the SAQA Trunk Show. The required size is 10″ x 7″ and all pieces will be mounted on a black 12″ x 9″ backing board. I decided to use this photo of a sunflower as my inspiration. I used a light-box to trace the outlines and create a sketch on semi-transparent stabilizer. Then I selected my color palette from my scrap collection.

  • inspiration photo
  • traced sketch
  • fabric scraps

I’m building the sunflower on a layer of chartreuse boiled wool. I’m using the sketch to cut out the fabric shapes and also to position them on the boiled wool. For the flower, I started with a layer of solid yellow fabric. Now I’m adding individual petals from striped and checked fabrics.

  • positioning fused fabrics
  • current state

I plan to have it finished later this week.

In other news, the SAQA annual online auction is now open for bidding. There are 470 small artworks donated by SAQA members. At 12 inches square, these pieces are perfect to collect, gift, and display. This is my submission – one of the famous NYC library lions ‘Basking in the Summer Sun’. I wrote a blog post in May about how I made it.

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

Posted in Art quilts, On my design wall, Quilt shows | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

. . . and a name tag to match – 2021.08.07

Posted on August 7, 2021 by TerryAske

After finishing my mini art quilt for the annual Fibre Art Network (FAN) Artwork Exchange, my next task was to make a name tag to wear while attending the FAN virtual conference next month.

Why wear a name tag to a Zoom event? The conference organizers said “We know your Zoom account will have your name posted but we would still like to include this as an activity and encourage you to wear it each day just for the fun of it. We would like this to be an interesting little project that will give everyone a sense of the style you work in.”

I really enjoyed the look of overlapping text in bright colors that I used for my X’s and O’s quilt. And my work surface was still covered with fabric scraps from my mini quilt, so that seemed the obvious place to start.

It was a challenge to make the letters small enough to fit within the 4″ x 3″ size of a name tag. This is what I came up with. The ‘t’ is about 2″ high, and the other letters are about 1.5″. Some of the overlapping pieces are tiny! I traced the letters onto fusible web and fused them to some of my favourite bright colours.

Then I cut each piece out, trimming minutely inside the lines, to leave a very thin gap between each piece. I used a dark eggplant fabric for the background. I was pleased how well the pieces fit together.

I turned the edges under and fused another piece of eggplant fabric to the back. I stitched near the edges and around my name. (I didn’t use any batting as I wanted it to fit into a standard plastic name tag holder.)

Here it is in the plastic name tag sleeve. I plan to wear this name tag to future in-person quilting events.

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

Posted in Mini quilts | 7 Comments

Rainbow Ripples mini quilt – 2021.08.01

Posted on August 1, 2021 by TerryAske

This mini art quilt is for the annual Fibre Art Network (FAN) Artwork Exchange. All members are invited to participate, and submit their artwork. Everyone who submits a piece will receive one of the other pieces.

For the past few years the size has been 8.5 by 11 inches. This year there is a new size requirement, which is 5” x 15” either landscape or portrait.

My first step was to look for a source of inspiration. As I usually do, I scrolled through my photo collection, looking for images that would work with a long, narrow format.

I found this photo that I took in 2018. This decorative drain grate with a Raindrops motif stopped me in my tracks as we were leaving the Vancouver Aquarium. I’ve always intended to make an art quilt based on this design of overlapping ripples.

Raindrops drain grate at Vancouver Aquarium

My original plan was to use gray-blue fabrics to emphasize the raindrops theme, but somehow all the colors got pulled and I just couldn’t resist using them all! I fused the bright solids to a dark patterned background.

using ALL the colours
straight line quilting at an angle

I finished it with straight line quilting at an angle, and faced edges.

Rainbow Ripples – Inspired by a decorative drain grate with a Raindrops motif, this piece reflects my love of circular patterns and bright saturated colours.

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

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

Countdown to Square Foot Show – 2021.07.24

Posted on July 24, 2021 by TerryAske

Thanks to everyone who made suggestions (on my last blog post, on Instagram and Facebook) about which pieces I should submit to the upcoming Abstract2 Square Foot Show. Here are the 5 pieces I submitted.

I’m so happy to be one of the 70 amazing artists in the 2nd International Square Foot Show! It will go live at 8pm ET (5pm PT) on Wednesday, August 4th!

The show will run August 4-6 and features abstract and impressionist art by artists from all over Canada, the USA and the UK. Each piece will be 12″ x 12″ and will sell for $300 plus $20 shipping.

If you subscribe to the mailing list on the Square Foot Show website you will be automatically entered to win a 12″ x 12″ painting from featured artist Susannah Bleasby (@susannah_bee_art).⁠ And 48 hours before the show goes live, they will send out a gallery of all the abstract and impressionist work these artists have created for the online show.

Follow @squarefootshow on Instagram to learn more, for updates and to check out the amazing artists.

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

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More abstract pieces for Square Foot Show – 2021.07.19

Posted on July 19, 2021 by TerryAske

I have completed 3 more pieces for the Abstract2 Square Foot Show. That gives me a total of 8 art works. Now I have to pick 5 of them to submit to the show. Which would you like to see in the show?

I love working on small format pieces, as I find my creativity is stimulated. When I’m working on a large piece, I may consider several different concepts, but I usually only have the time and energy to work on one, maybe two versions. With small format pieces, I can explore several variations on a theme. As I’m working on one piece, I’m thinking about what I can do differently on the next one, and the one after that.

For this show, each piece must be 12″ x 12″ and the theme is Abstract and Impressionist Art. Within those parameters, my general concept was to create simple geometric layouts, showcasing the fabrics. I’m outlining the fabrics with skinny black bias tape to create a crisp graphic-looking composition.

I turned to my fabric stash to select interestingly coloured and patterned fabrics. I found 5 fabrics that created a pleasing composition and created Bright & Bold Stripes (left). Next was a group of neutral fabrics with interesting patterns – Earthy Neutral Stripes (middle). And then bright and intense fabrics – Bright Intense Curves.

Making the quilt top – This is my go-to freezer paper process. In a nutshell, I drew my design on freezer paper, cut the freezer paper apart and ironed each piece to the back of the fabric. I cut the fabric around the freezer paper templates, adding 1/4″ seam allowances. I reassembled the pattern by overlapping the seam allowances and using the freezer paper to hold them together. Working from the back, I stitched in the gap between the paper templates. Then from the front, I trimmed each seam allowance very close to the stitching. This leaves raw edges, which I covered with fusible bias tape.

  • Freezer paper pattern
  • Freezer paper template ironed to back of fabrics
  • Fabrics stitched together and seam allowances trimmed

After fusing on the bias tape, I peeled the freezer paper from the back of the fabrics (I saved the freezer paper templates as I can reuse them several times before they loose their “stickiness”).

Layering and quilting – I trimmed the top to 13′ square. I cut a piece of batting 12.5″ square and adhered it to the top with Misty Fuse. (No backing fabric was required as I would be mounting this on a 12″ square gallery-wrapped canvas.) Then I quilted the bias tape with black thread and quilted each fabric with a matching thread.

  • quilted – front
  • quilted – back

Mounting on a frame – I mounted each piece onto a 12” x 12” x .5” gallery wrapped canvas. I used Susan Carlson’s technique to attach a continuous edging to the quilt top, as explained in this blog post https://susancarlson.com/2017/08/26/hang-it-up/ which describes several methods of hanging and displaying quilts. 

I used solid black fabric cut 2.5″ x 50″ for the edging fabric. I’ve used Susan Carlson’s technique several times now, and my corners are not always perfect. So I experimented a bit. To ensure my finished edges were straight and square, I drew a 12″ square on the batting with a black marker pen. Then I trimmed the quilt based on the pen lines, not the edges of the fabric. I pinned the edging using the pen line – pinning from the front, then confirming the placement of the pins from the back. I also marked the stitching line with white pencil to ensure a straight, accurate line.

  • 12×12 square drawn on back with pen
  • pinning edging and marking sewing line
  • pinning edging – back

Those changes really improved the fit of the edging over the wrapped canvas frame, but I still wasn’t entirely satisfied with the corners. A Google search yielded this article from Threads Magazine. I followed their instruction in step 4 – “When you get to a corner, lower needle into exact corner, clip boxing to needle, pivot fabric, spread boxing around corner, and continue sewing. Repeat at each corner.” The clipping of the edging fabric as I reached each corner resulted in perfect corners every time!

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

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Square Foot Show – preparing entries – 2021.07.11

Posted on July 11, 2021 by TerryAske

Earlier this year I read about the Square Foot Show on Instagram. I submitted my application and I’m thrilled to say I will be one of the 70 artists whose work will be featured in the August online show.

The show will run August 4-6 and features abstract and impressionist art by artists from all over Canada, the USA and the UK. Each piece will be 12″ x 12″ and will sell for $300 plus $20 shipping.


Head over to the Square Foot Show website to get all the details. Scroll down to see a full list of the participating artists. And subscribe for a chance to win a 12″ x 12″ painting from featured artist Susannah Bleasby (@susannah_bee_art).⁠ Follow @squarefootshow on Instagram to learn more, for updates and to check out the amazing artists.

Almost all of the participating artists are painters, so it will be interesting to see how the purchasers react to my quilted fabric artworks. I will be mounting my pieces on wrapped canvases so they can be hung like a painting.

Each artist has been invited to submit between 3 and 5 pieces. I have been working on a few pieces that are possibilities for the show. Here are some snippets of my first 5 pieces.

However, these may not all be included in my final submissions. I have ideas for more pieces, so depending on how many I complete before the entry deadline and which ones I like the best, the pieces I submit may or may not include these.

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

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Triangle baby quilt finished – 2021.06.20

Posted on June 20, 2021 by TerryAske

I started creating this baby quilt in April. I finished piecing it in early May and pinned it to my design wall. But then I set it aside to work on other projects.

This weekend, I finished it. I layered it with batting and soft gray fleece backing. I cut the batting to 1.5 inches wider than the top on each side, and I cut the fleece backing even larger, so there was about 4 inches extra on each side.

I quilted around the edge of the top, then quilted 30 degree straight lines parallel to the triangle sides, and about 5 to 6 inches apart.

Then I trimmed the fleece so it was 2″ wider than the batting on all sides, and folded it over to the front as binding.  I used the mitering technique described in faux blanket binding by red flannel pantry.  I straight-stitched about 1/4″ in from the raw edge of the binding, then zigzag stitched over the raw edges.

Here it is fresh out of the washer and dryer, all soft and cuddly.. The finished size is 40 x 44 inches.

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

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NYC library lion basking in the summer sun – 2021.05.23

Posted on May 23, 2021 by TerryAske

Here’s my donation for SAQA’s annual Benefit Auction. SAQA invites each of its members to create a 12 x 12 inch piece of art and donate it to the online auction. Last year there were over 500 submissions from SAQA members around the world.

Here’s my donation piece for this year – Basking in the Summer Sun.

Since 1911, the famous marble lions, dubbed Patience and Fortitude, have captured the imagination and affection of New Yorkers and visitors alike.  They flank the main entrance to the downtown branch of the NYC library.  Posing regally, they gaze down at the coming and going of the library patrons and visitors.

It was a bright summer day when I visited the library, so my photos of the lions show dramatic sunshine and shadows.  This is Patience (on the south side of the library entrance) basking in the summer sun against a backdrop of leafy green trees.

I enjoyed the challenge of creating the NYC library lions in monochromatic colors for the Chromatopia exhibition.  But when I took these photos while in New York, my intention was to depict the lions in realistic colors – shades of gray against a backdrop of leafy green trees. (I have since learned they are actually carved from pink marble, but when I saw them in 2019, they looked like they were carved from gray stone.)

There were a couple of advantages to using the same design again. The first is how I created the line drawing. I applied a pencil sketch filter to the photo of the orange lion and printed that as my line drawing – much quicker and easier than using the original photo as my starting point. I labelled each shape with a value code, then printed a full-size version, as well as a mirror copy to use for tracing the shapes on fusible web (Steam-a-Seam Lite).

The other advantage is the selection of fabrics with the correct values, which is the trickiest part of this technique. (See my post about the challenges I had with selecting values for the blue lion.)

Since I was very happy with the values I used for the orange lion, I only needed to find gray fabrics with the same values. I selected the fabrics, then used a black & white filter to ensure the grey fabric values were comparable to the orange fabric values. (I keep the value chart taped to the cupboard above my ironing station for reference while cutting out the shapes.)

As with the orange lion, I cut the base layer from the lightest fabric. I fused the base layer to parchment paper, then I gradually added the light, medium-light, medium, medium-dark and dark fabrics. I love the way the lion appears increasingly solid and 3-dimensional as fabrics are added, so I take a lot of photos during the process. Here are a few that show the progression. (Click to enlarge)

I think he’s a pretty regal-looking, handsome fellow!

Here’s the original photo I took in NYC in 2019.

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

Posted in Art quilts, Inspiration, On my design wall, Portrait quilts, Quilt shows, Tutorial | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments