Don't Make Me Break Out the Flying Monkeys

Who remembers the flying monkeys

 from The Wizard of Oz movie?

I was afraid of them when I was a child.

Honestly, they still creep me out.

* * *

In 2008 I was part of Tonya Ricucci's online Summer class

where our challenge was to make a two color quilt.

I struggled for weeks to come up with an idea.

On July 11th during a perfectly awful day at work

I realized exactly which phrase I would create

with free pieced letters on my class quilt.

It didn't take long to decide on my two colors

(a multi color dot on black and a collection of yellows)

and get the first few words pieced.

I also started testing potential border ideas.

By July 21 all of the words were pieced.

I shared this photo of a sketch showing 

my asymmetrical border plan on July 24th.

The inspiration for my borders 

came from Collaborative Quilting

by Gwen Marston and Freddy Moran.

I had made lots of piano key borders 

but this was the first time I'd added 

one of Gwen's serpentine strips.

This photo of another border's design

shows the black background print really well

as well as some of the many yellows.

I had nearly 6 yards of that background when I started

and only very small scraps when I finished.

So typical for liberated free pieced quilts -

ALWAYS buy more background

than you think you'll need.

At least twice as much and more if you can.

A double row of broken dishes blocks

created an interesting secondary design

for the quilt's top upper edge

and it helped balance out the large 

monkey wrench blocks at the bottom.

I debated about adding a third color

since it was a two-color challenge

but since the quilt NEEDED the pops of red

and we all know I'm not all that good

about sticking to "the directions or the plan" . . . 

I shared the finished flimsy on August 24.

It measured 61" wide x 86" long.

I then handed the top and back off 

to my good friend Chris

for custom free motion quilting.

I shared the completely finished quilt on October 1, 2008.

(that's just under three months from idea to completion)

Here's how Chris quilted the serpentine border.

And here's how she quilted the broken dishes border.

The custom work she did on this quilt

was light years ahead of what she had been doing . . .

I don't know which of us was the most thrilled!

In November, I shared the quilt during the 2008 edition

of the annual Davies Manor Quilt and Fiber Arts show.

And in December, DH hung the quilt 

in our newly-painted foyer.

(the door trim wasn't even installed at this point)

* * *

Fast forward a year or so . . . 

Tonya Ricucci was in the process of writing a book

about liberated letter making.

She had already asked to include my quilt

from her 2007 First Ever Online Class

AND SOMETIMES Y.

(you can see "Y"in this photo

taken during AQS Nashville 2008)

Tonya sheepishly asked if I would be willing 

to also let her include The Flying Monkeys

and, of course, I was happy to say YES.

Both quilts were shipped to her publisher in January 2010.

In October of that year, The Flying Monkeys

traveled to the Houston Quilt Show where 

it made an appearance in the Martingale booth.

Look closely and you can see Tonya holding the quilt.

(she was so surprised at how large the quilt was)

The quilt also travelled to The Quilt Show

when Tonya made an appearance there

to promote her book's upcoming release.

(episode 907)

My quilt was too large for the stage set

so this impromptu photo was taken

of Tonya (and someone else) 

holding up the quilt backstage.

Both of my book quilts came home on December 9th,

eleven months after leaving Tennessee, and

my copy of WORD PLAY QUILTS arrived on December 14.

What a happy day for liberated letter makers everywhere.

(this photo really illustrates the scale of the letters)

* * *

So I'm sure you're wondering why 

I am sharing this particular post today . . . 

Lynne has been telling the long and winding story

 of our friendship in a series of posts on her blog.

(look for Julie and Lynne - Our Story in the sidebar

below the SSOBB logo and before the Labels list)

Last week she shared her 2013 photo 

of The Flying Monkeys hanging in our foyer 

and we both discovered that I'd never 

put together a comprehensive post for the quilt.

This post was the closest I'd come.

The oversight has now been corrected.

Enjoy!

(and you can see more of my liberated letter quilts HERE)

Quiltdivajulie

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“Listening is a magnetic and strange thing, a creative force. The friends who listen to us are the ones we move toward. When we are listened to, it creates us, makes us unfold and expand.”

Karl Menninger

Where the Green Grass Grows - the Quilt

I shared this photo a week or so ago

when I chose threads for quilting.

This sample/demo/teaching barn block 

was initially pieced in September 2017 

when I was teaching barn building at JCCFS.

I shared its May 2019 makeover from 

Cows at Sunset to Where the Green Grass Grows HERE.

I used random scribble-zig-zag stitching 

around the cows' feet and in the grassy areas 

and added some gentle outline stitching 

around the bushes and a few of the cows.

I like the textural results.

The rocky area was stitched 

with lots of tiny liberated pebbles

to push it behind the grass and barn.

The sky's batik told me how to quilt using

random pebbles to outline and fill as needed.

Once again, I am very pleased with the result.

The door and haymow as well as the borders

were quilted with uneven and fairly close matchstick lines.

So why did I name this Where the Green Grass Grows?

That's a lyric fragment from an older country music song

that suited the quilt's theme and depicted scene.

Finished size is approximately 19" x 19"

This one is SUCH fun.

Quiltdivajulie

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“Always be on the lookout for the presence of wonder.” 

E.B. White

Rosewood Farms - The Quilt

This was the last photo I shared of the pink barn.

(created in 2016 as a  demo/presentation 

sample block for my book BUILD A BARN)

Since the threads-chosen photo was shared, 

I have been pondering how to quilt

the barnyard and the sky . . .

And then I saw these clouds and knew what I wanted to do.

(photo taken through the windshield while DH was driving)

From flat to fabulous --

My liberated free motion all-over fans

created perfect texture for the sky and

using the barnyard fabric design as my guide

provided realistic texture for the bushes and plants.

If you look closely at the previous photo and this one,

you'll see that I put the quilt back under the needle 

after the binding was sewn in place in order to 

add stitching in the haymow and on the barn door.

Now the quilt looks finished.

The batik binding works so well -

what a happy find from the stash.

Here's a detail photo to show 

the roof line ribbon candy motif

as well as the haymow and door details.

Rosewood Farms finished 

at 22" wide by 21.5" high.

I absolutely love it.

Quiltdivajulie

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“Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes, including you.”

Anne Lamott

Reverse Engineering

When I taught my free pieced barns 

at JCCFS in 2017

I made this sample in class as a demo, 

including several things NOT to do.

(like not having the right fabrics

and having to work without my stash)

At home, it went into the box

because my idea for a sunset sky

looked more like a raging wildfire

and I was in no mood to deal with it.

A few weeks ago the bordered barn block

with a new appliquéd roofline

was pin basted for quilting.

I still didn't love it but figured it would 

be the starting point for conversations about

thinking ideas through before executing them.

And then I decided I just could not stand the piece

the way it was - as a what-not-to-do example or not.

So I started taking it apart to be reimagined.

(Why?  I really like the green of the barn

and the barnyard with grazing cows - 

they deserved better)

The barn door was the wrong color,

 too narrow, and much too tall - so it had to go.

Ditto for the haymow opening

and that overly-intense orange sky.

One seam at a time

things were carefully unstitched.

After an hour of playing around with various fabric options,

this mock-up shows what I chose for the remake.

The lower story would be shortened with a wider barn door;

the upper story's roofline would be corrected,

the haymow would get a new cow-related look;

and the sky would become this happy blue batik.

(I pulled out that leftover binding

as a "maybe" option for later)

A few hours later I liked the untrimmed remake, but . . . 

. . . it really needed that something extra.

(shown here laying on top of its future backing)

After adding a colorful 2" border

I declared this to be much MUCH better.

I was going to appliqué the balloons and pin baste the flimsy

after dinner -- but the cheese grater tried its very best 

to reimagine the knuckle of my right thumb.

So once that big boo-boo heals far enough,

I'll get those hot air balloons stitched in place,

get the top pin basted, and get this barn quilted/finished.

* * *

For those who may not know -

I wrote this book about making free pieced barns.

BUILD A BARN has its very own blog

with LOTS of tabbed pages including

pages for each of the gallery quilts made by 

the Secret Society of Barn Builders.

CLICK HERE for the blog's main page

and have fun exploring!

Quiltdivajulie

April Showers - Finish No. 4 for 2019

I made this liberated free pieced barn

as a teaching sample for my book

BUILD A BARN - No Pattern Construction

back in March of 2016.

A week or so ago, I received an invitation

to participate in the upcoming regional

BLUE quilt challenge

and I thought of this sample block.

In order to make it a bit more BLUE,

I changed the barnyard to a field of blue bonnets

and adjusted the overall measurements

to meet the required 24" x 24" dimensions.

Pin basted and ready to quilt . . . 

Quilted and bound.

For some reason, this one is tricky to photograph.

The light and angle make a huge difference

in the photographed colors - especially the sky.

This black and white version

shows off the quilted texture of the barn yard.

My free form double clamshell 

was inspired by one of LuAnn Kessi's sketch pages.

And here is the same photo in living color.

I quilted the blue bonnets with Glide thread in Royal.

I also quilted the silo using Royal thread

with a design inspired by Leah Day's Monster Teeth.

The silo's texture shows up better in black and white.

The sky was quilted using 

Affinity variegated thread in Aquamarine.

The barn itself was quilted with  Royal

and the door/windows with Hawaiian Blue.

double-click to supersize this image

I still need to make/add the label

and attach the already-made hanging sleeve,

but there is no problem having my entry

ready to drop off the first week of April.

BLUE will be on display

at Crosstown Concourse (Memphis TN) 

from May 10 through July 28, 2019.

I can't wait to see all of these quilts

hanging together for this event . . .

Quiltdivajulie