It was 20 years ago today, Sgt. Pepper taught the band to play. (My 2021 Guild Challenge)

Dateline: January 2020.
My guild's annual guild Challenge parameters were presented. "Inspired by 20-20" was the theme, with no size, color, or fabric requirements... just the interpretation of the maker's choice of a lyric, poem, title, phrase, saying, etc. with the word/number "twenty" in it.

It didn't take me long to choose the first line from the Beatles' song, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band for the inspiration of my piece. Little did we know that 2020 would shine a spotlight on a lot of lonely hearts as we all sheltered in place a good portion of that year.

It was 20 years ago today Sergeant Pepper taught the band to play.
from: Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, by The Beatles

A photo timeline of my process

April 25, 2020: Stash-busting and playing with HST [half square triangle] clippings and strips of solid fabrics, I was making small log cabin blocks early in the pandemic to pass the time and feel productive. (Making patchwork and using the sewing machine were things we had control of!)

Half-square triangle bits and strips for log cabin blocks.

April 26, 2020: "Let's see what we have here... "
As groups of blocks were made, they were randomly placed on the design wall. I decided this could be the impetus of my Challenge piece.

Log cabin blocks on the design wall.

April 28, 2020: Selective cutting of characters from A Ghastlie Gush fabric collection [by Alexander Henry Fabrics] were interspersed among the log cabin blocks. If you're familiar with The Ghastlies fabrics, you know this fabric collection is very apropos for a quilt about love and lonely hearts.

Images from A Ghastlie Gush amid the log cabin blocks.

April 28, 2020: Because there were no in-person guild meetings from March to the end 2020, this is where I left the project until fall of 2021. My guild team—who was in charge of the Challenge—decided to roll this Challenge to 2021 with the hope we would meet in person for the Challenge reveal.

Log cabin blocks and fussy cut Ghastlie images.

Dateline: Fall 2021 and back to the Challenge

October 17, 2021: It was time to get back to the Challenge. After peeling off other WIPs and flannel tablecloths, this layer of my design wall surfaced. With the deadline a month away, I had to make progress.

Challenge layout, October 17, 2021

October 18, 2021: Another stash-busting patchwork project that I had done during the lockdown was a stack of scrappy heart blocks—originally slated to be a quilt on their own. These, too, were on the playing field (the design wall) with my Challenge piece. 

April 2020: piecing scrappy heart blocks.

Scrappy blocks made during shelter-in-place during 2020.

When the work (or the design wall) talks to you, you listen!

The scrappy heart blocks made their way into my guild Challenge, too. At this point I realized the heart motif was becoming prominent. I used value placement and contrast to rearrange the center log cabin units in a heart shape. I could further accentuate the center heart with the quilting.

Incorporating the scrappy heart blocks into the work.

October 19, 2021: Piecing of the center section began. I did this in chunks of 4-, 6- or 9 units, and rows of units... then assembled the bigger chunks to make the center section.

Piecing the center section.

October 19, 2021: Now that the hearts were part of the piece, I needed a patchwork transition from the hearts to the center section. I also wanted to include the words, "2020 Lonely Hearts Club" in the piece—probably at the top. I had not yet committed to the technique for the words, but applique, free-motion quilting, patchwork and machine trapunto all had potential.

The layout of the quilt top now included the scrappy heart blocks.

October 23, 2021: If you can't do patchwork but still need to work on your Challenge, do sketching of potential quilting designs. Here is a "quilting" sketch on my iPad.

Potential quilting designs. Digital drawing on my iPad.

October 24, 2021: In view of the time remaining before the deadline, I opted for improv pieced letters for the headline. Strips of solid fabrics were added to fill space around the heart blocks—all improvisational patchwork (no patterns were used for the letters or words).

Improvisationally pieced letter blocks.

I was still cutting and making sashing strips to fill the space around the heart blocks. The letter blocks were fine tuned and a few spare log cabin blocks found their way into the outer section.

Rough layout of the Challenge quilt on the design wall.

November 6, 2021: With slightly over a week to go before the deadline, the top was complete and ready for basting and quilting.

Completed quilt top.

To be continued...

A Ghastlie heart for Valentine's Day

I was at The Quilting Squares of Franklin quilt shop on Friday. The Ghastlies were there!! Valentine's Day is this coming Friday. And one of my Make Nine projects is pillowcases. Kismet!

"Ghastlie Love." Alexander Henry Fabrics.

Ghastlie Heart Valentine pillow cases

The fabrics I chose for my Valentine pillow cases are Alexander Henry's "A Ghastlie Heart" (of course!) and "A Ghastlie Screen," with a bold, graphic, Art Deco flavor. Both of these fabrics come in other colorways and there are several more prints/patterns in the collection. Call The Quilting Squares of Franklin or visit you local quilt shop and snatch some Ghastlies for Valentine's Day.

The makings of pillowcases: A Ghastlie Heart and A Ghastlie Screen from Alexander Henry Fabrics.

I use the burrito construction method with French seams to make my pillowcases and omit the accent band at the cuff. I'm checking off another Make Nine finish for 2020.

A Ghastlie Heart pillow cases.

Wishing everyone a Delicious Valentine's Day (and night) with Ghastlie pillow cases.

A Ghastlie Love fabric from Alexander Henry Fabrics.

💗 💗 💗

Happy Thanksgiving in Ghastlie style

When I was growing up, we had those big, all-day-with-the-extended-family meals (grandparents, parents, siblings, two generations of aunts, uncles, and cousins) for the big holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas. I remember it was best for us kids to steer clear of the kitchen because that's where all the brouhaha of food prep, cooking, and last-minute serving details were happening.

Hand embroidery on A Ghastlie Project by Alexander Henry Fabrics.

If this kind of kitchen lunacy happens at your house, you might be having one of "those" hair days as well. Take a page from the Ghastlie's journal—flip your hair up, and stick a flower or colorful hair-bob in your coiffure and don't stress the small stuff.

Early stage of my Ghastlie hand embroidery project.

Or bring along your hand stitching, find a comfy chair in the front room, and stay away from the kitchen—until someone yells it's time to eat.

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours.

Hand stitching: it's not as Ghastly as some may think

Hand stitched and hand embroidered "Patriotic Girl."
From ArtPlay Stitchery from Adornit.

It's taken me just about a year to get this piece to this stage.
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The running kantha stitch is by hand.

The embroidery is by hand (except her hair).

I work on it in small increments of time—between 10 minutes to an hour (if watching a TV program).

It's a portable project and it has no due date.

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Yesterday, my quilt guild had its annual brainstorming session to generate ideas for next year's programs. Among the quilting techniques that people were interested in exploring next year were: big stitch, hand embroidery, and sashiko. Traditionally, these are HAND stitching techniques. Although some may feel that "HAND" is a 4-letter word, quilting or stitching by hand can be relaxing, rhythmic and enjoyable... and, yes, it will take a bit more time.

Hand stitching, embroidery and embellishing with heavier weight, decorative threads have made a resurgence in the quilting world the past few years. Its popularity continues to grow. This is thanks to the stitchery artists, pattern designers, authors and instructors [Pepper Cory and Sue Spargo, to name just two] that expose, dazzle and teach us about the artistic potential of these techniques, and the thread and needle manufacturers that bring high-quality products to the marketplace to help us achieve our creative visions.

Here are detail photos of the kantha stitching on my patriotic girl.

Kantha stitching detail.

The top layer is a yarn-dyed fabric from Diamond Textiles, [Primitive collection, PRF-569]. The back layer is a piece of white muslin.

Using up bits of leftover embroidery floss.

There is no pattern marked in the background for the kantha stitching. The needle creates its own path. A new thread is fed into the needle when the previous piece is used up.

Kantha running stitch. No plan, just stitching.

A view of the back. The embroidery [the girl and flag] is embroidered just on the top layer. The kantha stitching is through both layers. 

Back view.

I'm not sure if this will turn into a pillow or a wall hanging. Suggestions? I do like the texture of the background stitching in contrast with the non-quilted, embroidered girl. 

From "Calendar Girls" collection of ArtPlay Stitcheries from Adornit.

Another hand stitching WIP [work in progress] I have going is one of the characters from Alexander Henry's ever popular fabric line called, "The Ghastlies." I picked up "A Ghastlie Project" panel at Bless My Stitches in Murphy, NC.

"A Ghastlie Project"
She might show up on a future artwear jacket.

When choosing a fabric for hand stitching—big stitch quilting, kantha or boro stitching, hand embroidery—I recommend a yarn-dyed woven fabric [see Diamond Textiles] as the needle will glide through with ease.

I hope you consider giving hand stitching a try. It's not as "ghastly" as some may think!