Stitch Adventures

Who's ever heard of a ruling pen? You've got to get one!

In the final weeks of fabric design class we learned some new techniques. First, how to use a ruling pen – a wonderful instrument used by people who do non-computerized drafting.

If you like to paint, then you should find one of these pens – you can mix up your own colors, and with a brush, you fill the adjustable tip with several drops of paint.

I had a hard time finding one, (I found it at an art store with drafting supplies)  Here's what they look like:

You can use the adjustment screw to draw different thicknesses of lines. Very straight lines! It was fun to play with – here’s my line pattern using the pen.

I drew various thicknesses of lines, then filled in the spaces with color using a brush.  Fun!

I know there are computer programs out there that will draw lines - but I can see the use of this when painting fabric freehand, or painting crafts.  It really is easy to use once you get used to it.  It's also very easy to clean - just rinse in water.  Sure you can buy fabric pens, but with this, you can make your own paint colors - not just use a generic color.

How to do a fabric design with a repeating pattern

Because of a sudden trip up north to take care of my dad, I missed my fabric design class and got behind. But my best designs were to come. And it was fun to spend a full week of painting and designing patterns when I got back.

First, we were to design a half-drop pattern. A half-drop for this fabric design class was a 4 inch x 6 inch design that repeats vertically every 6 inches. But horizontally, the 2nd column starts repeating half way down the 1st column design. So, the design in each 2 inch square isn't parallel horizontally.

Here’s a picture of my drawing, because it’s hard to explain to visual learners.

Then, we picked out three colors, with the fourth color being our paper (background). I transferred my design using graphite paper, then painted the flower design.

I decided to add movement (lesson learned again) by scattering little flower petals all over. Random is hard to do – but it sure fills in the unintentional empty spaces.

I am so pleased with the results!

Dodgers Game Quilt

Dodgers Game Quilt

I'm sitting high in the stands at Dodger Stadium, enjoying just being around my oldest daughter and her in-laws, even though it's over 100 degrees. I'm definitely not a sports fan, especially not in record breaking heat. But, 43,795 people think this is fun, and paid for it, so there must be a reason. So many people – all wearing different colors, lots of blues. Tiny people, multi colors, voila, a live postage stamp quilt!

 

A few days later ago I showed my daughter two Keepsake Fabrics sample boxes, filled with several hundred 1-1/2” cotton prints that I received as a “member” of their club. Only in her twenties, my daughter is the expert quilter in our family, and has always wanted to make a postage stamp quilt. Well, she forgot to take the samples, so after the Dodgers game and my visualization, I started fooling with them.

First I did some research on postage stamp quilts – some using 2 inch squares, one woman made one using 2,935 1 inch squares and then hand pieced and quilted it (crazy!). Use of a flannel board for placement. Put all your squares into a paper bag and pull out random squares of fabric and place in rows.

Didn’t find that yet, but started playing with the colors that came in the boxes. I spent hours! First, I did the random thing. I made a few changes as I went along – to make sure I had red, yellow and turquoise squares randomly scattered throughout the piece (one website advised to do this to make the other colors “Pop”). But the random colors just don’t look like something I want to make and hang on my wall.

 

Then I wondered what the pattern would look like if I grouped them by color – light to dark, maybe with strips of solid color in between to separate the strips.

Then it came to me – make this the Dodgers game quilt. Random people in different sections – with strips of blue in between (like where the graphics and advertisements were displayed). Now I like it!

So time to figure out how to sew these little squares together.

A Trip to the Museum and Fabric Mart

A trip to the art museum and Fabric Mart in Los Angeles is always a great way to spend a day.  Both fabric design classes met at the Museum of Art in downtown Los Angeles. This is a place I’ve been to many times – changing exhibits (like Georgia O’Keefe, Picasso) and many permanent art exhibits that are quite familiar.

But this time, we are lead to a room of Indonesian textiles that are five centuries old. The designs are spectacular, swirling, colorful, and fascinating. We are told not to take pictures, and when I asked my instructor if it was okay to draw a copy of the designs we were seeing, she said that was fine. Here’s one design, so you can see what they look like.

The teacher told me it was quite common for textile artists to copy centuries old designs, because they are copyright free. The light bulb really went on then – if I couldn’t come up with something totally new, I could at least be inspired by what I could see in other, ancient designs. Architecture, antiques, old tiles.

In fact, there is a movement right now in the quilting world by women taking pictures of floor tiles in Europe and Asia, and then coming home to translate those tiles into beautiful quilts.

After the museum, I was off to the  Los Angeles Fabric Mart.   If you ever come to Southern California, this is a must do. Parking is always a challenge, but once you’re walking the streets, you’ve come to a wonderland of sewing excitement.

First time I went to the Fabric Mart, I was overwhelmed by the many streets and number of stores – all packed with fabric remnants, zippers, thread, elastics – everything discounted because it’s leftovers from the clothing manufacturers in the area. Now doesn’t that sound like a trip worth taking?

I’ve been there many times, and now know it’s better to have a specific project in mind, so you aren't tempted by so many choices. You probably won’t find anything other than polyesters, or blends. This is not nirvana for quilt makers looking for cotton, or for home sewers looking for linen, bamboo, soy, or hemp.

On this trip, I luckily found some silk prints – silk jersey and silk knits that are worth the price. Imagine this print in a flowing dress, blouse or robe.

I have this for sale in my online fabric store.