what if

what if and away

this blog is temporarily inactive. most of the action will be  going on over at spirit cloth for a while under the 'what if' category. i am working on combining the blogs but i haven't figured out how yet. so what if i experiment over there for the time being?
this is a sketch of something i might ask questions about later.

what if #151: applique outside the lines

 ...i often sketch my appliques directly on fabric and then needle turn to hide the lines. today i wondered what if i don't worry so much about the lines? maybe if they show here and there i would get a nice sketchy effect. this ghostly beast was drawn freehand on an old stained linen with micron archival pen. permanent. sewn down needle turned style, quickly (with out worry).  there is an embroidered border on the old linen randomly running through the figure. stitched to a dobby woven cotton background with additional embroidered details in very pale colors ...again over drawn lines. i love this so much i am leaving here now to do some more.

area shown here is 4" x 5".

what if # 150: crazy cat block

what if the crazy is only part of the block? foundation crazy mini block (3" square) free pieced into larger block (9" square), applique face and ears, embroidered details. cotton cat on linen ground. braided tail attached separately. couldn't you see a whole quilt of these?

clare has done a nice variation over here.

what if #149: shadow layers

...so it was really sheer fabric and right after i asked what if(?) i draw some more dots over the flocked dots i thought what if(?) i put another patterned fabric beneath the sheer before making it into a quilt block.

nothing new i guess, but i like the look of the stripes through the dots it and it gave the lightweight fabric more body to work with. 

what if # 148: to match or not to match

what if i don't match the thread to the fabric when it comes to seams?
.....and what if  i do match the thread to the fabric for the basting and take the tiniest stitches so it doesn't show an i can leave it in? a tiny nine patch 1 1/34" over all. rust dyed linen with very dark brown seam thread. i would like to try a whole quilt like this. basting  stabilizes and flattens seams, can be quilted right over. leave it there.
nice antiqued look. nice way to emphasize the patchwork design using only one color.

rethinking this.

discussion posted at spirit cloth

what if #147: ikat quilting

somewhere along the line after feeling a relationship between the visual effect of the double kantha and ikat , i thought what if ? i expand on that idea and mimic ikat patterns with that stitch.  by extending outside the shape. and then i did the same by combining it with patchwork. so the feathered stitch has more of a solid center. the patchwork here has been skatched, that it patched (applique) over a free hand sketch. linen and cotton patching over indigo dyed linen base. dmc floss for quilting.

what if #146: ninepatch with spectrum dot

 what if i use greens as a base?  and the dot could be stitched as a rainbow, a full spectrum of light. green, light, growth. i let the eyelet cut the edge of the green section. i like the interruption, the breaking through. i quilted after i asked what if ? i focus on both centers. the nine patch and the circle. some kind of quilt math has generated a mandala. some shifting chart.
cotton
1 1/34" squares
hand pieced
2 strands dmc floss, split stitch

what if # 145: double kantha dot

....as a continuation of the one color nine patch, all indigo in different weights and textures after asking what if its all the same color in concept but using different fabrics. and then what if i quilt the dot only. a freezer paper stencil was used as a guide to trace the circle shape border.. kantha style running stitch in both directions filled the circle. border removed for a softer edge, yes what if there was no hard edge? .
.... i like how the 2 directional stitching looks like ikat after the border was removed, how it has a woven feel. and the texture is more than marvelous. and the stitching is a reversible technique (looks the same on the back)
cotton and linen 1 1/34" indigo squares- hand pieced
2 strands dmc floss for stitching.
linen twill base

what if #144: one color nine patch

.....yes. more on the nine patch. because i simply asked myself ( even if it sounds silly...) what if all nine patches were the same color? ...is is still a nine patch? right after that i started asking a lot more questions. so there will be more of these. paula is doing some great 9 patch what-iffing. she did this which has me thinking that the nine patch is a frame. it has a center and that is one of the things that is  so pleasing about it. and now she is continuing (scroll down a bit). i am enjoying her thought patterns. i have made a nine patch category. lots to do here.

.....so i immedaiately moved on to asking what if (?) i create the alternating element in the nine patch with texture. quilting. alternating stitched and not stitched. i have purposely quilted this to a dark background because thise shadowy boxes have caught my fancy. the cotton muslin squares are 1.75".

what if #143: combining 2 things

....my question is what if(?) i combine two types of textiles. one over the other. in concept.
antique linen embroidery over old cotton hand pieced patchwork, using a double exposure computer graphics tool. just to get the idea. to be executed real time soon. isn't this cool? it make me ask what if the quilting pattern or embroidery has no planned placement over the patchwork? that could work.