Something new on the long arm

Thread painting is fun.  I have done it before on my regular Diamond and on my workhorse Janome.  But I was doing a panel for Christmas and I decided to do a little thread painting to see how it worked on the long arm.  I have seen such gorgeous examples on line of thread painting and figured I could never do it.  Well, it is easier than using a regular sewing machine.  I only add a bit of red in the center of a couple of white pointsettas in the panel but it gave a lovely pop.  The thread was Art Thread from Superior.

I find panels fun for two reasons; I can experiment and if it does not work it is no loss of time or money; the second reason as they are great for baby pieces that can be given to charity.  And lastly they provide some colour around the house.  The artists who draw the original panel can do a wonderful job.  In fact they provide a perfect surface to try thread painting.

This particular panel was interesting for not using the traditional green and white of Christmas.  It was complex to quilt because of all the small details and could have easily been quilted 'to death' so it provided that learning of when a little is enough or at least what I think is enough.  Here is the panel and the little bit of thread painting.  Now on to something else which has been sitting waiting while customer quilts got done.  Merry Christmas to everyone who is kind enough to read this blog.  Be safe, enjoy, smile and remember that giving is fun.

Happy News

I was told my long arm machine, affectionately called Hortense, will be coming home.  I hope it is on Monday at the latest.  She has work waiting for her.  But it will take time to get everything set up again.  Long arm machines have very definite requirements and one is leveling and I have an old house and the frame was moved a bit when I was taking everything down to ship Hortense.

So today, on another hot day I detached the robot as the leveling has to be done without it, I leveled the moving carriage and the frame. I am most grateful for spending time with my Father and tools when I had not figured out I was not going to be a boy. That was in the long ago days when girls did NOT do shop.   I have done what I can but need some stronger arms for the center of the frame.    A cup of tea and a sit down is in order.  If the dogs have their way it will be out of doors.  And since on our morning walk we had some red leaves at our feet it is wise to take advantage of the good weather.

In the meantime while I could not quilt on Hortense my mind has been moving all over the landscape of what can be done with cloth and wool and pictures and stitches.  Several months ago I started a little landscape picture.  It started with a drawing on my computer which I did and ended up being printed on fabric through the printer.  I knew I wanted to do some thread painting and I also wanted to try the confetti technique for flowers although I could have left the flowers as just a painted surface on the fabric.  The little quilt lanquished on my sewing table through more than a few quilts being pieced and occasionally I did a bit of thread painting.  I also had a piece of fabric that was a little like chiffon but it was a synthetic.  I was not sure how it might work in place of fine netting.  It has an iridiscent quality.  So the only way to find out was to do it.  Here it is is with all its misses and hits.

  It is not easy to photograph with the chiffon 

giving off its own light.  But the effect is far less intrusive than I expected so I might,if a quilt can use it, do a synthetic chiffon again. It did take the paint for the little bits of black/grey that gives birches their distinctive appearance.  As well I had used a varigated thread with white and grey.  This was over a silver thread I had started with months ago on the birch trunks.  That is a nice thing about thread painting; you can cover something you do not like. And you can use thread over parts of the quilt to make parts recede and soften if you use light thread randomly stitched.   My confetti could have been smaller.  but it is ok.  I almost threw it out a couple of times but when you step back from something you have been working intently on and put it up on a design wall it takes on a different look.

So, do try different things.  IOne of the wonderful things about quilting is that is it not just utilitarian as it was historically but it is an art.  This was quilted just using my Husqvarna Diamond and the great stitches it has.  

Fun Things and Getting Out of a Jam

Hortense and I are finishing a quilt that a beginner made.  It is an interesting challenge to deal with wonky seams and pieces cut a bit too shy or too long.  Overall I am pleased that Hortense has dealt with  seams pressed with folds and some thick seams.  Like everything in life this is a teaching exercise.  You learn from everything even if you do not recognize it.  Also challenges bring other lessons and activities to mind.

When I worked I doodled.  I have even been known to draw cartoons to help me remember a talk I have been sitting in and trying to stay upright in my chair and to stifle a yawn.  I am sure many of you have sat through various events where your bottom goes to sleep and no amount of shifting brings it to life until you stand up.  Maybe that is natures way of dealing with boring lectures/talks etc.  Thank goodness most of that has disappeared with retirement.  If you have to sit in such a situation watch how people walk when they stand up and you can gauge the 'boring quotient'.

Back to doodling.  I did a border on this quilt and although in my mind it looked great; in reality it did not.  Boring and lifeless come to mind. So doodling popped up in my brain catalogue.  Have you heard of Zentangle?  Have a look even if you are not a quilter.  There is a Zen to doodling.  http://www.zentangle.com/   So I started to doodle on the design already in the border.  Not easy at first since one has to control a big machine to make sharp corners so a close look will reveal some a bit rounded but in the overall scheme it worked.  So lessons learned are
1.  Do not panic. There is always a solution
2.  Give your mind some time to noodle the situation
3.  Give it a try.  If you are not happy, attempting the fix  has at least a 50% chance of working.
4.  Accept that nothing is absolutely perfect.

Result:  I am pleased.  Now to finish all the borders the same way.

Fun things.  I love quilts in every shape and form except for those made of dead colours.   Even those have some redeeming qualities but not my favourite. One should not hate things as it is destructive to one's self.

So there is a category of art quilts that provide licence to enjoy and not be constrained.   These use thread painting.  I learned from someone who is very skilled in my guild.  If you love to recreate nature use thread instead of paint.  Do give it a try.  Here is my first effort.  I have painted but this has less mess; something one must consider when one has lots of paws around.  Somehow they are drawn to anything one is doing that is messy or involves food.

This was fun.  I still enjoy looking at it on the wall and am sure I will do better the next time.  Thank you for having a look.  The picture of my young Golden was actually taken on the patio as she rested in a pile of leaves.