Quilts SB

My Quip – Astro-Physics Update – Nine More Planets and Stars Completed

2013-05-19T15:34:00.005-04:00

Good Day,

And happy May Ray Day. We have now completed 9 more planets and stars for our Astro-Physics quilt wall-hanging project. All the component parts are now completed and now 15 planets and stars are pieced together.

Including the above, here are the addition nine planets and stars. And yes there is one that is duplicated in fabric and color.

I made an error in my previous posting and named Jacqueline de Jonge’s quilt Be Colorful. Its actual title is Fly Away. Her company located in The Netherlands is Be Colorful.

Seven of the planets and stars will be clustered, sewn, and pieced together. Our Astro-Physics cluster will be the mirror image of Jacqueline’s Fly Away. And so Andy is “clustering” backwards. The combination of both Sharon Schamber’s and Jacqueline de Jonge’s, coupled with Andy’s techniques is proving an exciting construction. The remaining eight planets and stars will be incorporated into the overall design of the quilt wall-hanging.

The work continues, and thanks for the positive feedback. If you have any questions, comments, and ideas, please feel to contact us.

Enjoy,

Jim and Andy

My Quip – Progress Continues – Astro-Physics - Quilt

2013-05-18T16:26:00.000-04:00

Good Day,

Work continues on our Astro-Physics project. Andy is currently working on the elaboration of the planets and stars for our eventual quilt wall hanging, as inspired by Jacqueline de Jonge’s quilt Fly Away. A combination of Jacqueline de Jonge’s piecing and Sharon Schamber’s curved piecing techniques has provided some insight how to appropriately piece curves.

Our target and reconstructed design is 15 planets and stars, four more than are included in Jacqueline’s Fly Away.

Check out the following Quilts SB links to bring up to date regarding our work on Astro-Physics. You might ask as to the time span from our beginnings of Astro-Physics, but there is definitely a method to our thread and fabric madness.

- Oct 16, 2011 My Quip – Astro-Physics – New Wall-Hanging Quilt Begins

- Oct 17, 2011 My Quip – Astro-Physics – Another Completed Piece

- Oct 20, 2011 My Quip – Astro-Physics – 16 Points

- Oct 21, 2011 My Quip – Astro-Physics – The Next Neck Adornment

- Oct 24, 2011 My Quip – Astro-Physics – Flying Goose

- Oct 29, 2011 My Quip – Astro-Physics – Star Cluster

- Nov 6, 2011 My Quip – Astro-Physics – Update and a New Direction

- Nov 19, 2011 My Quip – Caedogán Rugs – Astro-Physics Quilts 6th Star Cluster

- Dec 22, 2011 My Quip – Astro-Physics Quilt Construction Update – Christmas Quilt Sale

- Jan 2, 2012 My Quip – Another Block Completed for Astro Physics Quilt

- Jan 6, 2012 My Quip – Astro-Physics – Two More Blocks Readied

Stay tuned to our progress on our Astro-Physics... Also check back with Quilts SB to see our work on our other quilt and crochet projects.

Enjoy,

Jim and Andy

My Quip - Our Quilts and Afghans in Progress - An Ancient Internet Speak

2013-05-17T08:52:00.001-04:00

Good Day,

It is a wonder that humans are good at deciphering pictures on a cave wall. And now we have to learn on old form of Internet-speak. I was pretty good at it some 30 to 40 years ago, and I am wondering if Google will add it to it's Translate application.

Quilts - 25; and Afghans - 3; update and progress continues. Here is the quick info on 10 of our current projects.

Hexagons for Tampa Kaleidoscope are all spread out in the design room. The colorways have been sorted into piles of shades.

The Amulet is loaded to the longarm. It is now basted. We are examining ideas for quilting, all-things-being equal to compliment the geometric form of the quilting.

The component parts of Astro-Physics are now being pieced together. Five of 15 have been completed.

A design quilting pattern is being developed for our in progress Equality Quilt.

New Damask and Native American fabrics has been received with thoughts of a couple more kaleidoscope quilts.

The completed blocks for our Jacob Ladder Pants quilt have all been moved to the design room.

We our thinking of deconstructing our work on the blocks of the Batique OM quilts.

And we are learning a new language once again, LOL. Rnd2: Ch2, hdc in each hdc around, working 3 hdc in 2nd hdc of each corner, join with sl st in 2nd ch of beg ch-2. This house now reads and and tries to speak English, Spanish, French, Latin, Twitter, and Crochet.

The first composition of a crocheted afghan, dark rose, almost burgundy and buff, is now 48" in width and 15" long.

And the sugar cane yarn is now in house. Exploring ideas.

This is not a complete list of all our work in progress but just a quick note of that which we are immediately working on.

We need to explore redoing our Quilts SB site. Stay tuned.

Check with Quilts SB for routine and regular updates.

Enjoy,

Jim and Andy

My Quip – Progress – Tampa Kaleidoscope – And The Thought of Two New Quilts

2013-05-12T13:28:00.000-04:00

Good Day,

All 1,368 equilateral triangles for Tampa Kaleidoscope have been cut and all 456 half-hexagons have been completed. Now, and I sound a wee bit like Professor McGonigle, the sorting begins.

The component parts of our Tampa Kaleidoscope are three colorways of the KMIS Tampa fabric: light, medium, and dark. The first stage of the sorting process is now to separate the possible hexagons into varying degrees of shades. It is delightful and extremely interesting how the hexagons, even though they each have the element of the Tampa fabric, through deconstruction, are transformed into something completely different.

Even the afternoon sunlight streaming through the blinds create designs on our Tampa Kaleidoscope.

Bruce Seeds is definitely correct when he states “the quilts are the result of a process, not a pattern… And each step builds on the previous one. It’s only when I get to the very end that I can see each quilt for what it wanted to be.” And Maxine Rosenthal writes, “This is a serendipitous and adventurous approach to design. One piece of fabric does all the work, because the fabric contains all the colors and all the design elements.”

Andy and I cannot wait to see what our final creation and design of our Tampa Kaleidoscope will turn out. This is definitely another step in our education and learning of the world of quilting.

We have also now acquired some new fabric to attempt two more new Kaleidoscope quilts. Stay tuned to our work and progress. Make sure you follow our Quilts SB: Site; Google+ Page; or Facebook Page.

Enjoy,

Jim and Andy

My Quip – Tampa Kaleidoscope – Progress On Colorways

2013-05-05T15:20:00.000-04:00

Good Day,

Well as we continue our work on our new quilt, Tampa Kaleidoscope, we are getting more and more excited as a totally random design erupts on our quilt wall.

108 pre-constructed hexagons have been completed from the light colorway. This means that two sets of three equilateral triangles have been sewn together. The two half-hexagons are then pinned together to create what will eventually be the final hexagon. Andy has also completed the 72 triangles of the darker colorway and is now working on the medium colorway.

I have been randomly, with some sense of color degree composition, pinning the to-be completed hexagons on the quilt wall. The result, at this point, definitely does not resemble the original Tampa fabric print. But, as we are so familiar with the original print we can see what the deconstruction has been doing to the outcome.

The above images are preliminary of our Tampa Kaleidoscope design and at this point in time, we cannot say exactly what the final quilt design will turn out to be.

Once again credit for the process and construction is due to Bruce Seeds and Maxine Rosenthal.

Stay tuned to our progress and updates.

Enjoy,

Jim and Andy

My Quip - Update - Tampa Kaleidoscope

2013-05-04T19:40:00.000-04:00

Good Day,

Well 216 half-hexagons for our Tampa Kaleidoscope have been completed.

The fabric is the same Tampa fabric as presented in our postings of April 30 and May 2. From the three colorways we hope to create 228 hexagons. Will we use all 228? Not sure, that will depend upon the creative design. The above images are two sample hexagons created from the Tampa fabric.

We are absorbing the work of Bruce Seeds and Maxine Rosenthal. There is definitely a creative freedom in the concept of the construction of a kaleidoscope quilt of this process.

We have also created a fabric wall which should give us the opportunity to visually display our design ideas and thoughts.

Enjoy,

Jim and Andy

My Quip - EssbeeCon Awarded Judge's Choice at Denver National Quilt Festival VIII

2013-05-03T15:53:00.003-04:00

Good Day,

Andy and I just found out that our EssbeeCon quilt has been awarded a Judge's Choice Ribbon at the Denver National Quilt Festival VIII.

Needless to say we're tickled pink.

The Denver National Quilt Festival is being held from yesterday through May 5 at the Denver Mart in Denver, Colorado.

Enjoy,

Jim and Andy

My Quip - Progress Report - Tampa Kaleidoscope

2013-05-02T15:52:00.001-04:00

Good Day,

The work is continuing on our new and experimental quilt design, Tampa Kaleidoscope. All-things-being-equal this quilt will be one-of-a-kind.

In the the process of our education, the experts who have completed similar type of construction projects indicate that a kaleidoscope quilt can be completed with one good printed fabric. Well of course, Andy and I are trying something a bit different, which does not mean that it hasn't been done before. We have decided to cut the basic equilateral triangles, for the construction of hexagons, from three blue colorways of the same Tampa fabric.

Our first run of our design will require 1,128 equilateral triangles cut from all three colorways.

All-things-being equal, our Tampa Kaleidoscope, when completed will approximate 93" (236 cms) by 98" (249 cms). This means that this could be the size of a queen sized quilt. And of course, this does not account for any border design at the present draft.

Keep tuned to Quilts SB for updates and our progress of Tampa Kaleidoscope.

Enjoy,

Jim

My Quip – A New Quilt Experiment and Learning Process – Tampa Kaleidoscope

2013-04-30T11:58:00.000-04:00

Good Day,

Andy and I have started a new quilt experiment and learning process – Tampa Kaleidoscope. This is something we've wanted to try especially after seeing the work of quilt artist Bruce Seeds. And Bruce recommended Maxine Rosenthal’s 2005 book, One-Block Wonders – One Fabric, One Shape, One-of-a-Kind Quilts.

Following the idea and both Maxine’s instruction and Bruce’s encouragement, we have started on this new quilt. This is another experience in our quilting journey.

One of our earlier quilts – Tampa Window (Q8), completed in 2009, was created with the Tampa fabric.

This Tampa fabric was commissioned by a local quilt store, Keep Me In Stitches. The fabric design was printed exclusively for Keep Me In Stitches by Hoffman International Fabrics. And we have had a fair amount of the Tampa fabric stored in our reserve.

And so this new journey has begun. Repeats of the print design have been aligned and lined up. Triangles have been cut and stacked in preparation of the creation of individual hexagons.

Stay tuned for our progress and the steps of our process as we create our new Tampa Kaleidoscope. The adventure of this new quilt will be the construction and the design as we are able to experiment and tryout newly learned techniques.

Enjoy,

Jim and Andy

My Quip – Update – Equality Quilt

2013-04-27T15:17:00.000-04:00

Good Day,

We have completed the top of our Equality quilt.

It is a relatively large top, approximately 88” (223.5 cms) square, with the added borders. The four fabrics are all Robert Kaufman Kona Solid Cottons.

Andy is cleaning threads as our Equality hangs on the deck.

We are now working on the quilting design and as well trying to determine a good offsetting fabric for the backing. Stay tuned for our progress and further updates.

Enjoy,

Jim and Andy

My Quip – Equality – Quilts and Wall Hangings in Progress

2013-04-20T14:05:00.000-04:00

Good Day,

Yes it is an overcast day in Tampa and I am at my PC updating our slate of quilts and wall hangings. Andy is watching the original Hairspray and working on the border and corners for our new Equality quilt.

The borders will be made up of 648 cut pieces. The four corners are constructed of 28 pieces. All fabric is Robert Kaufman Kona 100% Cotton solid colors.

The following are six tops of our quilts and wall hangings that we have completed –

- The Amulet
- Blumish
- Blumish II
- Joseph’s Coat
- Orange Pell Indian Summer
- Hummingbird

The following are 16 quilts and wall hangings that are at various stages of design and construction –

- Confetti Primary
- Astro-Physics
- Equality
- Joseph’s Pants
- Mauk II
- Rán
- Gunta Stölz
- Batique OM I
- Batique OM II
- Civil War Re-enactment II
- Eagle
- Just Trees
- BirthYear Bargello
- Waterfall
- Bette Davis Mosaic
- Damask Kaleidoscope

Check back with Quilts SB for our updates and progress.

Enjoy,

Jim and Andy

My Quip – A New Quilt – Equality

2013-04-19T14:04:00.002-04:00

Good Day,

Andy and I have designed and composed a new quilt, Equality.

Our Equality is in progress. It is composed of 81 9-inch squares, sewn together in nine rows. The block have been completed and the arrangement has all been sewn together. They are each composed of four Robert Kaufman Kona 100% Cotton fabrics: blue, yellow, red, and rose. Without the border and the binding, the top approximates 81” (206 cms) by 81” (206 cms). The complete Equality will be about the size of a queen-size quilt.

I have been working on the quilting pattern to compliment and accent the boldness and simplicity of the design. Andy has created unique corners and the border(s) will certainly turn this quilt into quite a show piece. You’ll have to wait to see the final design.

Our Equality quilt is a commissioned piece and we are sure that the eventual recipient will be very pleased.

If you have any questions, comments, thoughts, and ideas, please contact me.

Enjoy,

Jim and Andy

Q112 – Cosmo’s Moon – Quilt and Wall Hanging

2013-04-10T17:30:00.000-04:00

Good Day,

Andy and I have completed our 112th recorded quilt and wall-hanging – Cosmo’s Moon.

The idea for Cosmo’s Moon began last October 2012 when Andy and I were in Portland, Oregon at MQX. We heard that the theme for HMQS 2013 was to be “That’s Amoré”. We immediately thought of Dean Martin singing the song at the beginning and the end of the 1987 movie “Moonstruck”. And the scene we thought of was Raymond and Rita Cappomaggi looking out the window at Cosmo’s Moon.

And I immediately sketched our Cosmo's Moon, on my iPad, so as not to forget the idea.

I took my draft drawing to the SewBatik booth and MQX West and we were able to acquired two fabrics that we hoped would assist with our idea and construction. When we returned home I sketched a quick pattern with my ideas of the strip piecing.

The dimensions for our Cosmo’s Moon are: Width 55” (139.7 cms) and Length – 56 ½” (143.5 cms). The fabric construction is of two fabrics from SewBatik of Mayville, North Dakota. The moon and the sky are constructed from one fabric, Nuance – Silver. The silhouettes of the tree and the buildings, I believe, were recreated from the fabric Batik-Spray – Deep Wisteria.

Here are some more images of our finished Cosmo’s Moon. (Click on each image to enlarge.)

And the back. (Click on each image to enlarge.)

Work on our Cosmo’s Moon is detailed at the following posts on Quilts SB. Check out the links.

My Quip – Cosmo’s Moon – Quilting in Progress

My Quip – Cosmo’s Moon – Update and Progress

My Quip – Cosmo’s Moon – Update

My Quip – Cosmo’s Moon – And Then There Were 10 – Fitting In?

My Quip – Cosmo’s Moon – And Then There Were Four

My Quip – Cosmo’s Moon –The Strip Piecing Has Begun

Stay tuned for the further stories of Cosmo's Moon. And tonight I will watch Moonstruck and bay at the moon.

Enjoy,

Jim and Andy

My Quip - EssbeeCon Going To Denver

2013-04-02T01:52:00.000-04:00

Good Day,

Mail arrived yesterday afternoon.

EssbeeCon has been selected for display at "Above & Beyond" at the Denver National Quilt Festival VIII, May 2-5, 2013.

The Festival will be held at Denver Mart at the Expo Building at 451 East 58th Avenue in Denver.

Details of EssbeeCon can be seen at -

Q107 - EssbeeCon - Quilt

My Quip - EssbeeCon Quilt - Top Completed

My Quip - EssbeeCon Quilt Progress

My Quip - EssbeeCon - The Piles of Fabric Converted To Blocks - In Progress

My Quip - EssbeeCon - A New and Original Quilt - In Progress

And we just keep working and learning.

Enjoy,

Jim and Andy

My Quip – Cosmo's Moon – Quilting In Progress

2013-04-01T13:04:00.000-04:00

Good Day,

Not going to reveal too much of the details about our original design for our quilt and wall hanging, Cosmo's Moon… but we thought you may like to get a few choice images of what we are doing. The progress is startling and we seem to be able to use a number of the new experiences and techniques that we have learned in the short past.

Cosmo's Moon is meant to be a large wall hanging… and it incorporates traditional strip piecing with other quilting techniques. Trust us, we do like SewBatik fabric. And we still have a lot to learn.

Stay tuned for our complete and detailed write up.

Some more images -

Quilts SB news - Our quilts: Colored Windows II, Coral Steps, and MEM911, are ready to be shipped to the International Quilt Festival of Ireland. Metropolis is complete and in line for delivery to HMQS in Utah. Cosmo's Moon is in the final stages of being quilted. And our new design, Quilted Equality is now in process. Continue to check out our status and updates at Quilts SB.

Enjoy,

Jim and Andy

My Quip – The Hummingbird – A New Piecing Technique

2013-03-30T16:55:00.000-04:00

Good Day,

Yesterday Andy was privileged to take a class with Sharon Schamber. The class was Piec-liqué Curved Piecing. The result has introduced us to curved piecing. This is a new step in our education in the world of quilting. This is our completed top, the Hummingbird.

The dimensions of our Hummingbird are: Width – 21 ½” (54.6 cms) and Length – 28” (71.1 cms). This is a sampler piece. This top, including class time, was completed in approximately 13 hours.

Thanks to this new technique we have now a new tool that will open up a number of new possibilities in our new and future designs.

If you have any question and comment please feel to contact us.

Enjoy,

Jim and Andy

My Quip - Ladies on The Boardwalk

2013-03-28T14:31:00.000-04:00

Good Day,

I am searching for the name of the artist who's work I used, almost 40 years ago, and was inspired to create this cut-work.

Please feel free to get in touch with me if you can help with my recollection and search. Certainly would appreciate any help to jog my memory.

Enjoy,

Jim

My Quip – Cosmo's Moon – Update and Progress

2013-03-17T18:52:00.000-04:00

Good Day,

And on this St. Patrick’s Day evening, we have committed to the top of our original Cosmo's Moon. We are now amazed at seeing the translation from our initial draft to an accomplished fabric construction. It really is what we had hoped it would be.

One thing to remember, when you examine our image of Cosmo's Moon, we picked the time frame of 1987. And I can see me walking The Pack in the wee hours of the morning and just howling at the full moon as it crests over the neighbors’ roof tops. (Yes, they are coming to take me away.)

The current approximate dimensions of Cosmo's Moon are about 60” (152.4 cms) square. All fabric of the top was obtained through SewBatik in Mayville, North Dakota.

Here are some more images to give you a hint of our work.

We are now working on the quilting design… and I can say that this will be a new challenge for us. Check out the following past posts in Quilts SB to read about our journey with Cosmo's Moon.

Cosmo's Moon is intended as a wall-hanging.

Please feel free to contact us if you have any comment or question.

Enjoy,

Jim and Andy.

Q111 – Metropolis – Quilt Wall Hanging

2013-03-16T20:36:00.000-04:00

Good Day,

Our newest quilt and wall hanging Metropolis has been completed.

The dimensions of Metropolis are 41” (104.1 cms) by 41” (104.1 cms). The construction is based on the Phi formula, the Golden Ratio. Two other sources of inspiration are Fritz Lang’s 1927 masterpiece film Metropolis and Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged.

Our Metropolis is meant to be hung on the wall viewed at any direction.

Our construction is an op-art wall hanging to present complementary colors of SewBatik fabrics. All fabric, top, back and binding are batik fabrics available through SewBatik. The orange thread used for all our quilting is a YLI product.

Here are additional images.

Additional postings on Quilts SB regarding Metropolis are:

My Quip – Metropolis – A New Quilted Wall Hanging

My Quip - Metropolis – Progress and Update

Please feel free to comment. Also please feel free to contact us if you have any question.

Enjoy,

Jim and Andy

My Quip – Metropolis – Progress and Update

2013-03-12T19:35:00.000-04:00

Good Day,

Andy and I are definitely learning, as we review our older quilts as compared to our newer ones. It has been an amazing journey thus far… but we’ve got one hell of a way to go. The list of new quilts in progress is 17.

Our Metropolis is definitely a work-in-progress. It is a small piece, all-things-being-equal a wall hanging. We have some pretty specific requirements as to our design and our construction. Apart from the mathematical components of design and project it is proving to be an interesting exercise.

Quilting of Metropolis is being done on a domestic machine. Andy found a roll of my artist tape and has been using it as a guidelines. Thanks to OH for the idea. The idea of having the tape provides a near clear boundary of sewing the designed quilting. Like I said we're still learning.

I'll have some more updates of our progress on Metropolis. And don't forget to check back for our status on Cosmos' Moon.

Enjoy,

Jim and Andy.

My Quip - Metropolis - A New Quilted Wall Hanging

2013-03-08T12:29:00.001-05:00

Good Day,

The top of Metropolis completed. This is a wall hanging. The final dimensions will be approximately 42" (106.7 cms) by 42" (106.7 cms).

The construction is all based on Phi, the 21st letter of the Greek alphabet. The Phi formula or the Golden Ratio...

In English, our construction of our Metropolis is A is to B as B is to C, where A is 161.8% of B and B is 161.8% of C, and B is 61.8% of A and C is 61.8% of B.

Check back soon to discover the reasons and our formula for the structure, the colors and their compliments. Once completed, we will reveal our thoughts for naming Metropolis.

Now comes the quilting part.

Enjoy,

Jim and Andy

My Quip - Cosmo's Moon - Update

2013-03-07T17:31:00.000-05:00

Good Day,

The top of our Cosmo's Moon is just about finished. And I'm not going to reveal a complete image until Andy and I have finished. The following image is of 16 of the 30 strips.

Cosmo's Moon is created from two fabrics by SewBatik. There is a story to the reasons and why, but I will reveal that later when we do complete the whole project.

Cosmo's Moon will approximate 60" (152.4 cms) by 60" (152.4 cms) and is more-than-not meant to be a large wall hanging. We are now working on the quilting and examining thread to both complement and highlight the elements of the design.

Thank you for all the thoughts and comments expressed regarding our effort... I really did appreciate "Looks like the moon is made out of the abalone/mother-of-pearl shells."

Stay tuned for our progress and updates.

Enjoy,

Jim and Andy

My Quip – Test 40 – Finalist – Headed For NEQF, Manchester, New Hampshire

2013-03-01T14:15:00.000-05:00

Good Day,

We just received the news that our quilt, Test 40 has been accepted as a finalist at the New England Quilt Festival in Manchester, New Hampshire. NEQF will be held April 10 – 13 at The Center of New Hampshire / Radisson Hotel.

Links to all our design and construction process and steps regarding Test 40 are available at Q110 – Test 40 – Quilt. Be sure to check them out.

And yes we are still busy. Continue to check back to read and see our progress.

Enjoy,

Jim and Andy

My Quip – Cosmo's Moon – And Then There Were 10 – Fitting In?

2013-02-26T13:08:00.000-05:00

Good Day,

The strip piecing of Cosmo’s Moon continues. Ten strips have been fixed and sewn together. We are attempting to combine a number of elements of our quilting journey, past and present.

The design is sort of becoming evident… ya think? The above image is a whole image and it is moving along in a way that Andy and I are hoping that it should. The completed top will be a composition of 30 strips… All fabric has been acquired through SewBatik.

And I have just a few thoughts. We’re trying to understand where, with our quilts and wall hangings, we actually fit in. Traditional, modern, classic, free-form, art, structured, programmed… there just seems to be so many categories and subsets and we are wondering if it is important to actually fit in. Andy and I, in our short sojourn into the unfathomable scale of the quilting world, at times, feel somewhat overwhelmed.

We have experimented, and continue to do so, with different types of quilts and wall hangings and realize that there is still a very long way for us to travel, with fabric, needle, and thread. There is still so much to learn, so many quilting and sewing skills that we can glean from so many experts and fabric artists. But is it necessary that we fit in? Do we have to, purposely, stick to one style? Does that mean, that if we do not pick an exclusive style, that we will then, innately, become just mediocre?

Maybe these are just growing pains? Do we have to, as at time has been indicated, make up our minds? Any thoughts?

Enjoy,

Jim and Andy

My Quip – Cosmo’s Moon – And Then There Were Four

2013-02-22T14:19:00.000-05:00

Good Day,

The work continues on Cosmo’s Moon.

Four strips have been completed, 26+ more to go. All-thing-being-equal Cosmo's Moon should approximate a 60-inch square.

We have completed the design of a new small quilt – Phidias (aka Andy) Shrugged. This one should be interesting as the component parts are all based on 0.618.

Congratulations to Cathy Wiggins and your Best of Show – Carousel Stampede at the Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival, Hampton, Virginia.

Stay tuned for updates and our progress.

Enjoy,

Jim and Andy