Too weird?

Suddenly, this quilt has a voice.. I always meant for the quilt to feel "summer" "patriotic".
The idea came because this month is Quilts For Valor month at our guild. Its very doubtful that I will give this away, Im kinda really loving it... Really Loving It! ... It is an Election Year and the Olympics.... and Maybe I'm processing all this Woman hating rhetoric I'm suddenly hearing. Hey Women are Americans too..
What do you think? too flag wavey? just right?

Lupine's First Quilt

Lupine's First Quilt by 2ndAveStudio
Lupine's First Quilt, a photo by 2ndAveStudio on Flickr.
After just one class, Lupine loaded up a simple top on the Frame at Modern Domestic PDX. In few hours she had quilted up her first quilt! 
I love how she used the Denyse Schmidt "Figure 8" to inspire her continuous line motif.
Wonderful and Congratulations Lupine!
Quilters Rock!

So I went to cool cottons for...

That one brown Echo print in the foreground.
Walked out with some great stash builders... :) including orange metro living and some yellow wood for my Echo quilt. I think the Aviary2 matches.
Quilters Rock!

Peel Quilt and more finishes...


Here's my latest Finish. I haven't really come up with a name yet. Everything I suggest to Jill doesn't pass the G rating test. The Vag.  The Couch Street Curve. ( In Portland "Couch Street" is pronounced "Kooch", not being from Portland, I think its hysterical every time I hear it.) 
I used Half Moon Modern and Essex Linen in Flax.  Do you have a name? Propeller Peel? Whatcha Got? ... any Ideas?
The shape is Orange Peel. BUT. It's completely pieced. Easy curves. I added the a hand appliqued coin. 
Jill from Tabslot made the templates for me and Im so excited. 
I quilted it plainly to make the piecing the most interesting, I only basted the binding to the back so I could take it to Guild on Thursday. I'll be carefully binding this week in the evenings. It tends to take me a few evenings of nighttime TV to attach a binding as I like a truly appliqued (at least 8 stitches per inch) binding when I handsew.  

 I little peek of the backing.

Untitled
a little detail of the center

Untitled
 My husband and I had some fun a couple of blocks from home. The sun was out and we got to check out the new construction zone.

Another 60 Degree triangle is finished and from my long ago BEE days I still have some the Wonky Stars that was my month. Oh, those ladies made me so many, probably not true, but it felt like they each sent me a dozen instead of ending up with a dozen... I think this is my third quilt for charity with those blocks.
I quilted it with Awesome Blossoms- When first learning to make them, every time I would complete one I would  stop the Quilter, pet the flower and whisper "oh my gosh, that is soo awesome" 


I have 3 finishes this month and none from last month, but I still feel pretty on track for the year. I have a growing pile of "quilting" to do. 


Quilters Rock!

WIP Wednesday!

Well, its Wednesday. Time for a little update on doings over here at Chez 2nd Avenue.
I've been having nothing but problems with my quilter. I took it for a masage and cleaning. but now the table and all the pits in the tracks are giving me fits.. Before i quilt another quilt. I'll be practicing and reno'ing  the handiquilter. Im still looking at this on my design wall:
its coming along great and I'm feeling like its almost done... but I've been busy fighting with my Handiquilter. Slowly, I'm adding on to the ends to get even rows, sew it together and quilt it.  The plan was to make a strippy style quilt, did I make it? Does it say English Strippy to you?
Tomorrow night is Guild so I'm trying to get my binding done on this:
A quilt that I haven't had a chance to show yet.

and I do have 2 finishes to show as well, but here's the deal, its been raining cats and dogs for a week at least.  I need to take photos and then I'll show you... :)
but here's a tease:
Quilters Rock!

Umm... Overwork it much?? :D


Umm... Overwork it much?? :D by 2ndAveStudio
Umm... Overwork it much?? :D, a photo by 2ndAveStudio on Flickr.
Here's what I'm working on this week. I'm documenting the my process and showing progress as I build a top. Feel free to drop by and have a look see.
Quilters Rock!

The Narcissism of Small Differences

Geese...
 This is what I'm working on.. Flying Geese. I figured out how to make wonky geese- fast, accurate and Im pretty pleased with it... Its the Elenor Burns method of  2 squares and then I hand trim. Pretty awesome, if I do say so myself. There is no waste of the red/blue so I can use my OOP and be kinda improvy ... Im soo thrilled...
This weekend I went to  Sew Expo. It was a visit in the way back time machine. This morning I woke to a mail about the Spring Crafty Wonderland Coming soon. ... ahh much better.  Some ladies from the guild went and we had a nice visit Friday Night. We frequently talk about What Modern Means, our own artistic endeavors, fabric shopping on I-5 etc etc...
I've been thinking a lot about the Modern Quilt Movement. Its been explained to me and a few of my friends that we are not MODERN. We don't meet the criteria, I've been told more than once I was traditional,  Kaci has been informed she is Contemperary and others have told me similar stories. 
Then I stumbled on the phrase "The Narcissism of Small Differences". *angels singing* HA! There is an actual term for this weird hostility.
God I love Google!
I had no idea I had been participating in and being judged by a concept that punishes me for not conforming to non conformity.
I like being a quilter. I like speaking with and having a conversation with the past. I like knowing my craft and working on my craftsmanship. I feel like we as quilters are in a place with quilting that is much like the  turn of the last century was with painting...
Before Photography, making accurate, realistic painted renderings of things was the way to paint. But after Photos and Moving Pictures trained the eye to see movement, scale and modeling... well, Painted Pictures looked like a waste of time... So painting changed, less representation and more reinterpretation.
More emotion, more design, more speaking volumes with line weight, movement of color and a nice nod to tradition.
At the same time, learning the craft of Painting has remained relatively unchanged. Few artists don't own a copy of the 15th century manual  The Craftman's Handbook.  Craft is what connects us to the past,  even if we dont grind our own Azure.
History and "connectedness" is what makes me weep to look at Picasso's "The Lovers" and really see the love, tenderness and sex. or Kandinsky's compositions. ...
As quilters we are 30 years past the invention of the rotary cutter. A good machine can sew a quarter of an inch with a person not really holding the fabric at all. Exacting, fine, perfect points are relatively easy and just a matter of focus.
Back in the day, a nice flat quilt top was hard to do, cutting the pieces wasn't nearly as accurate and sewing by hand or machine difficult. 
When I look at where my work is moving I wonder.. Is less More?Or is it a Bore?  Am I  dissecting line, contrast and structure or making a mess? Is it handmade or homemade?   Is it Art? or Process?
I'm not sure there is an easy answer.
When I make quilts that meet the definition of Modern Quilting, I sometimes feel like I'm pulling a stunt. gimmick. Maybe recipe would be a less negative word. I dont feel creative, I feel like I'm putting together a jigsaw puzzle. Snoozeville. Pablum. The artistic equivalent of a coloring book. Conforming in the ugliest sense of the word.
I like making Quilts. I'm developing a Voice.  An artistic expression of my womanhood and femininity in cloth. Does it matter to me that I'm being told I'm not Modern? I'm not sure yet. In some ways its been a huge blessing: I got my feelings hurt, I got pissed(so I guess It did matter) , and then I got to work. Having an Arts Background, growing up with working artists,  I have had enough training to hold my own at a serious Critique.  Lately, I've been excited about my quilting and can really feel myself moving forward.

Does it mean I haven't found a home in the Modern Quilt Guild? Heck No! I love it.  I get great input on my projects and have found some great quilty/artist friends. But I'm sticking with my prints and freehand frame quilting that references the past.... Hey, maybe I'm PostModern... Is there a Guild for that? :)

Quilters Rock!