The Quilt Skipper

quilting makes me skip for joy

Jenny K Lyon

Quilting makes me skip for joy

Demos, design, organization and RV’s?

It’s been a packed week with a wide variety of action; I love it when I’m working different types of events!

I volunteered to demo at Blue Line Arts in Roseville in conjunction with the “Forever Changed” exhibit, a SAQA Regional exhibit which focused on the lasting impact of the events of 2020-21. I demo’d free motion quilting and Frances Dack did a collage activity with children. Kinda funny how this all went down; Frances had a packed house of happy kids and their parents:

A lot more kids came later on.

On the other hand, I had TWO visitors, but had a grand time with fellow artists Mary and Jan:

Mary was kind enough to take photos, so I got a rare chance to have photos of me at an event – thank you Mary!

It was a fun day!

Earlier this week I organized my sheers. I hold them in 2 of those huge 90 quart bins; I have a LOT of sheers:

That may not look like much, but it took me 2 days to organize them. Now that I’m teaching sheer classes I need a more organized stash. It was a huge feeling of accomplishment to get them all organized.

I’ve been working on my donation for Pokey Bolton’s Ukraine fundraiser, Handmade for Ukraine, whose proceeds will benefit the World Central Kitchen for the Ukraine effort.

I researched Ukrainian design and created my own original take, sketched out on packing paper:

I did some offline testing on the silks I wanted to use. The yellow silk is vintage, from Japan and a gift from my friend Helen. It’s perfect for a Ukrainian piece! The blue silk must be 20 yrs old, sourced from, of all places, JoAnn’s as they bowed out of carrying silk. Both pieces are of excellent quality:



I pinned the drawing to my quilt sandwich and quilted through the paper. Yes, I know about Golden Threads as well as water-soluble and tear away stabilizers. I wanted to get it all on one piece and the paper tore away easily once pierced by the needle. I did NOT want to mark, given my recent marking debacle. The photo shows me in process of removing the paper, with the white parts still holding the paper:

Funny, I kinda liked the white parts and may use that concept in a future piece.

I’m pleased with how it is turning out. I definitely see more work done in this manner, maybe even with this same silk. I will add fills to the background and quilt the border. The final piece will be around 24″ x 30″.

See the texture of the yellow? It’s gorgeous, very dimensional.

For the backing, I used silk sourced by my friend Diane; I believe she got it in Taiwan. It was woven in Germany, a tightly woven, super high quality silk with a gorgeous drape. The back:

I actually love the back – I’m excited to finish this piece!

Summary: Auril Lana wool thread on the front and King Tut in the bobbin. I rarely use fat thread in the bobbin but I needed that heft to get the tension right. And it’s perfect! Silk front and back, wool batting. I used rulers to design but freehanded the quilting.

Aaaand, on another note, Hubby and I looked at this on Wednesday:

Yes, we looked at a 24′ Class C RV. We are that old: got the small dog, now we need an RV, no? It’s just a thought right now. Stay tuned. This may die on the vine or we may try the RV life. This would be a camping RV, not something we would park in Arizona all winter. I am not sure we are RV folks. We will do a test drive at some point. It just seems so biiiiiiiiiig!

Thanks for reading! I’ll be posting at:

Nina-Marie’s Off the Wall Friday
and
Finished or Not Friday.

 

 

 

Comments

  1. I absolutely love your Ukrainian piece! An RV? The concept always kind of appealed to me, but the practice might be different. But like you said, you now have the little dog. LOL

  5. I love the Ukraine piece. When I was in Junior High, my parents had a n RV (not sure of the class, but it was on a van body) and it was my Mom’s vehicle. We even lived in the Bay area at the time. I lost my love of camping in the RV when we lived in it full time while building a house in northern California.

    • I chuckled over your losing interest in RV’s after living in it full time – that would definitely do it for me! Thank you for your kind words.

  6. Hi Jenny! Love the Ukrainian piece! Really showcases your incredible talent. RV- it is a MUST DO! I felt the same way almost 20 years ago and I have to say it was the best decision we have made. I love it and can take our boy with us when we go. We are on our second trailer (first was stolen but that story is for another time) now. DO IT – you won’t regret it. 😄

    • THank you Kerrie! We are still thinking about the RV. We got a boat (long time ago),and that did not work out well so we need to be thoughtful. It dopes sound like a lot of fun! I envision spending time with our grandson too.

  8. This design would be considered “Jacobean”, wouldn’t it ;) ???

    • Oh I get that, it does look Jacobean. I researched Ukrainian design and it is very Jacobean, with some unique designs within which I tried to capture. I am not an art historian and my research was somewhat brief, but I hope I am representing Ukrainian design well. I am loving the design!

  9. I’m in my RV right now, Moab Utah, reading your post. We love to hit national parks and hike. You will love it! I always have my sewing machine with me and meet up with my quilting friends. Love to check out different quilt shops.

  10. Jenny, your Ukrainian piece is absolutely gorgeous in design and execution. You are a master!

    • Yes, the kids had a grand time! The RB life is still very much up in the air but yes, better than a tent! I am so enjoying the making of this piece.