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A look through my quilt galleries will reveal that I have a fondness for bright colors. Occasionally I work in subtle colors, but then I usually feel muffled as I create. My brain keeps telling my feelings to dial it down. Why do I try? Because I view such restraint as part of artistic training. Sometimes bright colors are set off by subtle ones, and I need reminders that subtlety is possible.

However, my latest silk piece makes no pretense of subtlety. My fabrics collection has many pieces of bright, even vivid, silks; so if I want to use what ...

When I was clearing out files on an old computer I came across a folder of photos from an art quilt group presentation on different ways to finish and display quilts. My friend C applied her creativity and her extensive collection of sewing and craft notions to several small quilts she made. I was delighted to come across the photos as my latest silk quilt will need a nonstandard edge finish, and I am looking for ideas.

Here are just some of the many possibilities presented.

June was a productive month. I finished two stitches, Floral Butterfly and the star ornament. The ornament wasn’t on my June list.

I started The Short List many years ago to create goals to work toward and a way to focus. I change things up as my goals and interests change.

Project 1 (stitching): Words of Joy Tree, pattern by Ursula Michael. I’m stitching this on red 14 count aida with DMC white, all from stash.

Project 2 (UFO): The membership quilt. The two sections are complete and ready to quilt.

Project 3 (original): The challenge due in ...

I’ve returned to regularly scheduled programming, which means I’m back to my drawer of silk fabrics. Over the years I’ve bought all sorts of silk, augmented with 1960s/70s era dresses discarded by a theater’s costume shop and men’s ties. Because the silks range from tissue thin to heavy, I’ve fused backing onto many of them so they are easier to use.

So far this year I created my fantasy village from silks.

A few years ago I developed pieces made of silk ovals sewn together, then layered with wire and cording. Most of ...

If you are a regular reader, you know that my art quilt group (Art2Quilt) has an ongoing challenge where the members make quilts inspired by the quilt of another member. We finished round one in May, and round two is due near the end of July.

I won’t show the inspiration quilt because it doesn’t belong to me and I don’t have permission, but I will show what inspired my design.

This is the background fabric in a portrait quilt. It reminds me of the 1960s.

This round will involve paint and creating motifs with Pellon 830 ...

No change in the numbers.

We went to Quilt National in Athens, Ohio this weekend to see the exhibit. There are always new and different techniques in the quilts on display. It’s interesting to see what people come up with.

We stopped at a quilt shop in Nelsonville, Ohio, but nothing screamed that it needed to come home with me. My drawers runneth over, so if it isn’t screaming at me I’m not buying.

On the home front, I meant to put a close up of Shikishi in last week’s post and forgot. Here it is ...

This June I attended Lt. Col. Doug Rosenstock’s retirement ceremony. Doug is married to my lovely & talented younger cousin Erin, and I have had the pleasure of knowing him since he was a mid-shipman at the US Naval Academy. During the early years of their relationship, Erin would bring Doug out to our home in the country to visit with our young family. These are precious memories for us all

While he was at the Academy, Doug told my husband Terry that he planned to fly jets for the Navy after graduation. Terry, being a Marine veteran, suggested Doug ...

This week I have some usage because I finished Shikishi. The quilt measures about 23 x 24.

The design came from a sketch I did probably 15 years ago that has hung on my inspiration board ever since. No good reason exists for waiting so long to create it.

I painted the cheesecloth for the background squares. The leaves are reversible and positionable. I used two layers of fabric right side out with wire and fleece between them. They are sewn around the edges to hold everything together. The leaves are tacked to the quilt only near the stem to ...

No change in the numbers.

I finished quilting Shikishi, cut the facing and sleeve, and trimmed it.

The stems are stitched, but I won’t add the leaves until the facing and sleeve are attached. The leaves are dimensional, which would make everything harder than it needs to be once they are added.

I expect to count the fabric for this quilt out next report.

Fabric In: 19.375 yards

Fabric out: 4.25 yards

Net Fabric In: 15.125 yards

How did you do this week?

While we art quilters, or at least this one, would like to think all our work springs fresh from our creative minds, sometimes already made sources give us a head start. Like cheater cloth, fabric that mimics the look of patchwork but only needs quilting, I have used a tea towel and motifs from a bedsheet to do the heavy lifting for two of my current projects.

Because I follow Clare Youngs, a talented collagist and print maker, on Instagram, I learned she had designed a tea towel for Werkshoppe, a company that prints original artwork on products like puzzles ...

While it seems like I’ve been quilting my sunset quilt for years, I realize it’s been only a few months in real time. Last week I finally saw the light at the end, and now I am out of the tunnel. As I wrote earlier, I have contacted the photographer whose photo I based my quilt on, but have never received a response. While I feel I can’t submit my quilt to a show or sell it, I see no reason not to show it here.

My goal for May was to finish the “pass one” challenge quilt.

Another member of the group (Art 2 Quilt) made a quilt (of a peacock), and I had to make a quilt inspired by her quilt. This fabric was the peacock’s body (my inspiration).

And this is my quilt.

I bought some darning net at the thrift and wove fabric strips and yarn through it. I cut it into piece to make the diamond shapes. The woven cloth is sewn onto the background fabric along the edge of the weaving.

I learned a lot making this quilt. I ...

It’s been a long time since I reviewed a fiber art book here, partly because I haven’t found ones I thought were interesting enough and partly because there seem to be fewer craft books published these days. Thanks to my library I came upon Lesley Riley’s latest book, “Photo Memory Quilts,” which I really could have used a year ago when I was making my unknown family quilts.

The book combines discussion of why you would want to make a memory quilt, ways to get ideas for one, and nuts and bolts of constructing one. It has ...

A flash of inspiration birthed this quilt.  It celebrates the wedding of two of my daughter's super super good friends.  

They married last fall with a destination wedding in Italy, a gorgeous setting.  This quilt is my rendition of a photo taken on The Day.  

Then I started choosing the fabrics.  The right ones just flew into my hands.  I made only one edit!

That's a pretty good omen, don't you think?

Construction details ...

Happy Mother’s Day! I hope you take time to do something for yourself that you enjoy.

I finished the challenge piece, which I named Peacock River, for far too little fabric out. Next I’m focusing on Shikishi and the SAL.

I’m not ready to reveal the quilt until I show it at art quilt group, but I do want to share the facing.

I use this tutorial for facing quilts. I’ve tried several, but this is my favorite because it’s easy and results in the least bulk in the corners.

Fabric In: 18.5 yards ...

May snuck up on me. I got up one morning and there it was, not nearly as warm as it ought to be.

I didn’t finish anything in April. As it sometimes happens, the finishes will come all at once. Good thing there are projects in the wings to prevent the mad scramble for new projects.

I started The Short List many years ago to create goals to work toward and a way to focus. I change things up as my goals and interests change.

Project 1 (stitching): The Tiny Modernist Holiday 2022 SAL. If I don’t finish ...

No fabric in or out this week.

I finished the challenge quilt top, but decided not to post it until the reveal at art quilt group (Art2Quilt). I want the finished project to be a surprise.

Maybe I can post just a little sneak peak.

I’m also working on the Tiny Modernist SAL. I can see the end on the horizon. I’ve been stitching on that 3 month SAL now for over 7 months. I’m ready to finish it and move on to something smaller. Much smaller.

Fabric In: 18.5 yards

Fabric out: 3.55 yards ...

Recently I did a stint at the Summit County Historical Society’s booth at the Original Sewing and Quilt Expo in Akron, Ohio. Much of my time was spent explaining features of the Society’s antique and vintage quilts on display, but I carved out 10 minutes to race around the expo exhibits. I photographed only one quilt – Ben Hollingsworth’s “M. Matisse Chambres a Louer.”

Ben explains its origin story and years-long making process here. When I first laid eyes on it I didn’t know all that. All I knew was this quilt ticked several boxes for me ...

No fabric in this week. Some fabric out to Deanna at Wedding Dress Blue for a project she does with the schools.

I finished weaving the fabric yesterday. I decided to wait to add the trims until after I cut it into smaller pieces. I had visions of the trims falling out or shifting all over.

I’m excited to get the top together. You never know whether or not these things will come out the way you envisioned it. Sometimes they are just different. Other times the Quilting Gods smile on you and it comes out better.

Fabric In ...

In between work on the 100 day project and my Textural Styles class I wrapped up my fantasy village quilt. I had been quilting it in little bits for a few months, and decided it was quilted enough or maybe I was simply tired of working on it.

I used a pillowcase finish and spent lots of time steam pressing the thick edges. As the front is silk, I had to be careful about the iron’s temperature. It’s always an adventure to find the spot where the steam works ...