Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Bloggers Quilt Festival: "Curiouser and curiouser" --A quilt begins





Welcome to the third Bloggers Quilt Festival. I've participated in both of Amy's other two festivals. My first original quilt was the subject of the first post and, in the second festival post, I shared a quilt I made for my husband. Regular readers of my blog know that I've spent lots of time this spring making two, large quilts for my daughter and her best friend who are both brides this year. Rather than go back over that ground, I decided to share the beginnings of a brand new quilt for the third festival post. I'll be updating this post throughout the week as this new quilt takes shape, so please come back to see how it's progressing.

Over the years, I've found that my best ideas for quilts come from a confluence of things, a sudden mashup, if you will. This idea came from buying some new rubber stamps, lots of visual stimulation from the 1960's retro fabric designs in the quilt shops and online, hearing the old Jefferson Airplane song, "White Rabbit" on NPR, and my love of Lewis Carroll's Alice books.



I have owned these two books longer than any others in my collection. My parents read them to me when I was tiny and I have always adored the Tenniel illustrations. Since the copyright on them has expired, all of the rubber stamp companies are taking full advantage.



Here's part of my rubber stash.



Black and white are figuring strongly in this quilt. I am envisioning a sort of op art, fractured surface, interrupted with partial stamped images.



Little bursts of color will peek through the black and white areas.


http://www.johntenniel.com/view_art.php?art_id=1409&min=0&max=10000000

Composition will be strictly improvisational, but inspired by Tenniel. I'm planning on calling the quilt, "Curiouser and curiouser" because I've always loved that phrase from the book.

10:00pm Friday update


I have eliminated several fabrics. Here are all the fabrics for the front.



The two end fabrics were used as the color inspirations.



The wonderful black on white fabric that reminds me of psychedelic rabbit holes will be a wide border and the tone on tone gray op art geometric will be a thinner border. A very thin black strip will separate them.



This fantastic Alexander Henry fabric called "mocca" will be the back with the other two fabrics used as the label.

Saturday 22 May 10:00am update


The solid black and white fabrics are all pima cottons. Here are the first stamped strips.



All the strips are being cut free without using a ruler. Here are the first few pieced together. I think I'll go back and take more off that yellow on the left side. I learned all of these improvisational piecing techniques in working with Nancy Crow, so I won't be sharing specifics. Treat yourself and take a class with her some day. I cannot say enough good things about her.

Saturday 1:00pm update





The first set of strips.




Second set of strips.



First two cuts and the chess board begins.

Saturday 4:00pm update


Here's the top pieced without borders.




A detail of one of the Alice stamps.

Saturday 9:30pm update



The top is finished. Color was needed between the two borders, so I opted for the red with multicolored circles instead of the black and white small dotted fabric. I'll work on the back and the label tomorrow. Sweet dreams everyone.

Sunday 23 May 10:30am update


Experimenting with the layout for the label. I'm using my new typeswriter stamps for the first time.



This is the test stamp. I iron freezer paper to the back of the label to stabilize the fabric when I write or stamp on it.



The basic label is finished. I iron it to set the ink and then add a border.



The back with the label set in is finished. Now I will sandwich the quilt.

Final update: Monday 24 May 9:15pm


The center is pin basted and the borders are thread basted. Quilting will have to wait until Anna and Matt's quilt is done. I'm guessing you'll see this one as a finished piece around the middle of July. Thanks for visiting and participating in the festival.
"Good times," as the Delicious Dish ladies say.

39 comments:

Minka said...

What a cool posting and a cool idea for a quilt! You are on my list of blogs that I follow so it will be easy for me to follow the progress of this project. I'm also hoping to post something new each day related to my BQF entry. Have you seen the new movie "Alice in Wonderland"? I have not, yet.

Quilted Librarian said...

Thanks, Minka. I haven't seen the new film yet, unfortunately. Seeing the DVD won't be like seeing it on the big screen. Tim Burton's films are always such feasts for the eye and I'm a big fan of Johnny Depp, so I don't think I'll be disappointed.
Warm regards,
Dana

Karen Newman Fridy said...

Looks like the start of something great...LOVE your fabric choices!

And, BTW, we're neighbors! I live just a few minutes west of W-S :)

Quilted Librarian said...

Hi Karen,
I'm so happy that you like the colors and we really are very close neighbors! Thanks for visiting.
Warm regards,
Dana

Lynne (Lily's Quilts) said...

This is the coolest post I have come across. I love the idea and have to follow just to see what happens next.

Quilted Librarian said...

Thanks for visiting, Lynne. I'm just taking a break to update my progress. I'm really enjoying this!
Warm regards,
Dana

Carole said...

This is a very interesting post, Dana. Thank you for the invite to drop by. I am looking forward to how this progresses.

Quilted Librarian said...

Hi Carole,
Thanks for your visit. I'm having fun piecing the chess board now.
Kind regards,
Dana

Kathy said...

What a unique idea for presenting your quilt in progress! I am always interested in quilts that use a lot of black and white with strong pure hues of color. This one about Alice in Wonderland is sure to be an eye catching quilt. I'll be back to check on your updates!

Quilted Librarian said...

Thanks for your visit, Kathy. I've gotten much more accomplished today that I thought I would. On to the borders!
All the best,
Dana

Quilter In Paradise said...

you have me hooked - I have to see where you go!
Beth in Dallas

Quilted Librarian said...

That's great! Thanks for visiting, Beth.
All the best,
Dana

Kellie said...

Whoah. That is one cool quilt! I will be back to see the finished product! BTW, I am a librarian too!

Quilted Librarian said...

Hi Kellie,
It's always great to "meet" a sister librarian and quilter. I'm packing it in for tonight, but more to come tomorrow. Thanks for visiting.
Kind regards,
Dana

Allison said...

LOVE how you show the process!

Marjorie said...

You certainly make me curiouser. I'll be following to see what the next chapter may bring.

Quilted Librarian said...

Hello Alison and Marjorie,
Thank you so much for visiting.
Warm regards,
Dana

Allie said...

What a fun idea! I love your label!

Quilted Librarian said...

Thanks, Allie. I've been mulling over ideas about how to quilt it today.
All the best,
Dana

Mary on Lake Pulaski said...

How very fun Dana! Wish I could let go like that!

Quilted Librarian said...

From time to time, I try to be spontaneous, Mary, and it is great fun.
all the best,
Dana

Anonymous said...

What a cool quilt! It's so different to anything I've seen before and I'd have never thought about stamping fabric. Thanks for sharing!

Quilted Librarian said...

Thanks so much for your nice comment, KT.
all the best,
Dana

Cynthia said...

This is fantastic! Love that you shared the creating process. Brilliant!

Quilted Librarian said...

Aren't you nice, Cynthia? I love knowing about the process of other artists, so I'm pleased that you are, too.
Warm regards,
Dana

Mary said...

Thanks for posting the process. This is a really fun quilt. It totally reminds me of 'Alice in Wonderland'!
"off with their head!" says the red queen who was my very favorite character in the new movie.

Quilted Librarian said...

Mary, I had that same thought when I was cutting the stripes apart! I'm glad you enjoyed the process.
All the best,
Dana

SewCalGal said...

Fun quilt. You did a fantastic job. Love it.

SewCalGal
www.sewcalgal.blogspot.com

Quilted Librarian said...

I appreciate your nice comment, Cal Gal. Thanks for visiting.
All the best,
Dana

erin lebeau said...

the stamping & detailed process of this quilt make it so unique -very cool! http://erinlebeau.blogspot.com/

Quilted Librarian said...

Thank you, Erin! I really enjoyed the process of creating this one.
All the best,
Dana

Karen said...

Thanks for the sharing the process. It looks like you have created a wonderful quilt. I am envious of your starting from scratch skills. I am a pattern girl.

Quilted Librarian said...

Glad you liked it, Karen. Take an improvisational class sometime. It will give you the courage to start from scratch.
Kind regards,
Dana

Laurel H. said...

Great quilt; lots of movement!

Sandra said...

WOW-love the final product and seeing the process in detail. I'm a big fan of words and quilts and black and white and brights-think we'd get along quite well.
Come see my antique quilt entries
http://utahquiltappraiser.blogpost.com
http://starleyquilts.blogspot.com

Quilted Librarian said...

Thanks, Laurel.

Sandra, you are so right. I am crazy about the cheddar antique quilts. They are so vibrant. Thanks so much for the links.

All the best,
Dana

Eileen said...

oh, my goodness!! this is one of the coolest quilts i've ever seen. i have a cazillion stamps even after giving a bunch away, so just have to try this idea. love checkerboards, and a wonky one is perfect. thanks so much for sharing the quilt and the journey

quiltmom anna said...

Dana,
This is a fascinating post about process- I totally love the stamps with those fabrics- it reminds me of Alice going down the rabbit hole. It is a terrific artist's quilt.
Thanks so much for sharing your process.
The festival is full of wonderful quilts but yours is a particular gem.
Regards from a Western Canadian quilter,
Anna
http://quiltmomsjourney.blogspot.com/

Quilted Librarian said...

I'm so happy that you liked it, Eileen. Thanks for visiting.

Quiltmom, thank you very kindly for you lovely comments. It seems the combination of Alice and sharing process was very popular. I'm off to look at your blog now.

All the best,
Dana