I LOVE woodblock prints, etchings, lino-prints…. I love and am always inspired by Dijanne Cevaal’s work, which you can see on her blog, here (and then follow the links there to more eye-candy).  Well, last year when I was beyond over-busy, I learned she was teaching an online lino-cutting class.  I promptly wrote and asked her to let me know when the next one began.  She did, and on Monday we received our first lesson.  Here are my first rudimentary attempts…

I have cut easier-to-cut surfaces than linoleum, such as MasterCarve (the Rolls Royce of rubbery media) and Speedy-Cut.  But I knew I could learn from Dijanne, and just reading the first lesson was a wonderful tour of antique textiles, textile printing history (did you know that Fauve artist Raoul Dufy also designed couture textiles?  I hadn’t!), and lots of useful tips.

I also learned while working on the first exercise that my Speedball lino-cutting tools are VERY SHARP, and how deep is too deep to cut safely (thereby causing the blade to skitter out of control into my left index finger…OUCH!).  Yes, Dijanne warned us, but I –as usual– appear to have had to learn the hard way that THAT was TOO deep!

The picture at the top is four efforts at printing on cloth.  I used one of three different types of linoleum (wanting to try out each one before buying a bunch) I ordered from Dick Blick, a major discount art supply house here in the US.  I actually don’t much like the one I used here… it is like sawdust plasticized.  I hope I like the other, but harder to carve (?) lino better… the other yellowish one certainly feels smoother, and the quite hard gray even better.  Anyway, here I decided to be uncharacteristically methodical, and tried all 8 of my blades (I have two different carving tools, and luckily each one came with a slightly different assortment of blades, giving me four “V” and four “U” shapes/sizes).

I did a test-print (I used Jacquard textile paint in blue on a piece of aqua hand-dyed) on paper first.  Clearly, I need to refine how much paint I get on the lino-cut and how well.  My sponge roller is in need of a new sponge, since the last time I used it it accidentally dried with paint in it.  Ooops.

I’ve got two more exercises to do for this lesson, and I’m really looking forward to the next two lessons!  However, I’ll wait for my sliced finger to heal and also work on a MAJOR project that is due and needs massive amounts of work NOW… back in a bit with more lino-cutting!

that I began my quilty life as a traditional (well, sort of) quilter.  My very first quilt…the one I began first…was a Mariner’s Compass (!!!!).  However, it was too hot in Central Africa, even sitting by the air conditioner, to sit under the quilt for more than 30 minutes so I gave up trying to quilt it by hand until we got back to the Washington, DC, area.   Pretty soon I started playing with colors, quilting designs and themes, though.  Maybe ten years later, I fell in love with Judy Robertson’s hand-dyed fabrics; I spent a small fortune buying two multi-light yards and two multi-colored dark yards and made this quilt, From Sea to Shining Sea:

The colors reminded me of the words from America, the Beautiful, so they song is machine quilted into the quilt, with an American eagle (from the US quarter dollar coin) and a sorta-traditional vine.  I tried…but just couldn’t get a truly traditional feathered vine to look  right on this quilt!  Detail:

That purchase of hand-dyeds started me on learning how to hand-dye myself.  Then I started selling my hand-dyeds.  I wanted to show folks that they could combine hand-dyeds and lookalikes with print fabrics and make fun, contemporary quilts based on traditional blocks.  This quilt is, I think, North Winds, and came from the Quilts from the Quiltmaker’s Gift book (link here) or More Quilts from the Quiltmaker’s Gift (link here…forget which one).   They are both lovely books, with great illustrations to show how the quilts will look in different colorways.

Anyway, this quilt has an official title, but to me it is the Anti-January quilt.  I lived in the Pacific Northwest of the US at the time, where it is gray and dreary from late November until at least February.  I found myself yearning for bright cheery fabrics every January, and made this one at that time of year.  I set the colors to look like the blazing sun surrounded by the green islands and tropical blue waters…..:

and a detail…quilted with tropical seas, palm trees with coconuts, waving beach grass, tropical fish, seagulls……..

Then as a quickie quilt to help sell MY hand-dyed fabric (which I no longer do really), I grabbed some purple (four fat quarters I think) and a very girlie yellow-purple print on my shelf and made this quilt using the Road to Oklahoma block:

Since it is hard to find the block, I did up this photo.  There are nine blocks of 12 inches each in the center of the quilt, which is about 42 x 42 inches (about a metre square).

Hope you enjoyed this trip into medium-ancient quilt history!

As you might have guessed by the lapse in posts, I was busy/away.  Last weekend was fun… on Thursday evening I gave my Decorated Quilt lecture for the Merrimack Quilt Guild of Plaistow, NH (about a stone’s throw from the Mass. border, literally!) and on Saturday taught Fabric Postcards,

which is really a play-day with an introduction to a bunch of art quilt techniques.  Instead of having to buy a zillion things and stuff, I HAUL a zillion things and stuff and folks can try fusing to collage their postcards, Angelina, fabric stamping (I demo stamp carving, so they can see how easy it is, but too sharp tools, too many distractions to do that in the class with so much else going on), fabric rubbings, using found objects as stamps, resists and rubbing plates,  freezer paper stencils, assorted paint techniques, and finally couching yarn as an edge finish. (PS… given the costs of shipping, this class is now available only within a 2-day drive of home…..)

Because it was just a wee bit too far to drive home on Thursday getting home at 2 in the morning on Friday, then get up at 4 in the morning to drive back down on Saturday , my gracious host Cathy Harnish invited me to stay with her, and on Friday—oh joy of joys–we went to Ikea!  I’ve been to this one about three years ago (for a one hour zip through en route to somewhere), and the one in Seattle maybe 8 years ago?   The first time I drove through Boston after we moved to Maine, I just about flipped out…this bridge had NOT been there when I was in grad school in 1981-3!  Since I was a passenger this time, I got to snap pics.  It is supposed to echo the shape of the nearby Bunker Hill monument (an obelisk) and the sailing ships of the days of yore.  It is GORGEOUS…there is a great abstract quilt in this bridge’s lines:

I did pretty well, buying not much–a bamboo placemat for rubbings in the class (which I forgot to unpack and USE in this class…next workshop!), a small lamp for the hall at home, and some shadow boxes in my quest for more ways to display and sell small quilts.  BUT, I saw this… I WANT THIS KITCHEN.  I WANT LIME GREEN COUNTERS!

On Friday night, Cathy invited over a table full of guild members, with her dear hubby braving the table of women.  We had show and tell after, too.  While I was there, Cathy shared this commissioned quilt she did for someone made of ties and shirts.  I LOVE LOVE LOVE this border, and think it may be one of the most effective I have seen anywhere–it may have been dictated by the size of the embroideries on the shirts and the leftover scraps, but it is brilliant:

On Saturday, we had a quick set-up time, and then got going.  The morning on this class is learning to use fusibles, especially my favorite  MistyFuse (light hand, easy to use, never any “issues”).   The class was great, and enjoyed the “art smorgasbord” in the afternoon when I set out all the goodies to enjoy.  Everyone always enjoys something different… there are a few things I don’t use hardly ever, but every time I think of eliminating them from the class, there is someone who finds it to be “THEIR” thing, so I keep the materials and techniques included.

I’m afraid I didn’t get names for the makers of all these cards, but thought I’d share them with you… great variety!  Clearly the upcoming Valentine’s Day was on a couple of minds….

Thanks to all who attended the lecture and came to class… it was, as always, a gas!

A woman on one of my e-mail lists recently asked me a question, and I think (with the help of a good mechanic at a good store) I finally have an answer:  why does one’s free-motion straight stitch sometimes wobble?  Here’s an example that she spotted in my sampler in my book (good eye! and good catch).  Look at the vertical lines in the upper left square..some wobble, some don’t (both photos are clickable for a larger view):

Here’s her original question, and portions of my replies.  I think maybe we have at long last solved the mystery of the wobbly stitch.  If anyone else has any good information, DO comment!  This is how we all learn:

***Question:

Sarah,

I posed a question to the … group about a free-motion stitch problem I was having. Since I posted the question, I found your  book (it had been “temporarily misplaced” in a sea of quilt  papers) and was looking through it. I was particularly looking at  your quilting stitches because I know you also use a 6600 and I  see my problem in one of your stitch samplers. If you would, on  page 91 of your book, the middle square on the left side, (sort  of a windowpane design), look closely at the 3 center vertical  stitches. I can see by the  path of your stitches that the first  line was stitched with the  fabric coming toward you, the center  line was stitched with you  pushing the fabric away from you, and  the 3rd line, again, was  stitched with the fabric coming toward  you. Do you see how the  center line of stitching is much  “cleaner” or neater looking than  the 2 rows on either side of it?  That is what is happening to my  stitching, and it is making me crazier than usual. Do you think that  is just something inherent  in the machine?….. I have loved my 6600 up to this  point  and I can’t imagine using a macine with a smaller harp area,  but  I really need more precision than I seem to be getting. …..

[and a note from Sarah:  the woman writing is a top award winning quilter, and was wondering how to improve her quilting having recently been plagued by some wobbles, and looked closely at both her work and mine in my book to see if she could find the answer…she used my example because it looked just like what was happening to her.   I’m thrilled she asked, because we may have both learned something!… read on)

***My first answer:

I have yet to see a good explanation of what is happening,  but I think it is a combination of two things:

going backwards isn’t always as smooth a movement as forwards

Stitching with the grain of the fabric (instead of on a bias)

I think the latter is they key thing….  it would be interesting  to try doing 3 or 5 or whatever parallel lines on the straight of  the grain, on the cross grain, and on the bias.  I *think* that  some of that wobbly look happens when you are free-motioning  parallel to the threads of the fabric.  If you go on a bias, not  an issue… it has to do with which side of the weave of the  fabric the needle enters …if you are stitching along one thread  and the needle enters on one side of the fabric-thread on one stitch, then on the other side on the next stitch…

It isn’t just our machines… I’ve noticed this on many different brands when test-driving them…..

***And my second answer, thanks to Don at Tony’s Sewing Machines in Biddeford, Maine:

…. on the way to  my teaching gig in NH last Thurs-Sat, I stopped in a really good  sewing machine store in southern Maine for a totally different  reason.  The guy there seemed knowledgeable so I asked your  question…. I have an answer, and it makes sense!

There are two reasons for the wobble [in a free motion straight stitch]… the first was my idea that the needle is coming down on opposite sides of the thread when you are  sewing with the grain.

The second, more important, reason is that the needle bar on all  zigzag machines must move.  So it does!!  When you free-motion,  vibrations, the motions, etc. cause it to wiggle sometimes, leading to  the variations in stitching.  On straight-stitch only machines (like  the Singer Featherweight which has the best straight stitch ever made because that is all it does), NO wobbling because the needle-bar is  fixed/doesn’t move.  The Mega Quilter is, I am pretty sure, a straight  stitch only, so the needle-bar doesn’t move.  On the Janome 11000 (top  of the line) there is a special “locking” mechanism that locks the  needle bar in place when set on a straight stitch, so that prevents  the problem.

Makes sense, doesn’t it?

As for the mechanic with whom you spoke…. for sure when going in reverse with the feed dogs up there are issues, like on most  programmed buttonholes, that is why the density of zigzag is different  from one side to the next.  The best programmed buttonhole I ever saw  (I think it was my old Bernina …forget the number, but it was a fancy one in 1996) went down one side in forward, then stitched in  reverse in a STRAIGHT stitch on the other side, then did the zigzag in  forward on the second side, so the two sides matched perfectly.

Anyway, I think the reverse thing the repairman suggested doesn’t  apply to free-motion,…. BUT the straight-stitch only machine /  needle-bar that doesn’t move DOES make sense…..my guess is that by  stitching on the bias, the wobble is disguised on our machines….

***As an addendum, it seems to me that reducing vibrations by slowing down and having a sturdy table/cabinet will minimize motion in the needle bar, and thereby reduce wobbles in the straight lines.  Now, to go to a show with a practice quilt sandwichand test this theory out on a number of straight-stitch only and zigzag machines!

Deborah Boschert, one of my Frayed Edges mini-group, is also part of a wonderful project called Twelve  x 12.  They have a blog here, and a website here, and even better…..well, not sure if I can tell you about it yet but there is something really cool coming in their future!   So hold on to that thought.  Anyway, Deborah now lives (sob we miss her) near Dallas, and the Dallas Quilt Guild is hosting a 12 x 12 challenge.  The rules:  anything goes as long as it is 12 by 12 inches.  Deborah invited us to participate and send quilts to hand in the show this March.  Well…..

I was totally, utterly blocked.  I had NOT A CLUE.  Not a whiff of an idea.  Inside of brain darker than a cave in a coalmine with no lights.  Nada.  Nicht.  Zip.  Zilch.  Then I had to walk the dog.  This dog (note…there are fifteen photos in this post, and all are clickable for a larger view):

Isn’t he CUTE?  Even from the hind view with curly little tail and dog butt, he is CUTE.  Well, the good news is that the quilt is NOT of his hind end.  I figured the cuteness of a dog’s butt is not necessarily appreciated by all, but how could ANYONE not love a pug mug?   So, I scoured through the umpteen thousand (literally) photos on my hard drive, found the one above, and cropped the photo:

Then I decided to use value as my plan of attack for fusing up this puppy.  At first I selected beige, tan, charcoal, and went YUCK.  I wanna play with color.  Back in the fused fabric stash they went.  Out came the colored fused stash.  I started with medium values…some lovely turquoises.  Then lights, deep darks, and some transitional values.  Not suprisingly, the light lights were yellows, the deep darks were navy and purple.

To get ready, I enlarged the photo to 12 inches on my computer, got out the large tracing paper, and traced his outlines.  This tracing was my pattern guide in cutting the pieces of fabric for his sweet face.  Here is the first bits:

Then a bit more work–you can see the tracing in the top left, the laptop with the cropped photo for reference, and the scattered bits of pre-fused fabrics tossed about (and note the yellow mug…I LOVE the fiesta ware!):

Here’s a close-up of the pug at this stage:

Then even more; I have added the background, but notice the face is kinda upright, not that cute cocked head, the quizzical look (note the green fiestaware mug):

Edges trimmed, but face is still upright…wrong!

So after uttering a few cuss words at having not noticed I was trimming him with his head in the wrong position, I sliced things off and fused up some more background–and yes, there is an “issue” with the shape of his head on the left, but I knew that would be cropped off so I ignored it:

This shows ‘Widgeon quilted (tho not the background…more on that in a sec):

and a close-up:

Here’s what it looks like from the back:

Next, I trimmed away the “middle-backing” and the wool batt I was using from under the turquoise background:

I then added cotton batting and the “real” backing and quilted the background, plus some of the major creases in his pug mug:

Finally, I had thought I would face the edges.  I used an old rust colored fabric on the back, and for the facings, and realized it looked MUCH better than the turned/faced edge.  So I found a better quality hand-dyed and made narrow bias bindings:

Last but not least…two close-ups.

Hope you liked the journey through the process. The quilt started out with a working title of “You want me to sit STILL?” (as in sit still so I can take a picture of you!), but that evolved into either “Walkies?  Puhleeze walkies!” or “Cookie???? PLEEEZE cookie!”  Eli (the dog is really his) and I both liked the Cookie version better, so that’s the title!

I absolutely ADORE this little 12 x 12 inch quilt… I think I did OK, because each time my sons see the quilt they start grinning, too!  Of course, we are biased and utterly in love with the little dog-beast!