Flowers in Winter

One of my crafting loves is making realistic Flower Quilts. I began making them in 2003 as part of the Journal Quilt Project. I made a small flower quilt each month for six months.
This Mountain Laurel from June 2003 is one of my very favorites:

The devil is in the details, and in this quilt the details are machine embroidered (hand guided, not programed).  

Tiger lily is another of my flower quilts, done on a larger scale. 

I begin my flower quilts with a photo. 

Then work with the photo to make a line drawing, and finally, use a special applique method that I call Upside-Down Applique to construct the quilt. Once all the fabric is in place, I add embroidered details and quilting to complete the work. 

I use a number of techniques in addition to applique to create my realistic flower quilts. I emphasize light and shadow, or stated a different way, value and contrast. Contrast can elevate and define our work. The use of value can create an illusion of depth and the skillful use of contrast can take our textiles from folk art into the realm of fine art.

 

I teach my methods at the Academy of Quilting in a class called Flower Power. Many of my students have created spectacular quilts using these methods. You can see them in this Student Gallery. Join me.

Knitting and Quilting

Some may wonder why you see a lot of quilting on a knitting blog. The answer is, this is more of a craft blog, named for a favorite pastime, knitting. 

I have done crafts all my life for as long as I can remember. I was hand sewing and doing embroidery from the time I was very small.

When I was about 11, my mom signed me up for a sewing class where I learned to sew clothing. I made a most horrible bright orange print dress as one of my first projects. But I did learn to sew and put in zippers and do hems and all that good stuff.

Somehow I learned to knit, though I don't remember how I started.

This is a recent hexipuff, knitted from a chart I used for a vest I knitted,
probably in the late 1980's.  I still have the pattern, but the vest was given away long ago.

 

 

For most of my adult life I have been a quilter. First I did clothing, then I started making fairly traditional patchwork quilts from scraps and fabrics I raided from my mom's stash.

One of my clothing projects was an Afghani Nomad's dress, made from a Folkwear Pattern. I spent so much time on the embroidered and quilted yoke of the dress, that by the time I finished, the dress no longer fit.  

I dabbled in lots of different crafts for awhile. I tried fabric dyeing and marbling. I made a lot of beaded earrings. I knit several sweaters and vests, lots of hats and scarves. I bought plenty of materials for crafts I barely tried.

At some point,  I decided to devote my time exclusively to quilting. No more dyeing, because even with a respirator, dyes made me cough and sneeze. No more knitting, since obsessive knitting had given me a bad case of sciatia.

I quilted. I learned lots of techniques. I created some techniques of my own. I taught quilting. 

And then I rediscovered knitting and the Harry Potter Knit and Crochet House Cup on Ravelry.

When I first started playing, I made this Harry Potter inspired quilt, based on a tale from Beedle the Bard.

 

Now, I knit as much as I can. I try not to aggravate the sciatica or totally wear out my hands. I can crochet in a pinch, and I still quilt. If you see a mention of Quidditch or Hufflepuff, it has to do with knitting games. But I will always enjoy playing in my scraps and making things with fabric and thread.