Wednesday 13 May 2015

The Aviatrix Begins

It's funny how the best of intentions can be easily thwarted. I had planned on photographing and sharing several quilts last week, but we have had nearly constant rain so quilt photography has been a bit difficult ;o) I did manage to scoot outside today and snap a few, so there will be finishes revealed in the near(ish) future, but today I'm just sharing a couple of works in progress I have on the go.

I have an upcoming class teaching the Aviatrix Medallion by Elizabeth Hartman, so I started making my class sample last week. I've had the fabric for this quilt set aside since the end of last year, when I chose all the fabric at Frangipani Fabrics (where I'll be teaching the class). I decided to use the same colour scheme as the pattern, but I'm using print fabrics where Elizabeth used all solids. It was pretty easy to match prints using the colour chart in the pattern, and it is making it a breeze to make this quilt, at least in terms of colour placement. I think I'd approach this quilt very differently if I was making it from stash and challenge myself more in terms of colour palette, but I must admit it is nice to not have to think so much about those things!


I'm not going to lie - that centre block was a pain in the butt. There was quite a lot of unpicking (and swearing) involved, and it still isn't perfect, but I think it looks okay (and to be honest, I'm being very picky here - there are a few points in the blue bird that are quite dodgy, but overall it isn't bad). And once the first border went on, I decided I could live with it ;o)


And now the second and third borders are on, I'm most definitely in love with it. I've been feeling a bit under the weather this week, and all this colour just makes me happy :o) It is such a pleasure to work on this quilt!


The other project I'm working on has been a slow-sewing project since I came back from QuiltCon. The orange peels are all needle turn appliqued, and I finally sewed it all together last week. I want to quilt it soon - but I'm completely stumped as to what to do. Normally by this stage I would've had a flash of inspiration but this time around it just isn't happening. I think I'd like to emphasise the fading out and decreasing size of the 'flowers' with the quilting, but I can't decide the best way to do it. Any and all ideas would be gratefully appreciated :o)



I hope you're all having a great week! I found out this morning that two of my quilts have been accepted into Modern Quilt Show Australia at the end of May (woohoo!!) so I'll be burying threads and sewing hanging sleeves for the next few evening I think. 

xx Jess

17 comments:

moira said...

Such loveliness x

moira said...

Such loveliness x

Anonymous said...

Since I'm not of the "Mod School", yet(?), I would stitch around each petal for emphasis and proceed to create a flattened negative space that contained the orange peel shapes in, possibly, "falling" petals from those that are colored. I love your piece and the serene feeling it sends forth!!!!!
So happy that you have your pieces accepted in the upcoming event! I do hope you are feeling better soon!!! Hugs.....Doreen

Wendy said...

The Aviatrix is coming along nicely, I think it looks great in prints. I love the orange peel top, but I can't offer any help on the quilting as I'm rubbish at thinking of quilting designs.

Yvonne from Quilting Jetgirl said...

The Aviatrix quilt top is looking very nice; I love how color placement creates birds in the center.

For the orange peel quilting, I would probably pick a filler pattern that is easy to resize (my go to for that kind of thing is a meandering loop) and I would have it be a larger to smaller in rows as a fill. But I would also probably consider just some graffiti like quilting that goes from large scale to very dense as well. Good luck coming up with a plan that works for you!

Yvonne from Quilting Jetgirl said...

The Aviatrix quilt top is looking very nice; I love how color placement creates birds in the center.

For the orange peel quilting, I would probably pick a filler pattern that is easy to resize (my go to for that kind of thing is a meandering loop) and I would have it be a larger to smaller in rows as a fill. But I would also probably consider just some graffiti like quilting that goes from large scale to very dense as well. Good luck coming up with a plan that works for you!

Sandra W said...

Good for you in getting your quilts accepted in the show. I love the hand appliqued quilt.
As for quilting--why not reverse the big to small concept--that is, Make the quilting farther apart on the smaller petals and increase them proportionately until when you get to the large petals the quilting is very narrow.

RMC said...

Loving your Aviatrix. I would love to do one of these. Don't think I could make it down to Hobart though. Will have to look for written instructions. I love the prints better than the plain version. I can't wait to see the finished product. Keep posting pics on IG. RMC37

Carla said...

I have ,over that quilt from the beginning. It will be fabulous! The centre block is what keeps me from starting it....

Deb@newcreativestate.wordpress.com said...

Congrats Jess on getting your quilts accepted into MQSA! Your Aviatrix Medallion is looking fantastic. I'm really looking forward to doing another class with you but you've got me a bit scared about that centre block!!

KaHolly said...

Your work is delightful an I'm not at all surprised your two quilts were accepted for the show. Congratulations!

Staci said...

Love seeing your center, and hearing your comments about making it. I bought fabric for this quilt when the pattern was released and haven't touched it. I'm scared to death of that center!

SueAnn W said...

All I can say is oooooo and ahhhhhh

So cool.

Rosemary B❤️ said...

Jess, these are beautifical.
Just wowie.
I love the color choices too. Thank you for the inspiration

MaterialGirlQuilts said...

Your medallion quilt is looking fantastic! I have wondered how difficult the center of that one really is, so thanks for sharing :) And it really does look great!
Amanda

Carli The Quilter said...

This is fabulous!

Karen said...

When I aw the orange peels I thought about photos in a misty garden. In that kind of photo I think of the foreground as really crisp, and the background being rather blurry in comparison. I might try to experiment with a filler design that transitions from clearly-defined (pointy?) shapes to more amorphous (smooth?) shapes, to emphasize the fading of focus from the big, dark peels to the smaller, foggier, peels.