Sunday, March 27, 2011

2011 Journal Quilt 12

After using all of the skinny strips on the #11 Journal Quilt, I then picked up all of the squarish pieces and started in the center with light ones and progressed out in values to dark at the edges.  The base is fusible batting so every piece is partially attached and the rest is floating free.  I started at the outside edge with the quilting and made a square cornered spiral hoping it would still be fairly straight when I got to the center.
You can see the loose edges in this photo.  So now I am caught up with one a week for the Journal Quilts.  I was afraid my creative well had run dry but I shouldn't have doubted myself.  I made both #11 and # 12 late in the day yesterday after rearranging my studio.

39 comments:

Impera Magna said...

That is one beautiful block... fascinating...

Fran said...

Your creative juices are flowing like a river! What beauty. What fun.

Sewing Junkie said...

They are both really neat. I wish my energy would get going again. I am stuck on this one project and I have a deadline. Chris

*karendianne. said...

Oh man, wow!!!

Unknown said...

This one is beautiful! Love the use of the scraps and the colors. The quilting is perfect!

Gene Black said...

Sometimes we must tire out the logical mind so that the creative mind can seize control.

your creative mind certainly took over for this one. It is wonderful

christijowinter933@yahoo.com said...

Your stitches are straight as an arrow, and as usual, your color sense is breathtaking!

Do you ever have trouble quilting through batiks? I attempted to quilt some log cabin blocks yesterday, and noticed a real difference when my needle was punching through a batik--my stitches at times skipped. When I was quilting through "regular" fabric, I had no such problems.

Bobbie said...

You never cease to amaze me...I just got my Wanda "fix"...thank you

Elaine/Muddling Through said...

I think this one might be my favorite of the journal quilts. It just sings!

Sheila said...

All your weekly journals are beautiful. Love the skinny strips, squarish pieces, light to dark and quilting on 11 and 12. I look forward to the rest of the year.
Christi's comment question about skipped stitches when sewing batiks concerned me. I'm slowly collecting pieces of batiks to make a quilt. Is the skipped stitches a common problem with some sewing machines sewing batik fabrics? When I went to demo sewing machines last week, the shop used small pieces of beautiful batiks to demonstrate their machines. (They also sells beautiful batiks.)

Vicki W said...

Oh, I like this one a lot!

QuilterLaura said...

That is lovely. I usually don't like such "artsy" stuff, but that is really neat. If I tried that, by the time I got to the center my stitches would be WAY off....but yours is perfect...you're amazing!

Twisted Quilts said...

All I can say is WOW! Your use of color always amazes me. How big is this piece? I have not used fusible backing before but this tempts me.

Karen - Quilts...etc. said...

I love how you did this one, very creative indeed!
Karen
http://karensquilting.com/blog/

Anonymous said...

I love them both, but the squareish one the best. Could you make a cover to fit an iPad with it? Pretty please. I'd buy it! Hannah

Miki Willa said...

#11 and #12 are so beautiful. The colors are amazing, but I like all the colors you use. Very inspirational.

Bunny said...

I love them they are gorgeous. What size are they or are they all different sizes. Just wonderful.

HollyM said...

It seems different for you. I like it.

Debra said...

lol, I sew like this a lot. DH calls me lazy, I call it color crumb therapy ;-)

I don't comment much, but I still follow you everyday. Thank you for blogging everyday ;-)

Debra

Anonymous said...

I enjoy watching you work with such small pieces the last few days. Today's Journal Quilt with the floating pieces blossomed into a gorgeous piece.

J~MT

Needled Mom said...

So glad that the creative mojo didn't abandon you after the organization of the studio. It looks great.

hetty said...

Beautiful as always!

Sue said...

This one is really nice. I love how you arranged the pieces by color. Your stitching is right on!

Penny Gold said...

I'm really glad to see this, and to have the suggestion of fusible batting. I have a project in mind that will use a lot of randomly cut pieces, and I had been thinking of either hand-stitching them all (which I did on another project) or fusing fabric and then cutting it up into pieces (huge amount of work, and I don't love ironing on fusible stuff). This seems like a really good possibility for me to try. Thanks!

Unknown said...

It turned out beautiful..course your quilting REALLY made it fabulous!

Ali Honey said...

That's a beauty. Love your colour placement and I am really impressed with your straight quilting and the fact it was still square when you reached the middle.

dls said...

How fun is this..... it is beautiful!

sweetypie said...

I think the loose edges are really exciting..keep going...tina

Vicky F said...

Hi Wanda,
Love the #12 journal quilt. I know you said you don't name them or assign meanings to them, but it looks like a bright patch of sun in a shade garden!

And aren't you the brave one starting on the outside edges and "hoping" it would stay even! And it did! If it were me, I would have to start in the middle and work out or I would goof it up!

Maybe the person with skipped stitches using batiks needs to use a "sharps" needle rather than universal?

Vicky F

Gari in AL said...

Exuberantly beautiful, as usual.

Vivian said...

This gorgeous journal quilt makes me want to dig through the garbage and pull out all the little fabric scraps I've tossed, if they could be used in something as beautiful as this little Q.

The batiks you use result in such rich, bold projects, even when you use lighter fabrics. The quilting is perfect.

Eat Sleep Quilt said...

Wanda, I knew you could do it; your creative juices are swirling and dancing around! I love your #11 and #12 piece - keep em coming.

Linda

Susan R said...

After browsing my favorite blogs this morning I suddenly snapped awake as I came upon yours!! I am so inspired by your works of art and I am so loving your journal quilts. All I can say is "Wowie". You are an amazing artist and quilter.

You can be sure I will have your blog on the top of the list of favorite from now on. Thank you so much for sharing your creations.

Susan

Julie Bagamary said...

AWESOME!!

nanann said...

I am totally in love with this one!

Barbara Strobel Lardon said...

Love this, I knew the creative juices would come back quickly! This would make a great background for a landscape if you controlled the placement of colors....gives me some ideas!

Anonymous said...

I love this one!

The value distribution is similar to that in your current favorite, displayed at the top of the blog.

I will definitely take inspiration from this!

Leslie said...

I'm just catching up on a WEEK of missed blog postings. This is a *beautiful* journal quilt. It's so imaginative and captivating, and I can't believe you quilted it without marking parallel lines anywhere. Just gorgeous! Whose fusible batting do you use? I asked about it at my local quilt store, but they carry only fusible fleece. I don't know how that would compare. Just gorgeous, Wanda!

Michelle said...

Great colors values, neat movement circular with the rigid line quilting two opposites, very cool, love the odd shape cuts of fabris, one of my faviorite pieces Wanda.