Wednesday's Wanderings Quilt

Here it is.  All the Wednesday's Wandering blocks sewed together into a quilt. I have not decided if I want to add borders or just bind it the way it is.  It needs to ruminate.  I would love your input.

I had to surf my blog to put the blocks into the correct chronological order. 

I was surprised that over the course of a year, I needed assistance for this, but it gave me the opportunity to reflect upon my activities and travels of 2012.

I was surprised at how much was squeezed into a year. Reviewing the highlights, it started with our sojourn in Key West, then a trip to Israel.  After purchasing my cute little blue convertible Beetle, my second book came out with a coinciding trip to the wholesale Quilt Market in Kansas City to promote it.  My first lakeside quilter's retreat was then followed by the unveiling of the chuppah and the wedding of my youngest son. Then I delivered a torah cover commission, visited Mark Lipinski and his radio show, and finally "Frosty Flakes" was published in the December issue of The Quilt Life. 

I don't think I could have squeezed much more into one year.  Looking at the blocks and reminiscing about all these events and the many others gives me such a warm feeling.  It was indeed a very good year and a very busy year.  I feel so fortunate that I have been able to elevate my love of quilting  and designing into more than just a hobby.  I have connected with so many people that looked forward to see where I went each week and how I depicted it.

I have been conflicted about whether I want to continue this weekly chronological fiber trip.  It has brought me so much joy to come up with an idea each week and then figure out how to share it.  Some weeks it was easy, other weeks it was hard.  But it was always fun.  But at this point I have some large quilts and projects that I want to work on that I need to devote a concentrated amount of time to design and develop.  So I am going to bid WW a fond farewell with melancholy in my heart.

I will continue to share my journeys both quilting and travels.  This brings me great joy to share what I know and have learned with others. In this vein, if you want to see how I put all of the blocks together, come back tomorrow. You may be surprised.

Wednesday's Wanderings #34 - Sewing with Silk

I have spent the summer following the Silk Road.  It's not the Silk Road from days gone by that  was the trade route for Chinese silk across parts of Europe, the Far East and parts of Africa.

 My Silk Road is my journey of experimentation with dupioni silk.

I just finished this top with the bi-colored leaves. It's made completely from silk dupioni.  In the photo it is basted and I'm waiting for an aha moment to figure out how I am going to quilt it.  It measures 30"Hx38"W.  The green scallop in the border is done using jumbo rick rack. 

 I will probably embellish the rick rack with beads or buttons.

Over the past 6 months, I have been making these 12" x 12" pieces out of silk. 

 I have tried different techniques to really learn how to work

with this gorgeous but somewhat tricky fabric.

The scrolls were added from the reverse side with a beautiful raspberry decorative thread.

 These have become some of my favorite colors. 

 I found the anodized washers on the Internet.

The guys at the hardware store thought I was a bit kooky.

  (I'm used to that.)

This zinnia interpretation has the luscious pink velvet as its center.

This is my WW. The center leaf was a practice piece

 and for the rest I used scraps of silk left over from the quilts I have been creating.

I want to make one more dupioni quilt from the scraps I have left over.  It's on my summer "to do" list.  I hope I don't run out of time.

I have added more silk fat quarter kits to my etsy shop.  It's a nice selection for experimenting.

Click here:  Sewing With Silk