• Skip to content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Cilenia Curtis Designs

Quilt Artist while living a Simple Sustainable Lifestyle

Quilting

Going Modern with Improv

December 9, 2015 by Cilenia 1 Comment

I’m in LOVE with this process and the results!

Modern Improv Quilt I wanted to try, force, my hand at improvisational quilting and do lots of negative space so I could get creative with some free motion quilting from the latest class I took at Craftsy.com from Ann Peterson.  I quilt on a small machine, so this was always beyond my ability to quilt such detail on a full sized quilt.  Not anymore! Ann has so many tricks and tips that in no time I was zooming away with so much ease. I also switched threads and stopped using discount thread that was always breaking and giving me issues.  I now only use Auriful Thread and the difference is like night and day! I buy it by the cones for the best deal and it even is less expensive than buying cheaper big box threads.  I now use exclusively for piecing and quilting.

So how this all began!  I have these highly coveted fabrics I collected and have been hoarding for several years.  I had not decided what I wanted to do with them.  I also wanted to make a modern improv quilt that I could really play with shapes and color.  So one day I just decided to do it! LOL  I put the fabric pieces up on the design wall and played and played with placement for color.  The background started out as an off white cream but changed half way through the playing to black.  Main reason? This would be a quilt for our couch and I have this big black dog that thinks he’s a person and sheds more than you can imagine. LOL  But, in the end, I am really glad I changed this to black.

This is what it looked like at first on my wall. (Yes, still waiting for BF to bring me some insulation board to make a real design wall!) lol  I wanted sweeping color/design from one end to the other. From here I just grabbed pieces of the fabric and began to create very improvisational blocks and areas. This was NOT easy for me, I always follow a pattern either someone else’s or my own. Design Wall Improv

Then it began to take shape and kept adding to it. The plan was to do a small area each day.  Well… I loved the process so much I couldn’t help myself and in a few days it was completely pieced! LOL

Improv design progress

Improv design progress

Then the real fun began! marking all the quilting.  I don’t use traditional marking tools any longer. I now use a welder’s marking chalk pencil.  It works awesome! Marks beautifully and comes off easily.  My BF suggested it when I complained about the normal white marking pencils and how difficult it was to come off.  He brought me some from work and works great and VERY cheap! Box of 50 for like $5. I also use the Fixitron pens for light fabrics.  Iron’s right out!  I don’t use those quilter’s markers any longer that I might accidentally iron over and make permanent.  Yea, ask me how I know. 😉

I knew I wanted a very geometric design to compliment the geometric piecing design.  Can you tell the engineering draftsman is trying to come out?! LOL  WISH I still had all my old drafting tools! But I figured it out using what I had. I also wanted to soften it up a bit using some circles and swirls in the quilting. I have a ton of inspirations on my Pinterest board, and even tho most are done on a long arm machine, after Ann’s class I felt ready to try my hand at doing on my domestic sewing machine. Marking the Quilting

It was quite the learning process.  And yes there are several mistakes or oops in this but only myself (or my daughter Kallie) will see and point out. LOL But I’m chalking that up to lesson’s learned.  It was VERY difficult for me to let go like this.  I’m such a planner and over think my designs.  I forced myself to let it go and have fun! I really worked out of my comfort zone.  I had designed the entire thing on the computer, but soon realized my intuition of working with the color and improv was proving out to be a much funner process! No measuring! LOL So I let it go. I couldn’t be happier!

And half way through this I got a new free motion foot also for my sewing machine.  WOW! What a difference that made also! It’s a ruler foot that I got as a set with some rulers.  I wanted to be able to quilt straighter lines like the big girls in free motion and not have to turn a large quilt so much on my machine trying to use my duel feed walking foot with a straight stitch setting.  There is no looking back now! I am hooked! Still learning how to use fluidly, but it’s coming along!  I also want to add some better lighting at my machine.  I found that the machine’s light reflected on the ruler and made it difficult to see where I was going. (Hence some of the boo boos that happened). Want to take that out and have more indirect lighting.  But all in all, I am improving by leaps and bounds now doing this on my small machine.  Thank you Ann!

Some of the details. quilting detailsQuilting detailsQuilting Details

Filed Under: Sewing and Quilting, Tips for Sewing-Quilting Tagged With: Improv-Modern Quilting, Quilting

WIP – Work in Progress

September 20, 2015 by Cilenia Leave a Comment

OK… so I’ve been SO busy playing in the Studio and was gone most of August I have severely neglected blogging.  Just not enough hours in the day I’m telling you! LOL  So BIG catch up post.

I’ve been busy dyeing fabrics for a new quilt project.  I’ve always wanted to make a color wheel quilt for my Studio and found a BOM (Block of the Month), project over at PileofFabrics.com  It’s a skill builder project and thought it would be perfect for Miss Bailey and I to do together.  We hand dyed 100% of the fabrics being used. This was our first batch trying to make all the rainbow of colors. Just LUV them!  We did 7 months of blocks in a little over a month. LOL

Hand Dyed Fabrics

Dyed the fabrics in July before we left for Ohio. Did some more after we returned in August.

We set to work and decided our inner color wheel and laid that all out and used a bias tape fusing method to create the center block. No curved piecing doing it this way.  Was an experience I can tell you!  Not sure I like this method yet as we really had issues with the fusing not fusing and we ended up glue basting most of it down.  Here it is up on the Design Wall. You can see my colored cheat sheet to the right there. LOL

Center Color Wheel

Miss Bailey helping make those TONS of Hexagon pieces.  We glue basted all 84 hexies first and then sewed them into flowers.  Looong process! She quit on me half way thru. LOL They are only 1 inch big! Tiny little suckers. LOL

Hand sewing Hexies.

IMG_2708

I didn’t take pictures thru all of it, so here are some from here and there.  But we are almost done with all the piecing!

IMG_2706

Inner two rings completed and started on third ring. Think we need a bigger wall!

IMG_2692

Paper piecing the ‘Geese’ blocks. Makes for extremely accurate piecing.  I learned this years ago, but first time for Bailey.  Verdict is still out with her. LOL Does take a bit to wrap your mind around it with all the flipping you do each seam.

IMG_2702

Each block is created separately and quilted before assembling. Close up of getting ready to quilt if we can decide on a design.

IMG_2712

And let the quilting begin! Each block to be quilted as a Quilt as You Go project.

I will hopefully have this back up on the design wall this week and get some more pics posted.  Having so much fun on this project.  Trying new techniques, but for the most part I have decided I like my old tried and true ways.  I would not glue bast anything I want to hand appliqué again.. I’ve always used liquid starch to set and turn my seam allowance.  Using the glue made it very difficult to hand sew. Almost impossible.  We ended up machine appliquéing the Hexie Flowers.

Filed Under: Sewing and Quilting, Traditional Quilting, W.I.P. Tagged With: Fabric Dye, Quilting

Primary Sidebar

Recent Posts

  • Hanging Sleeves on my Art Quilts
  • DIY Quilting Ruler Holder
  • Time to Plant Edible Greens and Garlic too of course!
  • Retiring Digi Art Classes on Sale 50% off!
  • Art Quilt Challenge Week 2 – Art Dolls

Categories

Archives

WELCOME

WELCOME

Welcome! This is a great section to talk a little bit about who you are!

FOLLOW ME

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Home
  • My Studio
  • My Quilt Projects
  • Contact me

Footer

WELCOME

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest

Copyright © 2023 · Midnight theme by A Modern Homestead