If 6 Turned Out to be 9 - Project Quilting

"If 6 Turned Out to be 9," 7" x 5", made by Pam Geisel for Project Quilting, Season 11, Challenge 1: Notably Numeric, Jan. 2020 in Yellow Springs, Ohio

Challenge recap for "Notably Numeric":

Your project must feature numbers, counting, or mathematics in its theme or implementation.

We were on vacation when the challenge was posted, so I had several days to think about it before I could work on it. And I had many, many ideas. When I finally started working on it I was going to use the number 6 (or 9) to make eyes or eye glasses. Perhaps I was inspired by the project I made for one of last year's challenges ("Aye, Eye Captain") that also ended up being in the Eye Contact Challenge, as I'd gotten the book from the exhibit for Christmas and had just been looking at it.

Here are just some of the many fonts that I considered. Don't they make great eyes/glasses? Some looked hopeful, while others looked angry.

As I was looking through all of the fonts that I have, I came across one called Jokerman.

I'm not sure where it came from and I don't think I've ever used it before, but it had such a wonderful curl to it that I decided I wanted to use that and not the eyes. (Perhaps another time.)

I traced the six in reverse onto fusible web then fused that to the back of some Robert Kaufman  Effervescence Gradation Rainbow fabric that I had left over from "Breathe - Inhale" and "Breathe - Exhale" that I made last fall.

I fused that to a bright purple Island Batik fabric and sewed the edges down. I basted the quilt to batting and a backing fabric and couched a dusty purple yarn around the design.

I popped it into a frame which can hang either horizontally or vertically (which really makes the 6 obvious).

More about If 6 Turned Out to be 9

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Click on any of the photos to see larger images.

To read more about Project Quilting, go here.

To see other entries for this challenge, visit the Notably Numeric page.

Rain(bow) Drop - Project Quilting

"Rain(bow) Drop," art is 4" x 5" in a 5.5" x 6.5" (exterior measurements) frame, made by Pam Geisel for Project Quilting, Season 9, Challenge 4: Mellow Yellow, Feb. 2018 in Yellow Springs, Ohio

Challenge recap for "Mellow Yellow":

"Yellow is a color that frightens many quilters. It's true, yellow sometimes can overpower a design. But it's also a happy color, so focus on that this week."

Personally I'm not afraid of the color yellow...I live in Yellow Springs after all. But I did learn in my graphic design years that yellow doesn't have a lot of shades to it like the other colors so it doesn't have as much contrast and you can only make it so dark.

For this project I painted some drops of color in a tear drop or egg shape (subconsciously thinking of the drink Mello Yello or it's competitor Mountain "Dew"?) 

I fused this to a yellow background then quilted around the raw edges with white thread then free motion quilted in the white spaces between the colors.

I added 11 seed beads in matching rainbow colors going across the drops. I put it in a small black frame which has an easel back and can go both horizontal or vertical.

One interesting note about quilting with the color yellow: I no longer buy any yellow thread. If I have a yellow fabric and I want to quilt with a similar color on top of it, I use my tan thread which will look yellow enough.

More about Rain(bow) Drop

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Click on any of the photos to see larger images.

To read more about Project Quilting, go here.

To see other entries for this challenge, visit the Mellow Yellow link up.

Shine - Project Quilting

"Shine," art is 4" x 5" in a 5" x 6" (exterior measurements) frame, made by Pam Geisel for Project Quilting, Season 9, Challenge 3: Bold and Brave, Feb. 2018 in Yellow Springs, Ohio

Challenge recap for "Bold and Brave":

Your project should be about bravery: Try a new technique! Honor someone's courage! Conquer your own fears!

Being a graphic designer, when I think of "Bold" I think of typefaces. I did a Google search and there are many inspirational memes encouraging people to "Be Bold." I decided to use the word "Shine" but instead of making in a bold typeface, I chose a script typeface.

To play up the bold theme, I painted some fabric with a boldly colored rainbow splotch then embroidered the word on top of it. I don't do embroidery and my sewing machine doesn't do embroidery so this was the brave part: I did it with the sewing machine by free motion. 

I printed the word out the size I wanted it then traced it in reverse on to the back of the fabric and using my free motion foot, I went over the outline several times with a white thread. When that didn't show up enough I did it, this time from the front, with a varigated shiny blue and green thread. This also didn't show up enough so I did one single layer with navy thread, so you could still see the other colored thread behind it.

I fussy cut the whole thing around the rainbow shape, fused it to a hand-painted navy fabric with stars on it, machine quilted some lines shining from the rainbow cloud, added some subtle shine by hand sewing blue sequins to the background, then I put it into the frame.

More about Shine

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Click on any of the photos to see larger images.

To read more about Project Quilting, go here.

To see other entries for this challenge, visit the Bold & Brave link up.

Yellow Springs Yarn Bomb - Project Quilting

"Yellow Springs Yarn Bomb," art is 4" x 6" in a 7" x 9" (exterior measurements) frame, made by Pam Geisel for Project Quilting, Season 9, Challenge 1: Hometown Proud, Jan. 2018 in Yellow Springs, Ohio

Challenge recap for "Hometown Proud":

Be inspired by the best of you community – what makes your town special?

There are a lot of things that make our little village of Yellow Springs special, but what makes it special to me is the amount of art:

  - art galleries

  - artist co-ops (including Village Artisans, which I'm a member of)

  - an arts council

  - restaurants that display art on a rotating basis 

  - the Sunrise Cafe with murals that covers all of their interior walls 

  - seemingly random outdoor public art including our yarn bombings

To create this piece I fused some brown pieces of fabric (the tree) to a hand dyed blue background then I did zigzag stitches (as wide as my machine would go) to make the "yarn" on the tree. I probably spent more time changing the thread and bobbin colors than I did sewing the yarn.

Then I did a small free motion meander quilting around the tree and put it in a cool wood frame.

In the photo at the top of the page, the two ceramic pieces were made by other Yellow Springs artists. The pot on the left was made by Geno Luketic and the little bird was made by Carol Culbertson.

More about Yellow Springs Yarn Bomb

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Click on any of the photos to see larger images.

To read more about Project Quilting, go here.

To see other entries for this challenge, visit the Hometown Proud link up.

How Sweet to be a Cloud Floating in the Blue - Project Quilting

"How Sweet to be a Cloud Floating in the Blue," art is 3.75" x 8.25", made by Pam Geisel for Project Quilting, Season 8, Challenge 3: Tuned in to Texture, Feb. 2017 in Yellow Springs, Ohio

Challenge recap for "Tuned in to Texture":

Your project must be inspired by a pattern or texture you find "in the wild" this week.

Back when I was doing graphic design, one of the things I liked to do was to add "visual texture" to page layouts and graphics. Those items really don't have an actual texture but I didn't want them to look so "flat." I've also done this when working with mostly solid colors, such as in "Lavender Diamonds" and all of the Project Quilting "Focus Through the Prism" quilts. One of the reasons work with fabric is because I love to touch it; I love the texture.

I'm always intrigued by clouds. The look like they would be fun to touch, but of course you can't touch a cloud, even if you could reach that high. So even though I had million other ideas, I decided to make something with clouds.

This is a pretty small piece and I made it to fit in this interesting chunky odd-sized wood frame that I had. I also included two pieces of my very favorite green yarn that I like to use for the horizon lines in my quilts (like in "Early Morning Nine Patch" and also "Summer Barn" and probably others that I'm not thinking of at this moment.

The title is a quote by A. A. Milne, the author of "Winnie the Pooh."

More about How Sweet to be a Cloud

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Click on any of the photos to see larger images.

To read more about Project Quilting, go here.

To see other entries for this challenge, visit the Tuned in to Texture link up.

Hope - Project Quilting

"Hope," art is 2.5" x 4" in a 5" x 7" frame, made by Pam Geisel for Project Quilting, Season 8, Challenge 1: Eight is Great, Jan. 2017 in Yellow Springs, Ohio

Challenge recap for "Eight is Great":

Since this is the eighth year for Project Quilting, your inspiration for this challenge is eight.

I had a lot of ideas for this project, so many that I had difficulty deciding which one to do. So I decided to look through my fabric stash and let it tell me. I dug into my hand-dyed fabrics and they wanted to be an flower with eight petals. I was also inspired by the local weather.

This is the view out my studio window today. Which is why I named this piece "Hope."

It is raw-edge applique with micro stippling in the green background with a variegated thread.

More about Hope

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Click on any of the photos to see larger images.

To read more about Project Quilting, go here.

To see other entries for this challenge, visit the Eight is Great challenge link up.

Sunrise in the City

"Sunrise in the City," 9" x 11", made by Pam Geisel, December 2013

I have been making quilted bookmarks using hand dyed fabric. I usually piece the strips of colors together then cut them to the size I need, which sometimes leaves me with left over smaller pieces. I used these pieces to make this framed art.

I used a purple variegated thread to quilt these then I framed it.

More about Sunrise in the City.