Using the Tools

I started this post on using Quilters Select Rulers because I had an opportunity to show them off in February. Once I figure out what to say, I think about supporting pictures and that leads to more things to say, and then more pictures, which makes for more post parts. So I will break it up into smaller chunks.

My Style
I really like simple and straight forward, and I hope you do too. I want to share the (my) creative process with you as well as the products “I” use so you can feel comfortable with the products available at I Have A Notion™ .....

Want to read more? Go to the new blog at www.ihaveanotion.com/blog

Finished Project!

So what do I do.... when... I am not cooking, cleaning, puppying or going to guilds?

Creating of course. Most of my creations don't start on Monday and finish in a chronological fashion. They start, get sidelined by an obligation or other deadline... like the project I am going to talk about today.

"The Night Circus" was inspired by a Facebook post made by a member of one of the Quilt Guilds I belong to and based loosely on creating this style of a patchworked elephant explored by another blogger.  About the only thing I used was the line drawing of the elephant, which I also cleaned up a bit for a better better pattern.

I wanted a really bright elephant, so I got out my box of batik scraps and started to build the body. I decided to keep the order of color symmetrical on both sides of the body although the fabrics may have changed from side to side, but color order remained.



Once the elephant was built I considered the background, plain anything was just going to be too plain... and while I was working on this I was listening to a book titled 'The Night Circus', by Erin Morgenstern. It was disappointing that the best thing about the book was the title, however the author also wrote "Water For Elephants" which is how the title of this Elephant quilt came about.... the Night Circus was about a black and white circus..... the second most interesting thing about the book, (I didn't find any other things to consider interesting in the book).







Next up was the quilting.... Of course I wanted to do this on the longarm, (for more practice). I didn't want the background quilting to be the star, so I used a swirl as the fill to add texture rather than a design since the focal point was the elephant. The elephant was nailed down with some squiggly lines across seams of the various colors, since it pretty much already stood out. 


I added her headband and some wobbly eyelashes with beads as the final bit of her costume.

A more detailed picture (as always you may click on any image for a larger view). I started this sometime around June.... but of course there were some other things between the start and the finish....











The particulars: The quilt measures 35"x35", the elephant is 17"x13"; threads were So Fine white and black (by Superior) on the background and Madeira monofil on the elephant.

So what are you working on? Has it had a sideways progression... or straight through to completion?

As always more later!! Beth
PS.... check back soon, a surprise blog contributor.... coming soon.

Good Morning Quilters!

While you don’t see much happening at the I Have a Notion store, there is so much going…. I don’t know where to begin to tell you about it and I am more than sure you don't really want to hear about it. I have been on the Internet for a long time, but mostly from the finished front side (stores and blogs and information pages) but have never found the need to spend much time on the backside. What an education!!!

In addition, while attempting to scale the mountain of things I don’t know I have been visiting with a dentist. I have had so many experiences with dentist that were not so favorable, that I now go over the edge with anxiety, that it takes a day or two to get my equilibrium back. I will have a few more visits over the next year…. You know those pesky fillings from our childhood… I have a few that need to be replaced.

Speaking of Childhood, here in my neck of Kentucky the kids are back in school already. I grew up in California, and Labor Day was the marker that summer was over and we had to buckle down inside for the next 9 or so months (we never had snow days or conversely we didn't have any “too much sun” days either!!!)

I have a quilt that I titled "Childhood Memories". For me it depicts the freedom and wide open spaces of being a child in the summer.

Childhood Memories

I made it for a Guild Challenge in 2015. The challenge issued was to use the pinwheel block (already constructed by the challenge committee) on the front of the quilt, and we were not allowed to alter it. I knew the minute I saw it, that I wanted it to be a 3 dimensional “Pinwheel” that turned on my quilt like the little ones we had as children on a stick. As a child I saw them as pointless and requiring too much work to make them spin (running) if there wasn’t a strong breeze blowing. 

So what marks the end of summer for you? I am always interested to hear other perspectives… especially if you live where it is different than where I have lived.

Thanks for stopping by and checking in, as always More Later!!!

Beth