Tumbling Blues by Jen M

Here's my entry for the off season April Fool's challenge.

I call this quilt Tumbling Blues.    It is a triaxially woven quilt that finishes at 50 x 65 inches.   I felt it fit the challenge, because all of the strips needed to be completely finished so it would be a stand alone quilt.  The thought of doing all that prep work made me put it off for a solid week.   Then, I decided I just needed to do it or not, so I DID. 

I started by creating the set to create the kaleidoscope style weave.   I started with 40 fabrics and culled it down to 22.   I chose Kona Cotton Solids and Fossil Ferns all in shades of blues and white.    

First I cut these into 2.5 inch strips which went quickly on the accuquilt.  Then stitched the strips together to form long strips.   These were pressed in 1/4 inch on each side, then pressed in half and finally stitched closed so they could be woven.   I went through 16 bobbins stitching the strips!!

I wound the strips around bolts to keep them in order. I had over 40 hours amassed in doing this before I could even start the weaving.  

I modified a sheet of insulation foam to make the board for weaving.   Following the Wefty weaving instructions, I first put down the verticals and then started with the second layer at 30 degrees.    The final layer finished the quilt. 

I took it to the long arm and did a meander in a middle blue color to keep it together when washed.  Finally I bound the quilt.   I am amazed how heavy it is.

I create in Madison, WI.

Thanks!

--Jen

The Electric Needle

‘Snow Buddies’ by LIsa F

I call it Snow Buddies. I enjoyed the process of this quilt more than any of the others because both of my kids had their hands in the creative mix.

My 12 year old son designed the quilt on a piece of scratch paper at a restaurant and then selected all of the fabric. He carefully chose just the right owl from a piece of fabric to include. He originally wanted a snowman army like in 'Calvin and Hobbes.'  He was willing to compromise with one snowman having a snowball fight with friends.

My 8 year old daughter helped to do some of the quilting. It started with her on my lap as I quilted, but eventually she convinced me to walk away and let her work. She was also my critical designer eye when telling me just where to put the snow on the tree branches and determining how to make the scarf.

The snowman, snow angel, and snowy owl are having fun in this snowball inspired quilt just like I had fun with my kids while making the quilt.

by LIsa Foslien

“Challenge in Review–Done in Ice Blue” by Sandy H

This is  my "Challenge in Review - Done in Ice Blue" .  Combining all the blocks that have been a part of the Focus Through the Prism Challenge in one 20" quilt. 

This has been so much fun -- looking forward to the new challenge each month. Going to miss checking out what the new block will be on the first of the month.    Thank you. 

Sandy Huovinen,

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“The Monkey’s Off My Back But The Circus Is Still In Town” by Nancy L

"The Monkey's Off My Back But The Circus Is still In Town!"
By Nancy LaPorte

I left my least favorite color for last. I just couldn't figure out how to work it into my self-imposed Halloween "sub-challenge". When Kim picked the snowball, I knew I had it covered!

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‘Joy’ by Debbie Silva

I call it Joy.  The snowballs with pineapple centers made perfect ornaments. Blue is obviously my color.

Thanks so much for hosting the challenge. It's been great fun

by Debbie Silva

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Snowball by Zeeda M

No one appreciates snow more than snow people.
I tried to incorporate the snow ball theme with the quilting of snow ball shapes.

This was a fun challenge, however, there is a bit of relief knowing this was the last deadline.

by Zeeda Magnuson

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Nine Patch by Charlene Waggoner

It is done! Thanks for the encouragement! I'll post better pictures and the adventure in the morning. Yes, travel, mystery, a bit of blood... an adventure.

‘Morning Rain on Stained Glass’ by Sharon S

This is called Morning Rain on Stained Glass by Sharon Scott. 

I draw inspiration from the beautiful colors of stained glass in church windows.

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‘Stop and Taste the Flowers’ by Cheryl S

Here is my October challenge piece. I titled it "Stop and Taste the Flowers."

I focused on the aqua blue color from my Cherrywood fabric package. It was a challenge to incorporate the 9 patches into my piece, but decided to make flowers with them against the abstract floral background. Cheryl Snellgrove

‘Autumn’s Desert Wind Song’ by Liz Mandelkow

Autumn’s Desert Wind Song

by Liz Mandelkow

The winds of fall are in the air.

This was the month of the Harvest moon or Super Moon and eclipse.

The shadows are long and warm in color.

The birds are flying south.

The coyote sings his lonely call of winter to come and lean times in the desert.

This is the inspiration behind my quilt.

‘Memories from Chartre’ by Leana M

Memories from Chartre. By Leana McCutcheon, Roxbury, NJ

The last time I walked the Chartre Labyrinth with my dear friend Carol, we had an extraordinary experience.  It was near the end of our month in Paris and our friend Joanna had joined us.  We took the train to Chartre for the day.  After we each had walked the labyrinth, we were photographing each other on it.  Using our digital cameras, we noticed orbs of light appear in the photos.  They were not visible in real-life.  The number, size and location of the orbs changed as we communicated with our inner spirits.  It was really difficult to walk away from the experience to board the train to return to Paris.

For this quilt I added the design of the Chartre Labyrinth, sprinkled it with stardust, and added a few orbs!  Carol's favorite color was blue.  It is the color of the fifth circuit of the classic seven-circuit labyrinth and is associated with the Throat Chakra.

 

‘Wait for me....migrating geese!’ by Linda K

Wait for me....migrating geese!

by Linda Kowalski

‘Prayers Ascending on the Wings of ( Mourning ) Doves’ by Anna Montgomery

‘Prayers Ascending on the Wings of ( Mourning ) Doves’ by Anna Montgomery

why are white doves the symbols of peace and Spirit in western Christianity? why not brown doves?

Mourning doves. . . carrying prayers of lament by and for oppressed communities.

Lord, in your mercy. ..

by Anna Montgomery

 

‘Which way Home’ by Vicki Anda

"Which way home?" The October challenge, by Vicki Anda

Winter is Coming … Fly South by Karen Golden

I'm calling this Winter is Coming....Fly South!

by Karen Golden

The geese are messy but they have a beauty about them.  I enjoy their coming and going with the seasons.  

‘Which way Home’ by Vicky Anda

"Which way home"

Machine pieced and quilted hand bound.  I used Eleanor Burns flying geese templates and graph paper.
Vicky

 

‘Disappearing Pinwheel’ by Susan Kerr

My project is called disappearing pinwheel. I was struggling to make my ideas work with no luck then I was inspired after seeing a tutorial on making the block. I made the biggest block I could with the pieces of blue that I hadn't already chopped up then made four small blocks showing the steps to make the disappearing pinwheel and put them on the side.

I used some crazy fabric that I had used for a project for my granddaughter and the pinwheels disappeared on their own but not in a good way. After talking with my forever friend I decided to go ahead with some of her suggestions and quilt it. It started to behave finally. It's a little puffy due to the fat batting but it actually it has sort of a retro 70's look.

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Re-Piecing the Past: Civil War Blocks Then & Now - $29.99
from: Craftsy

‘Windmills of my Mind’ by Evelyn Larrison

When I saw the block was to be pinwheels, the song "Windmills of my Mind" became the only possible quilt to do. If you don,t know the song there are several versions on YouTube.

by Evelyn Larrison

‘Pinwheel Farm’ by Linda Syverson Guild

“Pinwheel Farm” by Linda Syverson Guild

This month’s challenge took my mind to the windmills that are scattered across the plains.  I wondered what-if, the posts rising from the ground below the edge of the quilt supported a field of pinwheels.

I set to work sketching possible layouts and settled on one that worked off of a 20 by 20 grid.  The sketch was so fun that I transferred the idea to a 20” square grid. 

Dimension was created by make the smaller pinwheels appear to be in the distance seemly emerging from the 4 background pinwheels that comprise the sky.  As they move closer to the foreground, the pinwheels get larger and darker. 

Finally, they were all edge stitched to suggest that the pinwheels are being pushed by the wind.

‘Pinwheels in the Sand’ by Susan Reeder

My friend in Pennsylvania got me interested in this challenge; since I moved to NC, this is a way for us to continue to quilt together. She chose the color this month for pinwheels. 

Since I live at the beach, I decided to put my pinwheels in the sand; I added a little ocean and even quilted ghost crabs into the sand. 

Since pinwheels are such an old toy, I decided to wash my quilt prior to entry to give it a more vintage look, and I also rounded the corners.

Focus Through the Prism Pinwheel Challenge