Long Tall Sally

When I was going through the song titles, one made me stop!  "Long Tall Sally"---what more did I need?

This is really not collage but is the fastest I've ever done one of the challenges!  It is 7" x 10 1/2".  I had some scraps of fused fabrics and these fit.

Line & Color

After reading the two comments, I went back and added a lot more thread work to my little quilt. Thanks for the comments---this IS much better.

I had a really good time with this. The line is from one of my walls---we live in a log home so there were a lot of possibilities. The color is a sunset picture I took one evening while on our boat. Fabrics were just not working out--so I used thread on one piece of fabric. Comments welcomed.

Rose

I enjoyed this challenge. This little piece is 10 1/2" wide by 7 3/4" long. It was done from a photo I took a couple years ago. It is fused but not yet quilted. Still trying out this method. Thanks to Susan Brittingham for the class I took earlier this year. Working this small was a challenge but I needed to see if I could do it---and I did!!

Notan symmetries

I used freezer paper and black paper to do my designs. I took a class many years ago from Michael James and we worked with just black and white and some Notan during the three days. I have never done any else with it but like the symmetries that appear. Thanks for this challenge!

Sally K. Field

Sunset Over the Island

While we were on our boat Tuesday last week, there was a spectacular sunset over an island---not reds, pinks, etc. but golds, bronzes. I kept taking pictures but could never really capture the colors. The brightest was like a molten pale gold. This was the closest I could come to it. It is not quilted---had to take three days this week to be sick. However, the more I look at it, I think I will probably frame it. The white rim and outer black are batting and backing--just not trimmed. The size is 12"x7.25".

Challenge 54 "Leaning Toward Spring"

This little piece is 12” x 9 ½”. I’m not sure that it meets the challenge—but MY challenge was to do something and get it done on time! It has been a long time since I’ve done a challenge. I quilted the background in curves and then did the applique work. I sit here surrounded by snow very much feeling the draw of Spring!!

Challenge #52 Color Field

Color Field #1-1000

This was so named because it will cover me for any color field quilt from now ‘till #1000!!! Let’s just say that this is not my art love. Everything I read seemed to contradict the last thing read----so finally just made a stab at it without looking at what anyone else had done. It is not quilted—rectangles and “spear” were ironed on and then machine appliqued down. Also not finished.

It measures 6" x 11.5".

Happy New Year to all--Sally

I looked at the comments from members and decided to try to remedy the poor little thing. I'm not sure it was successful. I do like turning it 90°. The quilting does not add anything to the Color Field---but did give me a chance to try some new things. I got a wonderful new thread stand for Christmas and can now use some threads that were just impossible before. The satin stitch on the edges is truly terrible. Nothing I tried made it better. So---it will just have to be. The size is the same. Onward and upward! Sally

Trees Ablaze

'Tis lovely to be
at my window in Autumn
with the trees ablaze. All I had to do was look out my studio window to know what I wanted to do. Both the haiku (my first!!) and the quilt just seemed to appear. I titled my quilt “Trees Ablaze” but was very tempted to name it “Tree-o”. I love play on words and that kept talking to me.

The quilt is 13” x 17”---and is not yet bound. It will have a narrow binding of the background fabric. We spent the day looking at and buying a new pickup truck!

All the pieces of this quilt are WonderUndered and quilted. Had a lot of popping sounds from the needle as it went through as many as six layers in some spots.

I had a good time with this and would be delighted to have comments.

Fan on the Grass

This is not finished due to several complications (none of them quilty). I believe it follows the radial symmetry rule, the color range suggested, and also stays with my theme of vegetation. The fan has been appliqued to the background. It needs to be sandwiched and quilted. It will be done sometime!!

Colors of My Garden

18” x 20”

This uses the triad colors yellow-green, blue-violet, and red-orange. The four blocks in the center are paper pieced using my own design. There are 11 pieces of fabric in each block and the only one repeated is the blotchy violet in the center.

The quilting is not heavy. I wanted the designs to speak for themselves. The center is quilted with a vine and the outside is quilted around the flowers.

It is not completed. I had back surgery a little more than three weeks ago and have had all the sitting at the machine I can do for today. I will keep at the border quilting and then face the quilt.

I have enjoyed working on this. It is a happy quilt for me. I love the colors. I had thought they would be difficult to work with---but as I kept pulling out more fabrics I found that it wasn’t.

Thank you for this challenge!

Through the Fence--stitched

I have finally done the miles of stitching on this little piece. I really like the end results but would think hard about doing something with this many stops and starts again!

Crocus

My quilt isn't finished as this was a harried week. It has yet to go the sewing machine! It was WonderUndered to the background. I used (partially) the same method as I used last month--with some refinements. It is something I'd like to explore in larger size. However--it is very time consuming. But--my quilts usually are. I once had a photographer tell me that my quilts are very intricate.

I believe this quilt fits the challenge. There are some highly saturated colors combined with tones. There is also light and shadow--both in the two flowers and in the ground (bark, dirt, dead leaves, etc.). Size is approximately 9.5" x 14".

FLOW

Here I am with 15 minutes to spare before the deadline!! That may be a record for me.

Flow is 11 3/4" x 14".

This quilt doesn't follow with my vegetation theme--although my husband says it looks like a leaf shape. I used the S-curve and red, blue-green, and yellow-green. I drew out the pattern, transferred it to Wonder-Under, cut out those shapes and fused to fabric. I ironed them to my press sheet--which was transparent enough to see the original pattern underneath.

After everything was in place and joined, I peeled them off the press sheet and fused them onto the background. I've never done this before and it worked well for me. The edge is four strands of a lush "lumpy" cording I've had for years.

Sally

Spring Solitude

This was a challenge in many ways:

1) I used blue. I like blue and have a lot of blue fabrics but never seem to pull them out. So---I used blue, blue-violet, red-violet, and red.

2) I used blocks of color---another fork in the road!

3) After appliqueing the blocks,I decided to do an overall quilting. So--to keep with my vegetation theme, I sketched a scene with trees, foliage, grass, hills, etc. These were transferred to some tear-away tracing paper and pinned onto the quilt. Worked like a charm! However, it probably took me close to six hours total to get out all the paper. But--do want to let you know that I'd do it again. I posted a picture of it partially quilted so you could see my quilting technique. The quilt is about 20" x 18".

All in all, I'm very pleased with the outcome. It is not edge finished--but will probably face it so it won't change in looks.

I used analogous colors. There is rhythm/movement in the quilting and tension/energy in the blocks.

Wonderful challenge--thanks. Sally

At the Edge of the Bog

12.5 x 14

My series will be on vegetation. This first one was done using red-violet and yellow-green. The orientation is mostly vertical. It is machine appliqued by machine through all three layers. I haven't done any additional quilting yet. This week was filled with "have to do" things.

Chard

This was a challenge I had a good time with---not a fast piece to do, but learned a lot and like what I've done. The quilt is not completely finished---some of the "background" still needs quilting.

I am posting the original photo, original cropped, and Photoshopped photo. The full shot and a close-up of the quilt are also posted. The photo is of a large pot of red and white chard with small flowers and ivy. It was taken at the Elizabethan Gardens in Manteo, NC. I'd never seen chard planted with flowers before and it was a wonderful sight!

The quilt was done by layering pieces of fabric onto the batt with backing underneath. The fabrics are batiks and other cottons. I placed a layer of pale blue tulle over it all and did a lot of pinning. The quilting is not only the decoration but the "glue" for the quilt.

Comments welcome.

Flight Line

This was interesting! My quilts are usually filled with many fabrics. This one has two!!! It WAS a challenge for me to work like this.

The quilt is 11" x 12 1/4". The background is a slightly mottled grey. The "things" on the flight path are from a very reflective liquid lamé which was attached with WonderUnder. As I turn my head to look at it from different angles, the colors change from gold, to blue, to green, and things in between. The quilting was done with a variegated (black to light grey) Sulky. It is not free-motion quilted---rather just a plain straight stitch.

I originally planned to have this turned a quarter but somehow didn't like the large item at the bottom. For me, the small one at the bottom seems to make the pattern come toward me, a rising up.

Comments are welcome.

Sally Field

Flood Receding

This was interesting. It is the first time I've tried deconstructing. The original is a sample I made from a pattern by Ruth McDowell in "The Experts' Guide to Foundation Piecing". I wanted to see if I liked her method. This was just a little piece (10" x 7.5"). I knew I'd never do anything with it---not my own design. However, I AM working on a quilt using her method.

Flood Receding (8 3/8 6.5) is my deconstructed piece.

The extra 2" will make a difference

Better late than never! This was a fun challenge!!!! Being a Mac person, I rarely have spam with a subject line. My dh did have one---and this was it. I think I horrified him when I told him that I was going to make a quilt with that subject. When it was done, he had a real laugh. This is very simple--but it meets the challenge. Sally

Portrait--not realistic!!

17" x 22" This was done this week in an on-line class with Pamela Allen. What you see here has been radically changed from the first attempt. The only original fabrics are those in the background! This type of work is extremely far from my comfort level and experience. I did learn a lot from Pamela in doing this---learned new ways to really see something. I also learned that I probably won't do this type of work again!! (I have learned not to say "never".) Everything is just spot glued---no applique or quilting.