Saturday, February 22, 2020

sewing saturday "Open the door"

"Open the door..."  12" X 12"  2/2020
My art quilt group decided to do a year long series/challenge of 12 inch square journal quilts. We can make anything we want, have a theme or just make what reflects our month.
I chose as my words of the year the phrase, "open the door..."  to remind me to take a chance on life.
To interpret that for January's journal quilt, I knew I wanted an open 3-d door, opening to brilliant colors.

I started by googling images of curved doors, and settled on two images. Then comparing them I decided on one as inspiration and began...
I also began choosing fabrics to represent a tile floor, stone wall, and garden

I drew the doors, then used those to cut peltex in that shape, pressed wood like fabric scraps onto them, cut out a wood like fabric "frame" to go around those, made sure I left enough to pull to the back to finish off the edges, then carefully stitched around the raw edges. I used black first, then tan to stitch highlights on one side of each opening.
at each stage I go back to my peltex background cut to 12" to see how the scale is looking, how fabrics look together. I liked the words on this beige fabric but it was too "busy" for the wall so I moved it to the bottom of the piece and put a hand dyed quiet fabric in place for the wall.

To make the arch over the door, I basically closed the doors to get a size and angle and cut it.
To make the shadow under the arch I took tan hand dye strip, sewed wedges into it to make it curve at the right size, pressed both fabrics on "shirt tailor" and shaded in stone blocks with prisma color pencil.
Then I trimmed it to size, and tucked the arch under the doors. Adjusting constantly for angle and proportion and knowing the final stitching would really shade the lines and look like stones.
I like a time to laugh, sew, heal, and a time for keeping...
The blue 'tiles" are silk tie fabric, the columns are built onto peltex so they stand out from the piece too. I did all stitching first, then one line to connect them to the finished work.

The garden fabric is lovely mix of scenes so I had to cut just the right scene to show through the open door.

on the design wall
Some people think it's easy to make small quilts. I think any time you are making something original it takes a lot of decisions, back and forth, trying something and discarding it, tweaking, and perseverance. I don't overworry each stage, letting it unfold to tell a story.
you can just see how the backing was done along the bottom here
to finish this I folded all the fabrics to the back, and created a finished square to superimpose over those raw edges, then stitched right along the edge to seal it.
(I stitched a lot of the components before this step)
Then I did last of the quilting all layers,  inked in the title, date, and artist's signature, and now it's displayed on my easel in the family room.
I plan to use my three flamingos heart drawing as inspiration for February's journal quilt.

hope you enjoyed seeing more of my process, and it encourages you to open the door to new techniques and self expression.

as J. Basford said, "practice doesn't make perfect, practice makes progression"




29 comments:

Mary in Peoria Handmade said...

I am blown away by the Open Door mini. Thank you for sharing the process. Your talent really shows thru on this piece. It’s so welcoming. It takes a lot of patience to get this “just right” in scale and movement. Simply lovely.

PaintedThread said...

I LOVE this. Intricate, beautiful little work.

Elkes Lebensglück said...

beautiful the idea with the gate entrance, you sewed it great, fantasic!!!!

Sandy said...

This is great! I love it.

Laura said...

A dear friend who is also a talented teacher always reminds students that practice makes progress, which is so true. I really helps when evaluating a project in progress. What have I learned, what can I do differently next time. Thanks for sharing your lovely journal quilt. It certainly encourages me to step through the door to beauty.

Siouxzq64@gmail.com said...

Wow that is awesome. Fabulous job and thanks for sharing your process.

Beth B said...

This is just wonderful. Thank you for sharing your process as well as the finished piece.

Mary in Boulder said...

Great execution of a great idea!

MissPat said...

This is really cool.
Pat

Duke said...

It's just beautiful and so very creative!

Joanne said...

It's gorgeous LeeAnna!
What a work of art ! Love it!
Thanks for sharing all the detailed photo's!
hugs,
Joanne

Debbie said...

What a great piece. Love the thought and detail you gave it. Sometimes we learn so much by playing around in small journal quilts. I did a year of them a while back.

The Joyful Quilter said...

Thanks for sharing such detailed process photos, LeeAnna!! I've always admired Door quilts, but have never attempted one of my own. Yours is spectacular! How do you like working with Peltex? I'm not sure I would ever have thought to try that.

LA Paylor said...

I actually love peltex for art quilts. It is simple to quilt through, and firm to hold shape on 3-d items. Peltex, and shirt tailor are my go to stabilizers.

LIttle Penguin Quilts said...

That is beautiful, LeeAnna! I do always enjoy following along with your process. You're going to have a lovely year of art quilts to display!

Tails Around the Ranch said...

It's quite beautiful. Well done.

Rain said...

I can't believe that's a quilt! You are an artist!!!

Cynthia Brunz Designs said...

Beautiful journal quilt. And such a great way to start out the year. Thanks for sharing with Oh Scrap!

Louca por porcelana said...

Great job!

claudia said...

Hi LeeAnna! I know...long time no hear from. My bad. I hope you will forgive me.
I love your little quilt there. It's amazing. The garden outside the door looks so inviting!

For the love of geese said...

Great finish.

Jocelyn is Canadian Needle Nana said...

This is a little mini work of art, LeeAnna. I love it. And you are right about the time involved in creating something. I couldn't believe how long it took me to work out and make those extremely simple shapes for the cabin piece.

Kaja said...

I always like to see journal quilts and this is a great example - all those processes and creative decisions in one little square.

Powell River Books said...

I like the way you shared the progression of your project. The result is amazing. It must be fun to be part of a quilting group. - Margy

Frédérique - Quilting Patchwork Appliqué said...

Wow, this is just amazing, beautiful mini!

Angie said...

LA - stupendous! I had a challenging people day, and I have been working hard on keeping an open mind. Trying to see things from their perspective. An open door … a perfect metaphor!

Home Sewn By Us said...

Hi LeeAnna! I think you absolutely met your goal in your interpretation of "open the door." I would love to join you through that gate and into that garden. It's beautiful. Thank you so much for linking up with TGIFF today. ~smile~ Roseanne

Su-sieee! Mac said...

I'm wolf whistling at your quilt, LeeAnna. Whooot-whooot-whoot! Another something you've done that I've put on my list to try.

Norma Schlager said...

Beautiful piece and I liked seeing your process.