Thread Tales Is Having A Hanging

Label and back for "Reflections"

Font of "Reflections"

Our Thread Tales group will be showing some of our work at the Vancouver Community Public Library in Vancouver, Washington from October 9 through October 31. The quilts will represent the following eleven books: "The Book Thief" by Marcus Zusak; "The Desert Queen" by Janet Wallach; "The Glassblower of Murano" by Marina Fiorato; "The Help" by Katheryn Stockett; "Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher" by Timothy Egan; "Circling the Sun" by Paula McLain; "The Little Paris Bookshop" by Nina George; "Vinegar Girl" by Anne Tyler; "The Art Forger" by B.A. Shapiro; "Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie" by Alan Bradley and "Girl Waits With Gun" by Amy Stewart.

"Alice's Roses" label

Of the 11 books chosen, I have quilts finished for six of them. For the other five, I have an idea; but haven't progressed past that point! One of the reasons that I like belonging to this group is that there are few rules. You can complete a project anytime or you can choose to not make one ever! I like to try new techniques and I often get hung up with the design and fabric choices. Sometimes, inspiration takes a long time to come to me.

In this post, I'll share my six quilts that will be hung for this exhibit. When I read the "The Glassblower of Murano", I was inspired by a passage in the book where the character is looking at his reflection in the water. I had a small piece of marbled fabric that reminded me of molten glass so I quilted the piece. "Reflections" is small; but it was the perfect size for playing with Vikki Pignatelli's method of applying a facing. I have to admit, cutting a free form shape on the back for the facing was freeing!

Back of Alice's Roses

A passage in the "Desert Queen" about the main character working in her rose garden inspired me to make, "Alice's Roses." I used a gifted linen tea towel that had a small cross stitched figure on it. The lady, Alice, had used the tea towel so that made it special to me. She grew the most beautiful roses I have ever seen. I enjoyed making this quilt to always remember her.

Reading the "Desert Queen" was not for the faint of heart. There was a lot of historical information in the text which was dry; but, it did give me incite on to the strife in the Middle East. I was impressed with how Gertrude Bell become a respected authority on that area of the world at a time when women rarely ventured outside of their homes.

I started the piece in a Cindy Needham workshop where I enjoyed the opportunity to learn some of Cindy's insight when using linen. It was the first time that I had kept pace with a workshop. I finished marking the top when the class ended.

Front of "Alice's Roses"

I used Hoffman's silk radiance for the back and the binding. I liked the look of the silk radiance
and it was a nice fabric to stitch. I am sorry Hoffman stopped producing it.

I liked Cindy's term of sunshine and shadow meaning it was important to have a balance of some heavily quilted areas (shadow) and some lightly quilted areas (sunshine). I also liked learning how to make a stencil fit an area when the stencil was smaller than the area needed.
I also appreciated how supportive she was to each participant and how she celebrated each person's project. When I quilted shadow areas of the project, I learned how hard it is to see where you have been when you use a thread that closely matches the background!

Label for "More Than Black & White"

When we read "The Help," I was inspired by the two colors--black and white. At the time, I was participating in an online group to improve my free motion quilting skills. Cindy Needham was the guest for one month and shared a doodle. I played with the doodle on a scrap of batting and muslin. After I had quilted the doodle, I decided to play a little bit more with the quilting. I added the "mini" quilt and then decided to make it a two sided quilt so split the batting and put the hanging sleeve in the middle.

Back of "More than Black & White"

Figuring out how to bind the quilt with the sleeve in the middle was a challenge and there must be an easier method than the one that I chose!

I also was following Tom Russell via his blog and he was embellishing his projects with buttons and beads. I had quite a few black buttons from my grandmother's button box so I added them to the project. Tom passed away in January of 2015. I miss his wit and creativity.

For a little quilt, I incorporated a lot of firsts. It was a fun way to practice free motion quilting filler stitches. I liked seeing the texture the various stitches provided. I also found it interesting to see some of the areas looked gray even though I only used the same black thread in all the quilting.

Front of "More than Black & White"

By the time I had finished, I wished that my fabric sample had been larger as it was a fun project to stitch and the finish came too quickly! The buttons and beads were so fun to add. I thought then that I would add more embellishments to my quilts; but, I haven't. I guess, I'd better revisit embellishing as I finish future quilts!
In terms of the book,  it doesn't matter if a person is black, white or some shade in between. It does matter on how a person contributes to society, hence the title "More Than Black and White."

Label of "Forest of Friends"

When we read "The Book Thief," I was struck how much the length of the war impacted the people not fighting regarding food and fuel shortages. Being cold and hungry, told when to leave your home and what you could do when you were outside your door would have made surviving difficult. Yet, people  persevered in spite of the conditions.

I used half square triangles (HSTs) that were part of an online exchange through "The Quilt Show." Of course, I "got to" sew more HSTs because I didn't have enough!!! I didn't have to stitch many. I also used Edyta Sitar's pattern for the trees.

Front of "Forest of Friends"

I wanted the trees to represent the seasons of the years during the war. I thought of the leaves representing the people that the war affected.

I quilted the piece as if there were more trees in the background because there were so many friends and family members that didn't survive. The print in the green triangles are trees so it was easy to extend the trunks and branches into the cream background.

I thought the yellow batik leaf fabric went well with the theme and represented the sunshine of life before the war. I quilted around the leaf print in the border to give that portion of the quilt some texture.