Archive

Most of the quilts I have done to date have actually been quilt tops, that is they have just been the equivalent of the top layer(s) of fabric of a quilt without the layer of batting or backing that makes up a traditional quilt. The last quilt I made involved the trapunto technique and therefor […]

I’ve been trying to figure out how to sew the squares together. With the quilts I’ve done to date I’ve sewn the pieces together on a pellon (interfacing) backing and then lined the squares up, overlapped the pellon backing and sewn the squares together. I’ve used heavy black thread with a zigzag overstitching technique and […]

Before starting in on the quilting of the other squares I laid all of them out in sequence to see how they would look all lined up: This was the most complicated printing job that I’ve undertaken to date. I used the cold composition techniques that I learned in the workshop that I took earlier […]

There are two main parts to quilting: piecing and quilting. So far I’ve just been piecing my “quilts” (which are really just quilt tops – see my earlier post, “A Quilt by any other Name” ) and not actually doing any quilting on them. For this quilt I’m attempting the trapunto technique, which is kind […]

I’ve been thinking of the pattern to use for the next quilt in the series, the one for my great grandmother Cassie Hodgman. I have been thinking of some variation of the interlocking circles pattern. So I’ve had circles in my head. Today I made a stencil (drawing on what I learned from my workshop […]

Really, I know how to count. I make a cheat sheet for each of the quilts at the start to help plan things out and to let me know how many of each shape/print/book page I need to cut out. The math is fairly straightforward: you take the number of a particular shape/print combo that […]

Slow going again this week. 93° and muggy today. I’ve found that I can get some sewing done early in the mornings before it gets too hot. Then later in the day when it gets sticky I sew for short stretches then let everything cool down while I crochet for a bit, then clean off […]

A couple of people have asked if sewing the waxed dipped paper and the encaustic prints causes the sewing machine to gum up. I’ve answered back that, no it doesn’t really but I have to stop from time to time to clean off the footer. After a while sewing I start to feel the footer […]

The good thing about feeling poorly the last week or so is it has given me a chance to reassess the project and do some planning. I had planned from the start to make a total of nine memorial quilts. This is largely because I am making an extra square for each to join together […]

I feel SO GUILTY. I didn’t post anything last week! I always seem to forget something when I go on a trip, this time it was my laptop bag. I was away at the International Encaustic Conference in Provincetown last week and had a wonderful time but was wracked with guilt the whole time that […]