Medallion with Sashiko - finished at last

Ta-da!  Gwennie (Gwen Marston) Inspired Medallion Quilt finished at last!  We were challenged to interpret the following themes:

Basket (center) chosen by Lori at Humble Quilts
Childhood chosen by... me
Log Cabin as chosen by Cathy at Big Lake Quilter
Stars as chosen by Katy at KatyQuilts
"Something fishy"  as chosen by Wendy at The Constant Quilter

I do think if I had to do it all over again, I would have made my "something fishy" border much narrower, and added a very dark or very bright outer border.   And if not for this challenge, I would have stopped after the narrow log cabin border after the sashiko and called it all good as a wall hanging!



All that said,  I am SO THRILLED with the custom machine quilting by Hannah's Longarm Quilting in NH.  I looked at this quilt as a collaboration and so asked Hannah to quilt it however she wanted to quilt it and WOW... the results are fabulous!  Way beyond anything I would have thought to do or have the skill to do!

In so many places, the quilting echoed elements of the piecing/applique/sashiko.  I found it quite touching!  

And then the borders!!  Whoa!!!! 

For the backing, I used what I happened to have on hand from my quickly dwindling stash of Japanese fabrics: 

Thank you again Lori (Humble Quilts) for organizing us for this fun challenge!  

x

Cynthia 

Gwennie Inspired Medallion Exhibit

Hello friends,

Lori of Humble Quilts, who organized us for the Gwennie Inspired Medallion Quilt challenge last year, had some exciting news.  She has arranged for some of our quilts to be displayed in May, for a First Friday Exhibit at Quiltworks in Bend, Oregon.  Included will be the medallion quilts from the five of us who chose the rounds - Lori, Katy, Wendy, Cathy, and myself.

See Lori's blog post here, because there is room for a few more Gwennie inspired medallions, if you are interested!!



Mine is currently being custom long arm quilted - my second time collaborating with Hannah and I am so excited to see what she does with this quilt!

x
Cynthia

Gwennie Inspired Medallion - "something fishy" border

We are wrapping up our Gwen Marston Inspired Medallion, with the "something fishy"border - the theme chosen by Wendy (The Constant Quilter).  Read about "something fishy" here.

Boy did I go round and round with this one.   In the end, a simple patchy (slightly boro-inspired) border of watery batiks, shot cotton, indigos,  a little fishnet tenugui. 



Barely visible is a nod to one of my husband David's favorite hobbies - fly fishing:



At first I had an appliqued brook trout going for the fly.... but, um, no.  Decided to leave the line and fly though.



I don't think this quilt has a prayer of hanging straight, but... it's OK.  This has all been improv and great fun - if by fun you mean lots of problem solving - and I do think the ongoing problem solving in quilting is part of the fun!  Decisions, tryouts, re-dos... it is all part of the process.

I may do one more round for fun and to carry some dark indigo through, not sure.  I may call it a quilt and finish it now with a strong (very dark or bright) binding.  Decisions for another day.



I am posting early because I will be out of town through the beginning of October... wait, it is almost October?  Be sure to check out the links at Lori's blog Humble Quilts starting Oct. 1st.  The linky is posted here.

So many quilters have followed along with us, and it has been wonderful to see all the interpretations of the themes!!  (Basket, childhood, star, log cabin, "something fishy").  Thank you to all who have quilted along, and to Lori for being the glue!

xo
Cynthia

Gwennie Inspired Medallion - STAR round reveal

This month we worked on round 4, a star themed border as chosen by Katy.  Check out her blog - lots to see!  If you are wondering what this medallion project is all about, here is how it all started with these five quilters choosing each theme in turn:

Lori at Humble Quilts  (center - May) - BASKETS
Yours truly (second - June) - CHILDHOOD
Cathy at Big Lake Quilter (third - July) - LOG CABIN
Katy at KatyQuilts (fourth - August) - STARS 
Wendy at The Constant Quilter (fifth - September)


For this star round, I knew I'd make casual stars (confession: I hate that other word, wonky)


but I also wanted to introduce some asymmetry, so how about some swirls:







And how about some little minimal row houses...



Will add some sashiko swirls/smoke sometime I think...



This might be shaping into a "starry night" quilt...



So far so good.... except that I have run out of this deep dark indigo.  This quilt has been harder than I'd expected (oh!  improvising isn't all easy breezy!) - I've been swimming in "problem solving" mode, which is both agonizing and exhilarating I suppose!




Speaking of swimming, he he, our next and final round - "something fishy" - was chosen by Wendy (the constant quilter).  She writes:

Being from Maine, my theme choice for the final border is
“Something Fishy”

As with those who have gone before me (Lori, Cynthia, Cathy and Katy), you can interpret this asloosely as you like. Here are a few examples:

Clamshells

Scallops

Fish fabric or appliques

Sea birds (they eat fish!)

Marine mammals (they eat fish too!)

Lighthouses (they see fish)

Boats (they catch fish)

Ovals and triangles (i.e. fish shaped)

Tartar Sauce – what???

I'm so excited to see what everyone comes up with. 

I will edit this post with a link to Wendy's post here.

Wendy, challenge accepted!  Fun theme... and I need to decide whether to wait for David to pick up more indigo in Japan... or whether a plan B is in order.

Link up on Lori's blog to show your progress with the Medallion.  So much creativity out there - freedom!  All kinds of quilters!  All kinds of quilts!  Thank you Lori for pulling us all together!

xo
Cynthia

Gwennie Inspired Medallion - LOG CABIN border linkup

Cathy chose our theme this month - LOG CABIN - and I knew immediately that I wanted to do something with "sunshine and shadow".  The older I get and the more I see, the more I know that life is sunshine and shadow.

I made up some casual log cabin blocks (I hate the word "wonky";) with cool/dark blues greens and purples, and hot/bright reds, pinks, orange.  Wow, that indigo is deep, just cavernous.

Trying them out around the border.... not really what I was going for.   The dark indigo is so precious that I didn't want to waste much.

So I slept on it (well, not literally, he he) and when I woke up the next morning, I knew what to do.

I cut up the little log cabins into 1 1/2" strips, and sewed them together into long strips:

Added a tiny orange border to float the deconstructed log cabins:

And voila - perhaps the narrowest border in medallion history, but it works and represents the "sunshine and shadow" that comes to all of us.

Thanks, Cathy, for the great theme!

How about you?  Do you have your LOG CABIN border to share?  Link up here at Humble Quilts.

Our NEXT theme - STARS - was chosen by Katy - She says:

"So the challenge for this next round, is to create a border with the star theme. You could make your entire medallion into a star center or add stars in your borders. Heck, you could use star fabric! We will be linking up the results of this round here on September 1st."

She has lots of cool star inspiration on her blogpost here.

Childhood Border link up - Gwennie Inspired Medallion Group

Time to reveal our CHILDHOOD borders for the Gwennie Inspired Medallion group!

As a group we are taking turns picking the themes and interpreting the themes however we'd like.

Lori at Humble Quilts  (center - May) - BASKETS
Yours truly (June's theme - CHILDHOOD)
Cathy at Big Lake Quilter (third - July's theme)
Katy at KatyQuilts (fourth - August's theme)
Wendy at The Constant Quilter (fifth - September's theme)

We have a lot of quilters joining us and it's so fun to see what everyone is doing!  If you have a blog, link up below, and if not, email me your photo and I will add it to this post.

For my border I decided to depict my own three children (from the old classic Quilts Quilts Quilts).

I have really been reflecting on twenty three years of parenting... and I'm going to be an empty nester after this summer.  Weird! I know that parenting doesn't end here, but it is the end of a certain season for sure.

I also included a tree (wonky with cut off points a la Gwen).

When I was ten years old my family moved from Texas to Connecticut, to a yard with a stone wall and woods, and a big tree right outside my bedroom window.  I would sit up in my tiny bedroom and read and daydream and listen to records.  The rustling of the trees outside set the background. 

My children have grown up with trees as well.
Noelle in particular has a connection with trees, as depicted in her haunting drawings:

For the sides, I made sashiko panels using variegated thread which has the effect of fading in and out.

nowaki or "grass in the wind" "storm that comes in the fall/winter" (back to school days!): 

tsu no kikko or tortoise shell - signifying a long healthy life:

fundou or balance weights:




Asanoha, or hemp leaf - signifying protection, traditionally used on children's clothing items:

Edited to add Ursula's medallion:



Ursula says "I am thoroughly enjoying "playing along". My childhood border is all about "fun and friends" which as a teenager often involved our red Volkswagon beetle taking us girls on adventures in our beautiful farm Valley. I am looking forward to making the next border. Log cabins are a favorite of mine. Hmmm....now how would Gwennie play with logs...from Ursula

And from Pierette:



And this one from Maree, who writes "My interpretation of this was blowing bubbles and climbing trees.  I am using Kaffe Fassett fabrics and working in a wonky style.  I am excited about the next round and have already started making my blocks."



If you have a blog, link up with your CHILDHOOD border below!  If you prefer to email me a photo,  I will add it to this post.

And be sure to visit Cathy at Big Lake Quilter for details on July's theme - LOG CABIN!  Great theme and I can't wait to get started!

An InLinkz Link-up

Flags, travel, and "childhood" border

I finally finished the Front Porch flags today:

I like the effect of appliquing the stripes to the background, per Jan Patek's instructions.  Slightly more folky and layered looking than what you get with piecing.



Lori has a linkup to share our flags here.

This past week found me in Colorado with my son to visit my Dad and step Mom:




Then back home to Massachusetts... arriving home in time for a beautiful backyard sky:



And then immediately up to beautiful Vermont for a couple of days:



I went to the Vermont Quilt Festival and will share some photos soon!

Meanwhile... are you working on your "Childhood" border for the Gwennie Inspired Medallion?  I am incorporating some sashiko into mine:



We will share our borders here on July 1 - less that a week away!  Never too late to join in!

xo
Cynthia