Quilted Rock #1

Quilted Rock #1 (3.5 h x 2.75 d x 2 h) is done.

I have several quilts in my mind, but it is good to have something small and less complicated in progress with so much else going on right now. Rock number two has been selected. The yard is making progress, but not done yet. I start teaching an online typing class on Monday. And I will be taking another watercolor class.

Fitting the Quilted Work Around the Rock

The piece I created somehow wasn’t the same shape as my paper pattern when I was done stitching the edges. There was a lot of pleat adjusting and sewing in extra pieces.

I’ve done all the machine work I can do on this. I will need to complete the stitching by hand. Then wrap it in a damp cloth and steam it well with an iron to help the quilted shell conform to the correct shape.

Stitching on Water Soluble Stabilizer

I went shopping a few days ago for Sulky Solvy, since it’s the only water soluble stabilizer I am familiar with.

I came home with Pellon Wash-N-Gone. It feels and looks like a medium weight non-woven interfacing, and less like a piece of plastic wrap. I thought that because it had a little more body I wouldn’t need a hoop to work with it. The quilted fabric is stiff enough to hold its shape, but the stabilizer is puckering badly. If I was trying to create an exactly sized piece, this would be a problem, The edges of these pieces don’t need to be exact, so I think it will work for me.

The hard part is going to be figuring out how this goes back on the rock after I have finished stitching and rinsing it. And I must remember to mark the leftover stabilizer well, so I don’t use it to interface a shirt collar sometime.

Quilted Rocks

What do rocks have to do with textile art? Not much, except it’s been in the back of my mind for a year or two that I should cover a rock in quilted fabric. Having plenty of leftover rocks from our landscaping project left me with no excuses.

I’m not exactly sure how this will all come together yet, only a rough plan. I don’t intend to cover the rock completely, but will leave holes so the rock can be seen. The edges of the quilted section will be finished with free motion threadwork done on wash away stabilizer.

I had attempted to construct a pattern by covering the rock with tissue paper and then again with masking tape, cutting it off with a knife, then adding darts with scissors until it laid flat. This worked a bit. I think the multitude of darts I had would just look messy and confusing.The tape was more difficult to cut than I thought it would be, and the edges were a little jagged. I will try again with a sheet of paper, scissors, and maybe some double sided tape.

I picked a fabric color which would look nice against this rocks dull yellow-gray color. Since the colors reminded me of sand and water, I quilted a small piece of the cloth with motifs which made me think of water and rocky shores and then painted it to add a little dimension and highlight the texture. I kind of like this as is, but will continue with my plan to cut it up once I figure out the shapes I need.

    

 Out in the front yard, Doug has laid the edging board for a brick walkway next to our very narrow driveway. Camilla and I leveled sand and laid bricks the last couple of days. This will give us room to get out of the car without stepping on plants or gravel, and provide a walkway to the backyard.

Getting a Little Bit Greener

This is what our yard looked like at the beginning of June before we had the lawn removed.

Today was spent laying out edger board along the right side of the driveway for a walkway next to the car. It was perfect weather for working. It stayed overcast most of the day. We got about ten minutes of sunshine and about two minutes of very light rain. We have lucked out this summer, and haven’t had any very hot days.

Yesterday we planted some low growing Manzanita plants. This “Emerald Carpet” variety only stays less than a foot tall, but will spread up to six feet. Camilla spread bark around the plants today.

We have just a small edge of the garden planted. We will be very busy the rest of the summer, and maybe fall too.

Working a Little Larger

The current project is a little larger than the quilts I’ve been making. We had the front lawn removed a month and a half ago, and it’s finally starting to look like more than a dirt pile. All three of us have been busy working on it.

I claimed laying the landscape fabric as my job. The fabric we got is very similar to a stiff Pellon non-woven interfacing. I spent most of yesterday interfacing the entire area while Doug hauled wheelbarrows about and Camilla started arranging rocks to separate the gravel areas from the planting areas. We both played with rocks some after all of the cloth was laid.

The pile of sand will get spread as a base for a stepping stone walkway.

Several yards of gravel and redwood bark is getting delivered later today. We may take the day off from working, and go shopping for plants.