Rabbit Squared

Ah, the joy of creating art! Now that I finally finished my latest traditional quilt it is time to get back to the art I love. Not that I don't really enjoy making traditional quilts, but it is just not the same thing.

First on my long list of art projects was creating a piece for the annual Studio Art Quilt Associates auction. I'm a professional artist member of SAQA and every year I like to show my support by donating an art quilt for this auction. The auction proceeds are used fund exhibits and programs throughout the year. All pieces in the auction are 12" x 12"

This year the auction will begin on Monday, September 10th at 2:00pm EST and conclude on Sunday, September 30th at 2:00pm EST. The auction pieces are usually up on the SAQA website by July.

This year I decided to use my favorite rabbit design in this small format (12" x 12").

Here I have the rabbit design traced on freezer paper, a muslin foundation ready for the fused pieces and my stash of fabrics lined up and ready to use. (The TV remote is being used to hold down the freezer paper that wants to roll up.)

Lately I've been collecting brown and red/brown fabrics in anticipation of working on a large quilt of my Ridgeback, Bree (she is a red-wheaten). I was very glad to have a good range of colors and patterns to choose from. It really makes a difference on being able to get the effect that I want to have.

Here it is finished!

I'm calling it "Rabbit Squared #1" (#1 because I really like how it turned out, so will have to make more. You know how rabbits can multiple!)

The fused rabbit was quilted directly onto the background. The background is pieced from leftovers from the traditional quilt I just finished. Serendipitous availability of just the right leftovers is always fun.

The rabbit is free-hand zig-zag stitched around each piece of fabric using a variety of threads: Mettler poly, Sulky poly, and Madeira metallic. The background was pieced with Aurifil 50 wt and quilted with Mettler poly. All of the quilting threads were variegated.

Crazy Neckties - A New Batch

Finally completed another two batches of Crazy Ties. One set has a Fall/Halloween theme. Here's a couple of examples:

Then the other set is music/guitar themed:

Above is the one that was quilted with Aurifil 12 wt thread, that I was mentioning in a previous post.

The guitar ties are being held for David Taylor, one of Australia's top watercolor artists, who is coming to teach a workshop for us in September. He has been asking me to make these for a couple of years. He bought another one several years ago and likes to wear it to award ceremonies, but needs another for a change. Once he picks the one he wants, the others will be available for sale.

I'm still debating whether or not is is worth it to go the etsy route with my ties or just continue selling them at our inn, the Greenville Arms 1889 Inn, gift shop. Because each one is unique, I'd have to have to separate inventories - one for etsy and one for the inn. Hmmm. Will have to contemplate that a while longer.

Falling In Love Again - with Aurifil

It's always wonderful to rediscover a material that you already have in your studio. I'm talking about 12 wt Cotton Aurifil thread.

I've been making Crazy Ties to restock my supply for our inn gift shop (and a special request from one of our art instructors). This particular type of Crazy Tie is quilted and it is always fun to play with specialty threads on these - metallics, holographic, neon, and heavy weight threads.

The quilting can be used to either blend in with the fabrics or to stand out as the main focal point of the tie.

With the 12wt Aurifil thread it TRANSFORMS the fabric! I love the look and the feel of the transformed fabric. Call me crazy, but I love to pet this fabric and feel the texture and heft of the thread.

Here is another view where you can really see the difference in the look of the fabric with and without the Aurifil quilting. With the Aurifil, the quilting takes center stage.

This is a quilting treatment with regular 50wt Mettler polyester thread. You can see how the fabric remains the focal point instead of the quilting, which is the a supporting player.

But now I feel the desire to round out my selection of Aurifil 12 wt! I especially like the variegated colors.

Studio Report

The rabbit and squirrel are pinned to my design wall and patiently waiting for their moment to arrive. (Looks like they are watching that field for Spring growth!)



My studio it too small to have too many projects active at one time, so they will have to wait until Christmas crafting is finished and then I have to resume work on the 5 bed quilts that are my top priority to finish this winter (3 down, 2 to go).

So a quick look around my studio shows the Christmas minis that I'm working on. I'm sending these instead of paper cards.



I debated whether or not to send these as postcards through the mail, but then decided that I'd attach a cord to the tops to turn them into Christmas decorations/ornaments. I figured that by attaching a way to hang them to start with, it wouldn't be left to the recipient to figure out what to do with it or how to hand it up. To attach the metallic cord I inserted tiny grommets in each upper corner and threaded the cord through them.

What's fun about creating these little minis is trying out different threads. For the most part I work with Superior's Bottom Line in the bobbin. On the top I also used their metallic thread, their Highlights thread (loved the punch of that neon color), and their glitter thread (always a favorite way to add the hint of sparkle).



My other favorite for the satin stitch around the edges, besides Superior's Highlight, was Mettler's rayon thread - for its smooth, shiny finish. However, I also tried Curicini Tre Stelle's 12 wt cotton thread (see mini below) and was mightily impressed with the wonderful dense, smooth coverage it produced. Very nice and no problems with tension adjustment. (I use a lot of metallics and heavy weight threads when quilting, so I always automatically reduce the upper tension on my Bernina to around 1 or 2 and use a 90/14 needle.)



Unfortunately, I didn't have any 12 wt Aurifil on hand in colors that would work for the minis, so can't compare it for the satin stitch, but I have always liked it when I want a highly visible quilting stitch and so used it on several of the minis for that purpose.

The rest of my studio is still a mess with all of the hat boxes and hats that I haven't had time to deal with and with various parts of the bed quilts in process, not to mention the pile of yarn balls that were the result of my undoing a knitted coat I had made. (The two you see are just some of the 10+ that are piled on the floor.)



So that you have it, the current state of my studio.

Is Lint Really the Issue

I finished using all five bobbins worth of Aurifil 50 wt thread and took the standard shots of the bobbin case and throat plate area.





Yeah, there was lint. Pretty much similar to the lint build up seen with the Curicini Tre Stelle thread. So I have decided that I better do another test with less expensive brand of thread I had been using, to see if there was really going to be that much difference.

So here is a pic after one bobbin of use.



Hmmm. Not a whole lot of difference between this and the Italian threads.

But then I was thinking . . . is lint really that big of deal or is it just the red herring of thread attributes? I mean so what if there is some lint -- after all what do you expect with cotton? Is the presence of lint going to make that much difference in the quality of the stitch or use of the machine? Yes, you do have to clean the lint out of the machine for the best continued performance, but that's just a part of maintenance.

So let's forget about the lint! Let's focus instead on the more important qualities of the thread - the appearance of the stitch, the way it is handled by the machine, and range of colors!

I thought that the Italians were pretty close in this comparison. The stitches were beautiful and the thread ran smoothly through the machine. I'll give the slight nod to Aurifil, though, on the stitch appearance -- the thread really did seem to just melt and become one with the fabric.

However, the difference between the Italians and the cheaper thread was quite marked. I could feel the ridge of the cheaper thread stitches on the surface of the fabric and the louder noise of the machine running with the cheaper thread was definitely noticeable. With the Italians, the machine just purred.

The end result -- I'm giving up using the cheaper thread! Yes, I am definitely on a limited budget but since I'm not using up billions of yards of thread per year, I feel that a thread that can make my sewing machine purr is worth it!

Both of the Italian thread companies offer an array of thread weights and materials, which I'll be comparing as I come to a project that can use them. I'm especially interested in trying the heavy weight cotton threads, as well as the wool and silk threads because those are the threads that a meant to be seen on the surface of the work.

So here's a toast to the Italians! They are as smooth and sweet as a Sauterne!



I'm still working on piecing quilt tops, so if I notice any other aspect of note about these threads, I'll be sure to mention it.

The next top is a Queen size and it will use a simple 3.5" x 12" block design that will appear as stripes of blues alternating with white. These are my blues.

Aurifil Test Begins

Yesterday I started the comparison test with Aurifil. Just like for Curicini Tre Stelle, I wound 5 bobbins and cleaned and oiled the bobbin case.





Here is the pics after completing one bobbin full.



The throat plate lint build up looks similar to the results for the Tre Stelle, but the bobbin case looks less linty.



As expected, this thread handles like a dream. Smooth, quiet, and stitches that practically melt into the fabric.

I'm still only on the second bobbin, but completed the blocks for the scrappy pinwheel quilt top. I had to take the blocks out to the carriage house studio to use the floor space as my design area. First I set up the blocks on the tables in stacks of like colors - my design palette!



Next I lay out the blocks, being careful to keep a pleasing mix of colors in all the rows.



I had to stand on a ladder and hold the camera above my head to try to get as much of this quilt top in my photo frame as possible. And if you think that was a funny sight, imagine me picking up all of these blocks and keeping them in order as I stacked them from left to right!

Curicini Tre Stelle Prelim Results

I finally used up 5 bobbins of Curicini Tre Stelle 50 wt thread. I say "finally" because it seemed to last forever. This fine 2 ply thread allowed me load up the bobbins with more length than I could get with my previous brand of thread. Nice!

Here are pics of under the throat plate and in the bobbin case after the 5th bobbin was emptied.





So there is a bit of lint build up, but is this from the thread or the fabric? To early to tell (unless someone more familiar with lint patterns can enlighten me!) In addition to now testing Aurifil, I'll also do a similar 5 bobbin test with my previous much cheaper thread to see how that compares with these two fine Italians.

But I must say that even with a little lint build up, this thread was beautiful to use. It ran smoothly and quietly through my Bernina and lay down nice low profile stitches. Already, no matter who comes out on top, I'm sold on these quality threads.

I'm on to my second king-size scrappy quilt. This time I'm using 2 triangles to create a 4" square, and then arrange these into a pinwheel block. I'm loving how many squares I can assemble with this thread before emptying a bobbin.

The Italian Face Off - Aurifil vs Curicini Tre Stelle

And so it begins . . .

I was so intrigued by my first experience with fine Italian threads that I've decided to do a head to head comparison between Aurifil and Curicini Tre Stelle.

I first learned of Aurifil at the Houston Quilt Festival back in 2005 and immediately fell in love with their 12 wt variegated thread. I like to use variegated thread for quilting and the 12 wt was a nice hefty thread that was still thin enough to run through my Bernina.

The Curicini Tre Stelle thread is new to me, but is a from a company that has been around for decades.

The first round of the Italian thread faceoff will be between 50 wt threads doing regular piecing. I use a Bernina 1260 and a 90/14 needle (because I don't like changing needles between cotton and metallic threads!)

In this corner is a grey 2-ply 50 wt Curicini Tre Stelle thread.



I've filled 5 bobbins and cleaned the bobbin case.



Then in this corner, anxiously waiting his turn, is a white 2-ply 50 wt Aurifil thread.



I am piecing regular commercial 100% cotton squares with a straight stitch and will go through 5 full bobbins. I'll be counting thread breaks and checking lint build up after each bobbin finishes.



So far, I completed 1 bobbin full of the Curicini Tre Stelle. This is what the bobbin case looked like afterwards.





Sort of linty! Could be from the fabric, could be the thread, but won't know until the full test is finished. I'm thinking I may have to also run this test with the cheap brand of thread I was previously using just to get a data point on linty-ness.

Other than the lint, the Curicini is running smooth and beautiful through my machine and creating lovely stitches.

I have finished off one simple quilt top, but the challenge will continue on the next! Stay tuned for scintillating photos of lint build up or lack there of.



(Sorry, no wet t-shirts or tight Italian pants in this faceoff. I'll have to leave those images to your imagination!)

Quilt Making Frenzy

Ever since the wedding quilt frenzy, I haven't been able to let go of the desire to make more standard quilts. It has been partly because I realized my scrap pile was threatening to take over my studio. I also needed more room for fabrics that I use in my current work, not the wild multi-patterned novelty-type fabrics I had purchased in the past. So the old stuff had to be used up, because, of course, I couldn't throw it away!



I also realized that I have been at our inn, the Greenville Arms 1889 Inn, for 6 years already and have only completed a quilt for only one of the rooms. I feel like such a piker! Here I call myself a quilter and haven't even made quilts for the rooms -- although my art quilts are all over the place! But I wanted to put "my mark" on the inn as an innkeeper - something that might last longer than I. (Although I am not planning any departure from the inn anytime in the near future!)



I also just like assembling pieces of fabric and it is a very relaxing thing to do when you are too exhausted to think of anything else.



Another motivator is that I bartered one of our workshops at Hudson River Valley Art Workshops for some longarm quilting services. The workshop traded is coming up and I don't have any of the quilt tops ready! So I'm piecing at every chance I get.



Nothing like a pile of chain pieced triangles. If I'm lucky I might have one quilt top ready by the time the workshop is over.

I was approached by a distributor to try out a line of Italian thread, Curicini Tre Stelle. It is a 2-ply long staple thread, reportedly just like Aurifil, another line of fine Italian thread. I tried the 50 wt cotton for piecing. The difference between this thread and the much cheaper brand that I had been using was marked! The Curicini ran through my Bernina like silk.



Now I'm curious about the Aurifil 50wt. I have some but was waiting until I used up the cheaper stuff I had (waste not, want not!). But with the difference between the finer thread being so immediately noticeable, now I want to see how the two Italians face off!