|
|
Monthly Archives: May 2011 First allow me to say from the bottom of my heart, thank you for all your nice comments on yesterday’s post. Having you guys chime in is icing on the cake! My friend was so pleased to receive the quilt and is planning on gifting it to her mother late this summer. I’m touched that... 
May 24, 2011 - 2:42 am
I like it all. I hope the stars make it into the quilt. They are one of my favorite things that you make. 
May 24, 2011 - 12:26 am
here in Queensland Australia we love our mangoes too. so juicy and sweet. THey are great to freeze too. 
May 23, 2011 - 6:03 pm
I love those fishies!!!  Whenever someone asks me how long it takes to make a quilt, I never really know how to answer them. This quilt took me over six weeks, but that was with big interruptions resulting from the ebb and flow of my daily life. When I look back, those cumulative moments went by quickly… the methodical... by robin 20 comments 
May 6, 2012 - 11:33 am
Hi Robin, 
May 24, 2011 - 5:34 am
SUMPTUOUS, Robin. I loved watching the evolution too. 
May 24, 2011 - 2:08 am
Could not be more perfect – the quilt and it’s story, your creative process, and the special gift Ken’s family will always cherish. 
May 23, 2011 - 8:03 pm
What a wonderful project. Thank you for sharing the process and the beautiful results with us. Ken’s family chose the right quilter for the job, obviously. 
May 23, 2011 - 8:03 pm
I had a problem when I fist tried to publish a comment.I probably said it better the first time round, but here it is again:
May 23, 2011 - 7:59 pm
It is a beautiful quilt and it will bring back nice and treasured memories for those who knew this man. Well done for adding some love and happiness to this hard world of ours. You are trullu blessed.
May 23, 2011 - 7:59 pm
It is a beautiful quilt and it will bring back nice and treasured memories for those who knew this man. Well done for adding some love and happiness to this hard world of ours. You are trullu blessed. 
May 23, 2011 - 6:18 pm
Nothing but beauty, beginning to end…intent, content, process and product. I know this family will be so blessed to have this memento. Truly lovely Robin! 
May 23, 2011 - 3:11 pm
Robin… it’s so beautiful. Not just the pattern, or the cloth, or the stitching or the flow of colors… the story is equally beautiful. 
May 23, 2011 - 9:15 am
What a beautiful post. Robin, what you have done is create a memory board for Ken’s family. They will no doubt cherish it and as new generations are added to the family and questions are asked about the quilt, Ken’s memory will come alive for all. I know this because I have witnessed it first hand. A beautiful quilt to remember a well loved man.
May 23, 2011 - 8:31 am
What a treasure! Lucky you and lucky family. Thank you for sharing the process and hopefully inspiring others to what a lovely tribute quilt can be. 
May 23, 2011 - 8:29 am
Robin, I enjoy reading your blog. I just had to comment on the completion of Ken’s quilt – I love it! I think it is a work of art. I love the way you used the strips in your composition and design and your study of color is quite evident! What a lovely way to repurpose the shirts. And on the question of “how long it took you to make it” I read a great essay once on the general question of how long it takes to make a quilt in general (maybe by Ami Sims? but I’m not sure) in which the writer said about 25 years, because that was about how long she had been perfecting her craft! 
May 23, 2011 - 6:18 am
It is lovely! You made a beautiful quilt from the shirts. 
May 23, 2011 - 6:17 am
What a special quilt! I made 2 memory quilts a year ago for sons of a friend. I know how hard it is to make something like that. You worry about decisions that you make that might inadvertently spark the wrong emotions. I didn’t hear from the recipients of my quilts for a few months. It turned out that they were a little too emotional for them (good, not bad). I recently heard that both boys sleep with their quilts every night and, once when the had guests using their beds, they removed the quilts. They will not let anyone else use their quilts. Those quilts were very difficult to make for a number of reasons but they were worth every single minute! 
May 23, 2011 - 3:21 am
Oh, wow! Fantastic! thanks for sharing all along the way! 
May 23, 2011 - 2:42 am
Thank you for sharing your progress with us, Robin. The quilt turned out perfect! I think Ken’s family must be very happy. We have all taken Ken into our hearts over the 6 weeks you worked on his quilt. Well done! 
May 23, 2011 - 1:25 am
What a wonderful project this has been – the finished quilt is gorgeous, but what a journey. 
May 22, 2011 - 8:51 pm
What a beautiful quilt! Your thoughtful description of the process of making it and thinking of Ken was a lovely tribute, as well as a bonus for me. Thank you! 
May 22, 2011 - 8:21 pm
What a beautiful work of art and what a heart warming story! 
May 22, 2011 - 6:50 pm
it came out beautifully!  Okay, he’s only twelve, so I guess he doesn’t really know yet what he wants to be… but just for a day I thought of him as an artist! We were invited to a reception of students’ work at his school and look what he made! My husband remarked, “It reminds me of a Robin... by robin 2 comments
May 21, 2011 - 9:53 am
Your son has a wonderful sense of colour. Hummm… I wonder where that comes from? As for pets, well, they just know where to stand to get maximum exposure. In my house we have a cat and if I am not around at breakfast time the girls have to build a wall of ceral boxes around their plates… and as soon as they finish he is there to lick the leftover milk. One detail, he likes left over milk of cornflakes and twists his nose at anything else.
May 20, 2011 - 5:20 pm
I like your pink/red glasses (this coming from the one who bought purple reading glasses!). You son IS an artist. I’d be surprised if any one of your kids *wasn’t* inspired by you.  Ken’s quilt is coming right along! I’ve quilted it in an echo motif with the lines of stitching being about a half-inch apart. This type of quilting will give it a nice pucker when the quilt is washed. The cotton batting should shrink up just enough to give this one a cozy drape. I also... by robin 1 comment 
May 20, 2011 - 7:57 am
This is such a lovely project, and to see coming together has taught me so much about how a quilt is put together. It’s looking really beautiful, the quilting complements it so much, drawing everything closer in some way.  Fabric dyed in the method I’m about to explain here will show tell-tale signs of the thoughtfulness and energy that was put into the cloth by the maker at an early stage. by robin 14 comments 
May 15, 2012 - 11:25 am
Wow! Those colours are beautiful! I found your blog earlier this evening and spent waaaay too much time reading through post after post… My mother has a background in textile design, so we have a bunch of dyeing and silk screening etc equipment, but she doesn’t have time for it anymore. I’ve always wanted to try dying my own fabrics, but have always been too scared to try! This seems like such an easy method – I can’t wait to give it a shot! (And even though it’s the middle of winter here in South Africa, we still have enough sunshine, thank goodness! Thank you so much for the inspiration! 
July 26, 2011 - 3:07 pm
I’ve been dyeing fabrics for a long time, just about every way imaginable, but have never done it this way. Really a nice option to have available..thanks for sharing.
May 21, 2011 - 8:15 pm
Oh that final picture is glorious! The joy of dyeing your own fabric…ah! 
May 20, 2011 - 9:59 am
Yes, the fold does have a crease in it and yes that crease does show up in the final product. I don’t mind though, sometimes it’s barely noticeable. When it is noticeable, the line looks organic and the color is slightly darker than the surrounding dyed fabric. I’ve often thought of ways to incorporate these happy-irregularities into my work. To avoid this whole crease thing, I could either cut the fabric in half, or simply dye on a larger surface.
May 20, 2011 - 9:55 am
Gosh Debbie, I don’t remember! Not only that, those colors were likely a blend of dyes… a little bit of this… a little more of that… 
May 20, 2011 - 9:52 am
do mind tell me the colors you used for the fabric in the Merlot box?
May 20, 2011 - 9:51 am
Robin just another question. You say to fold the fabric, does that give the fabric a crease/ tie dyed look?
May 20, 2011 - 9:49 am
Robin ~ just another question. You say you fold the fabric, does this make a crease/ tie dyed effect? 
May 19, 2011 - 4:25 pm
Ohhhhhh. You are making me long for summer! Dyeing is the only thing a Michigan summer is good for really.
May 19, 2011 - 1:03 pm
Hi Debbie, yes! I layer different colors on top of each other! Sometimes there is dye that works it’s way into the other layers on the sides, but that is rare, and only if I don’t take note to line up the sheets of plastic directly on top of each other. This doesn’t bother me though because I like the subtle (and small) blends of colors on the sides. I can layer a green on top of a red and have them both come out true to their own color. These day’s though, I tend to dye in one color family because it’s easier to mix one color and work with that, and because by doing this I avoid staining when I take the fabric out and just prior to putting them in the wash. The fabrics you see in that Merlot box were all dyed in the same dyeing session and layered one on top of the other. I’d love to hear from you when you finally do get some dyeing done! 
May 19, 2011 - 9:21 am
I hope to try this soon. Thanks for the tutorial!
May 19, 2011 - 9:12 am
so ~ you do different colors on top of each other? As always your fabric is gorgeous!
May 19, 2011 - 12:28 am
Wonderful pictures as ever! 
May 18, 2011 - 12:25 pm
Thanks for showing how you do this. I have done “scrunch” dyeing before, but haven’t tried this flat type. |
by robin
3 comments