Showing posts sorted by relevance for query train ride from tokyo. Sort by date Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by relevance for query train ride from tokyo. Sort by date Show all posts

Thursday, April 6, 2017

Train Ride from Tokyo Finish





A Hand Quilted Finish


At this very moment I am covered by this same quilt, feet up, and lap top engaged. My cup of coffee is within reach. I've worked a year to make it, and yet it gets used so casually. I wonder if I'd feel this way if I wasn't the maker. But I want to know how a quilt feels and wears with use. I like to record which batting I used, and there is a significant difference in the drape and warmth. There truly are battings better suited for different seasons, and may be too warm for summer so I'm enjoying now.

Tuesday, July 30, 2019

Baby Postcard from Sweden & Dragger


Vibrance!

Many long months ago I promised a baby quilt for a friend--a grandmother-soon-to-be, and immediately after my life was swamped. It was one big thing after the next. Life can be that way, you know. My sewing projects were shut down tight. Six long months later the storm of activity has officially passed, and we're all breathing easier, thank you. I am gratefully, intentionally back to sewing. It's like a dream waking up with permission to say to myself, "Today I am going to sew!" And sew, I have.

Monday, February 15, 2016

Color Play for Quilters-Final Day of Hop



Color Play for Quilters


Welcome back to the final day of "Craftsy Sweetens Up My Quilting Life!" blog hop. I hope you've gained useful knowledge about classes and products, entered Craftsy's big Giveaway, and the other giveaways sponsored by our own bloggers. Check below for more information.

Sandra from mmm! quilts and I are wrapping up today, but the Giveaways will remain open for another week. All class discounts remain in effect one week from posting so take advantage of them soon! The entire blog schedule can be found here.




My first encounter with Color Play by Joen Wolfrom was while searching for books on color theory. The book reviews were outstanding, and it stayed on my radar.

Imagine my delight finding the book offered as a class taught by the author herself at Craftsy! Plus, the book I was after was a free download with the class--a win/win!


 Personal Insights
  • Comfortable speaker with extensive knowledge
  • Lecture intensive with strong visual aids
  • Heavy use of hand dyed fabrics lending itself well to both traditional and art quilters
  • Materials list supports the class well
  • Over 4 hours of instruction
  • Excellent question and answer portion relevant to the class
  • Most comprehensive course in color theory I have seen to date




"Do what you see. Not what you know."

Many of us struggle with picking out colors for a project, and to a large degree she teaches us why. She stresses the value of experimenting with colors in the form of acrylic paints creating your own samples. Blending colors and working with a color wheel was not new to me, yet she took me beyond what I'd ever done before. I had to learn how to see colors all over again, and by doing so I could use them to my advantage.



Luminosity

By far, the most interesting thing I learned was creating luminosity within a quilt. Luminosity refers to an area of light or glowing, and Wolfrom explains how she found it by mistake. Even so, she stopped to figure out why it happened so she would be able to recreate it. 




 Practical Application




Let's face it. Classes don't do any good unless you can use what you've learned. That might be the one downfall with taking a live class. One, it's hard to get your questions answered, and two, we forget things once we've gotten home. That doesn't happen when you can go back and repeat the segment for a brush up. 

I want to briefly share how the class has changed the way I look at fabric. This is a FQ bundle of Tokyo Train Ride by Sarah Watts. I've been saving it for something special, but nothing jumped out at me. I wanted to figure out why.

Normally I would lay my fabric out so I could stand back and take a good look at it. If I thought it needed something more, I'd throw some more colors down with it like in the first picture on the left. This fabric collection was leaving me stumped, so following Wolfrom's instruction I brought in a color wheel to see where most of the fabric were. I believe it was a double-complementary scheme. (middle picture above)


Building on Wolfrom's examples of adding a variety of values, I continued to add and subtract more fabrics. Another 'problem' I found with this bundle, and is often the case when we buy a single line of fabric, nearly all the the fabrics were the same scale. I tossed in dots in a variety of scales, and some micro prints. The last photo bottom right shows you what I wound up with. There's a balance between the lights, mediums, darks, and in scale finally. It's still a double-complementary color scheme, but a bit more balanced too. We shall see how this one works.


Someone who has made a quilt, and couldn't figure out what was wrong with the colors


Someone who wants to know how a color wheel works, and how it can make her much more successful at choosing fabrics

Someone who is ready to go beyond constructing from a kit

Someone who wants to delve deeply into color theory

How about YOU?





Buy Color Play for Quilters this week for 50% off its regular price. While visiting Craftsy, sign up for the chance to win one of two free classes, or the grand prize of a quilt kit, and fabric bundles. 





The Giveaway entry to Craftsy can be found both here and on each post throughout the hop. One entry per person. Enter until Sunday, February 21, 2016 at 11:59 MST. Winners will be announced February 22.


Hope you had as much fun hopping as we have!


Come on, Doxie girls.
Let's go sew.

Monday, September 12, 2016

Fall Quilts, Wool, and Wool Dyeing In the Microwave



Transitions


Summer has unofficially become fall here, though the calendar says it's still over a week away. It's 54 F this morning, and I'll have a cool studio today. I confess that sweltering heat does not bring out my creativity, and also that I've taken a little hiatus while coming to terms with my art and craft. Both points have made it more difficult to return to the studio daily, though I'm in and out. It's not an excuse, and there's no reason for me to apologize. It just is. You know, I'm finding that makes more sense to me recently. 

Thursday, February 25, 2016

Tokyo Train Ride Out to the Borders: Design On the Fly



You might call this busy.
I say it's happy.
I like happy!


Design On the Fly


I like not knowing exactly where a  quilt will wind up. Also, I'm honest to a fault about my work, and believe wholeheartedly in showing you the process. It makes me feel very human when someone else shows their me their struggle to design, and I assume I'm not alone. Unless you're following a well tested pattern, there are lots of little roadblocks to work through. Rarely it works like you planned it, but the whole creative process with changes and all is very liberating. It's not really improvisational quilting, or improv. It's more 'design on the fly'. 

Monday, January 19, 2015

Buying Fabric

Tokyo Train Ride by Sarah Watts for Cotton + Steel

I placed an order with Fat Quarter Shop last week. It was waiting for me when I made it home Sunday. Oh, Wow!  My taste ran all over, and I tried to rein it in, but the choices were SO TEMPTING!