Ceramics: Playing with Glazes

A friend and I went to Leslie Ceramics in Richmond, and I was pretty good at restraint.  I bought the gallon of porcelain slip I had intended to get plus just one jar of an overglaze called Wrought Iron. Right away I wanted to test it.

My friend Meral gave me one of her bisque cups to test.

I was also fortunate enough that my greenware (frost porcelain plates, a sea-themed mug, a jewelry pendant on which to weave fibers) could go into the kiln.  A porcelain platter is going to remain in plastic for further drying.

My friend Patsy also added a layer of the wrought iron glaze to her plates.

I had wanted to purchase a glaze called Obsidian at the store, but couldn't find anymore of it.  And so I'm using our studio's black overglaze called Oil Spot in the inside of the mug, Wrought Iron on the bottom half of the mug and Oil Spot on the upper half with flux for dark glazes on the rim.  Fingers crossed.

Oil Spot, Flux, and Wrought Iron on a bisque test mug

Oil Spot

Big Stitch Hand Quilting

I had heard at a workshop from Nichole Vogelsinger of Wild Boho that Cosmo Italian flosses were her favorite, and so impulsively I bought a bunch of skeins of Cosmo floss from Quilty Box just because they were on sale.  However, they were only marked down from $1 to 80 cents.  Maybe I thought it would be a superior embroidery thread to DMC floss (it doesn't appear so to me), and when I received the skeins of dull blue floss, I was kind of disappointed.  I then remembered that I had wanted to try my hand at Sashiko and thought the Cosmo floss would fill the bill.  Nope.  I hate to waste, and even though I had heard Tara Faughanan say at a Bay Area Modern Quilt Guild meeting that embroidery thread is not good for quilting, I'm using that blue Cosmo thread on my Constellation Quilt.  It occasionally seems to get frayed, but that's okay as the fabrics for my latest quilt are from a big box store, so who knows how well this quilt will hold up to use and frequent laundering.  

You can't see the thread very well on the indigo chambray, but wow do they contrast nicely on the lighter fabrics.  I like the strong graphic punch of utility quilting.  These blocks came together really fast in the sewing and with my stitches about 1/4" on average, the sandwiching is super quick as well.  I'll be using mustard and silver #8 perle cotton on this quilt too.  Oh and even though using a quilt hoop and a thimble are advised, I don't, preferring instead to stitch on the hard surface of a t.v. tray and using my jewelry needle nose pliers to grip that needle when necessary.  Thread snips and that's all in the way of tools.

VAST Quilt

Yesterday I finally gave VAST, a quilt three years in the making because I couldn't decide for the longest time what pattern to use with the burgundy and neutral colors, to my sister-in-law, Krissy.  And it had stopped raining earlier, so that I could finally take a picture of her quilt in outdoor natural light.

Quilting in Progress: Constellation

I liked giant half square triangles and the shot cottons I found at the fabric and craft store so much that I'm sewing another VAST quilt.  You can see more of the line of indigo fabrics I bought on the last day of this sale.  

I plotted and planned out as best I could using modern solids in the traditional block called Constellation.

I got on my hands and knees to pin all the blocks below to sew together.  Last night I already stitched the equivalent of two indigo half square triangles....fourteen more half square triangle blocks to go.  I just bought myself a fabulous picnic knife, and this quilt will probably be the throw blanket on which to dine on bread and cheese and fruit on the beach.

VAST Reprise: Constellation

I love how fast the VAST quilt I sewed for my sister-in-law came together and have decided to make one for myself in a palette of indigos, pale blues, gray and white with a pop of mustard.  I also decided I was going to sew a traditional block but on a large scale like the VAST quilt calls for.  I got lucky at Joann's because their premium quilt fabrics and linens are half off.

From top to bottom:  Yarn Dye Winter Sky, Yarn Dye Blue Black Chambray, Yarn Dye Dusk Blue 

Yarn Dye Silver White, Mimosa Linen

I started planning and cutting fabrics and fell so in love with the softness and drape of these fabrics that I ran to Joann's to get even more fabric from the same line for yet another quilt.

From top to bottom:  Yarn Dye Rainy Day, Yarn Dye Light Chambray, Yarn Dye Dark Denim, Yarn Dye Two Stripes

So Little Time, So Many Quilts I Want to Stitch

I signed up for a class and joined an embroidery group at my local quilt studio.  I have extreme attention deficit disorder when it comes to crafting and sewing.  My embroidery instructor also teaches a crazy quilting class, which I declined on the plausible excuse that I don't have the because of my quilting habit.  But then I saw the book below and had to have it.  Of. course.

One of my co-workers has crazy rich friends who are the housewives of Burlingame, California.  And one of them is an interior designer, who had these gorgeous upholstery samples that she was just going to toss.  My co-worker thought of me the crafter who would want these sumptuous fabrics.  Of. course.

Purple and plum ad jewel tones color palette

Mustard, gray, black color palette

An "ocean" color palette

I also have white Korean silk given to me by my global traveler friend, Bob.  It's beautifully raw with slubs, and I want to use it as the "canvas" for the decorative stitches of a crazy quilt to adorn my walls. Sigh.  When though?

Work in Progress: VAST Quilt Sandwich Done!

I finished the straight line stitching of two triangles on my domestic machine last night.  My layers of backing, batting and quilt top last night are finally sandwiched, and so I started cutting fabric for binding.  My Vast Quilt is not perfectly square (a pucker here, a fold there), and I don't care.  Done is better than perfect.

Work in Progress: VAST Quilt

I straight-stitched and matchstick-stitched the center panel on my machine during the work week.

And this weekend I finished hand stitching all the solid blocks....and so my aim this week is to finish straight stitching the print blocks on my domestic machine.

Quilting Progress on VAST

I'm working from the inside to out, and this morning before clay class, I manage to finish the straight line and matchstick quilting of the center panel.