Inspired By Elvis

On June 28, 2018, a new art quilt book celebrating Elvis will be made available for purchase and one of MY QUILTS is in that book!  Here is the book, INSPIRED BY ELVIS, if you are interested.

In 2016, the author, Donna Desoto, put out a call for entries.  Participating artists were encouraged to choose a song or other theme having to do with Elvis.  When I read the lyrics to the song MEMORIES, I knew that would be my choice!

The  reason?

One evening in 1975, I was driving home from work and passing by Graceland, as I did twice each day, when I was surprised to find the gates open and Elvis himself signing autographs for a small group of fans.  This was the one and only time I ever saw him in real life.  I wanted to represent that memory with my quilt.

MEMORIES by Patricia Smith   36" x 36"

I am fortunate that MY QUILT will be exhibited at the INTERNATIONAL QUILT FESTIVAL in Houston this fall, 2018!

The song I chose, MEMORIES, speaks of 'holding hands and red bouquets', which are depicted by the Elvis fans  My 'twilight sky' is 'trimmed with purple haze' while 'golden autumn leaves' fall to the ground.  The 'laughing eyes' of Elvis can be found in the grass in the foreground (bottom right).

The golden silk fabric in the sky represents the silk drapes that hang in the living room at Graceland, where Elvis entertained family and friends.  The digital camouflage fabric in the distant lawn (between trees) represents his service in the Army.  His face can be found on two areas of the lawn as can a guitar.  To represent his Western movies, there are cowboy hats and boots sparkling in the treetops.  There are palm trees and flowers to represent his beach movies.  Glittered felt musical notes remind us of his gift.  There are three Blackjack hands...and Ace and a Queen...scattered around the quilt to remind us of the decades he spent performing as a showman in Vegas. 

And last but not least, the back of the quilt is covered with money, to represent the income Elvis continues to provide for his family long after he has passed.

The working title of this quilt was ‘TINY GRACELAND’ because this house is TINY!  The west-facing windows are made with three layers of fabric...a silver lame’, a gold glittery organza and a purple-gold tulle...to give the impression of reflecting a setting sun as well as duplicate the diamond grid pattern of the windows at Graceland.  

The 'laughing eyes' of Elvis peer out from the grass, made of various fibers and fabrics.

Back in 1975, the road was still a highway and there was a grassy area between the fence and road...unlike today's concrete pads.

The golden silk fabric used to depict clouds reflecting the setting sun was actually torn from the drapes at my own home!

Tiny Elvis and his fans were made paper doll style...creating the overall form in fabric, then making clothing from separate fabric pieces.  I asked my friends to pose for me one day in a restaurant to provide models for the fans.

The fans depict the song lyrics,' holding hands' and 'red bouquets'.

'Golden autumn leaves' are scattered on the ground behind Elvis.

 Elvis continues to provide.

Perhaps you remember the song?

"Memories"

Memories, pressed between the pages of my mind

Memories, sweetened thru the ages just like wine

Quiet thought come floating down

And settle softly to the ground

Like golden autumn leaves around my feet

I touched them and they burst apart with sweet memories,

Sweet memories

Of holding hands and red bouquets

And twilight trimmed in purple haze

And laughing eyes and simple ways

And quiet nights and gentle days with you

Memories, pressed between the pages of my mind

Memories, sweetened thru the ages just like wine,

Memories, memories, sweet memories

Square Peg, Round Hole, part 4

After washing the quilt, I was pleasantly surprised that the bleeding had indeed disappeared! But the quilt had shrunk a bit. So I had to stretch it out and block it into shape.


This quilt is slightly wider than my cutting table. I pulled out one of those cardboard cutting mats...the kind that you can buy in your local fabric store...and put this on top of my cutting table. I used clamps to firmly attach the mat to the table on one side. This way, I could pin my quilt to this mat to block it.

But the quilt was WIDER than this cardboard mat. So I pushed my ironing board up against the table and pinned the opposite side of the quilt into the ironing surface. Not high-tech, but it worked to allow me to pin this quilt into size/shape and keep it there until it dried.

At this point, I r.e.a.l.l.y wanted to be finished with this quilt but I knew I had to continue as planned and couch on this black sparkley thread that had been patiently waiting for its turn to shine.


Using a needle-threader and needle enabled me to bury the ends of this thread into the quilt before couching it. I cut long lengths and layed them approximately in place and used the needle to run both ends of the thread into the quilt surface, leaving long tails sticking out at each end. These were cut off after couching that thread.




Then I used a narrow zigzag stitch on my regular sewing machine to couch over the thread.


I covered every seam of the checkerboard with this couched thread...between each wedge and around each concentric circle. I also used it around the golden center circle (with the nipple).



It was hard to handle this heavy quilt on my sewing machine at first, but then I had an idea. I ran down to the garage and pulled out a pair of clean garden gloves that had a rubbery-grippy palmar surface.

These gloves worked GREAT for manipulating the quilt under the machine! I was better able to pull the surface taute so the decorative thread would lay in the seam...plus, the gloves helped me to assist the feeding of the quilt under the machine.

Yeah, I did have to pull them off each time I needed to cut with scissors or thread a new length of the decorative thread onto the needle, but even with the repeated on and off, the gloves were a big help!

So that is pretty much every single detail I can think of regarding the creation of this quilt! Too much info, maybe?

The end. Maybe. ;)

Square Peg, Round Hole, part 3

After adding the background to the checkerboard area, I also cut and added the borders. The challenge rules stated that there HAD to be an outer black border that measured 3" wide...then a 1.5" border that was one of your colors...then a 3/4" border that was also black. This way, ALL the quilts would have the same 'frame'.

I had already quilted the majority of my quilt, but had yet to decide how to quilt the borders. I removed the quilt from the frame and layed it on my cutting table to audition various designs. I folded paper and cut curves, then unfolded to see what it looked like. I decided this one would work.

So I unrolled some freezer paper to a length that was as long as my quilt and cut strips from it that were as wide as the outer border.

After drawing the design onto one strip of the freezer paper, I used the tip of the iron to stick two strips together, so that I could cut two at a time.

I only pressed the strips together in the areas OUTSIDE my design area...in the waste.

When all the sides were cut, I ironed the freezer paper templates to the quilt border all around.

Then I put the quilt back on the HandiQuilter frame to quilt the border area.



I stitched around the paper templates first, then tore them away a little at a time to do the stippling. I found I could stipple more easily once the paper was removed, and by then, it was no longer needed.

I have never used this method before, but it worked well, and if I am not too stupid to remember it, I will do this again!

I DO wish I had used double batting, though, to give a bit more of a 'trapunto' effect. Next time.

Now the quilting was done! But remember, ONE of my indigo fabrics had bled onto the adjacent goldenrod fabric, so I knew I had to wash this quilt to hopefully rescue it!

As you can see, the center had not yet been added to the checkerboard. I didn't want to add that until AFTER I had washed the quilt.

I put on the binding and prepared to toss this into the washer, not sure what it would look like when it came out!

Here you can see some of the quilting BEFORE it was washed. It was kinda lumpy.

Below is the back-side of the border area before washing. Remember? There are white pokies here, where the batting poked through the back fabric.

I knew I had to throw this in the wash, but I didn't want to add the center piece (the square peg) until AFTER washing it, so I just scabbed-on a lovely black and pink scrap to protect the exposed batting in this area.

This black/pink piece would be removed after washing and replaced with the golden nipple...I mean, 'square peg in the round hole'.

This is what it looked like as I prepared myself (mentally) to toss it into the washer, hoping the bleeding would not be made worse, and hoping the blue lines would come out.

Up close, you can see the blue lines that I had drawn on the fabric to direct me in my quilting...and if you look closely, you can see where the blue fabric has bled onto the yellow fabric in those two inner rings.

This is the back of the quilt, before washing but after the binding was put on.

Then I washed it...

Square Peg, Round Hole, part 2

I narrowed down my fabric selection to just these fabrics. Yes, there was still SOME variation in value within many of these, but I was hoping that in the end, the fabrics would read as being the same as my crayon colors.

I cut graduated chunks of each color as I wanted them to appear in the expanding checkerboard, and used hair clips to bundle these chunks together in order.

When unbundled, below is how the fabric looked when layed out in the order to be sewn. I call these 'chunks' because they were not always squares...some were the same length as width, but some were not.

When sewing these together, I just matched the center of each square to its neighbor's center, but since each one was larger than the one before it, the edges do not match along the sides.

After pressing the assembled sets, I used a 9-degree ruler to trim each set into a wedge. As you can see, there was very little wasted fabric.

Still fretting over some of my fabric choices, I was aware that there were some blue dots in one fabric that might be interpretted as a little too 'turquois'...and NOT as indigo...so I used a permanent marker to color these dots purple, which was my complementary color choice.

After cutting all 40 wedges to size and coloring in all mis-colored dots, I was ready to assemble the wedges into a checkerboard. I layed them all out on my cutting table and just picked them up two at a time and sewed them in order.

Once all the wedges were connected, I 'squared' off the corner using my rotary cutter and ruler. Again, you can see that there was very little waste. That was by design!

Next I slipped a solid(-ish) fabric under the edge of this part-circle and drew around the outer edge of the checkerboard. Then I drew another line that was 0.5" away from this first line and cut on that line...this gave me enough extra fabric for 2 seam allowances. Then I pinned and sewed this checkerboard to the solid background, which was also trimmed to size.

Next, I added the borders...

Square Peg, Round Hole, part 1

At the late-September meeting of our quilt guild, we drew 3 crayons from paper bags which were to determine the colors for our quilt. As luck would have it, I was going with the Memphis Sewing Guild on a day-trip to Paducah in mid-October! I took my crayons along and scoured the isles of Hancock's of Paducah for any fabrics that matched my crayon colors. I scored big! I wasn't sure what I would make yet, but I had the fabrics!

Then, at the next few meetings, the rules were clarified a little...we were NOT to use lighter or darker values of our crayon...this was about saturation. There was some leeway as to hue...like, if we drew a red crayon, we could use orange-reds and bluer reds, but not pink or maroon. Don't go lighter or darker...try to match. Hmmmm.... The stripes were ruled out, as they had large amounts of the lighter value. Rats! Actually, I was worried that MANY of my fabrics would be deemed unacceptable!

I had already begun thinking I would do an expanding checkerboard design, but when I realized my fabric choices were growing smaller, I decided to try other designs.

I considered doing a play on boxes...and this is where the original 'peg' was born.

But this design really didn't trip my trigger! It was as if I was married to the idea of the expanding checkerboard...I couldn't fall in love with anything else! So I picked out SOME of the fabrics that I thought would pass and went back to the idea I liked best!

But I DID like the 3-D element I had created for the 'box' quilt.... the 'peg', or 'nipple' as we like to call it around here! ;) The expanding checkerboard would need a center circle, so I decided I could still use this 'box' idea, but make it circular instead!

Also, I made that first box (above) 1" tall and deep and wide. One inch is the maximum amount any embellishment can protrude from the quilt suface. I was afraid that the box might bulge a little after stuffing, so I reduced the size of the next one to 3/4" high by 3/4" deep by 3/4" wide. This way, even if it bulges a little, it will still be within limits.

To create the box pattern, I used the CAD portion of my pattern-drafting software (the Pattern Editor of Patternmaster Boutique). But any cad program would work...turbo cad, whatever.

I first drew the overall square to the size I wanted, then placed the 1" box in the middle. Then I made it 3-D and added seam allowances.

Below, you see the start of the square one, but the finished pattern is the round one...only the outer shape is different.
I fused interfacing to the back of my fabric and cut these pieces out. After sewing, pressing, and clipping the corners, the inside looked like this:

I didn't want this little box to collapse or become misshapened once it leaves my hands, so I needed to find a way to stuff it securely. My friend, Linda Wilson, suggested I use felt. Perfect! I cut 3/4" x 3/4" squares of acrylic felt and ran a needle with thread through them several times until they were stable.

I stuffed the felt stack into the box and grabbed 3 layers of batting...I wanted this area to be a little fuller than the rest of the quilt. I stipple-quilted this area on my sewing machine, getting as close to the nipple as I could (yes, by now I was calling it a nipple!).

When I was finished, I trimmed the batting around the edges, then began turning under the outer edges so I could applique this onto the quilt. Well, duh, it is way too thick around the edges! What was I thinking, using 3 layers of cotton batting and taking them all the way out? I had to start over!

So I cut new nipple pieces and new felt squares and batting...and put together another nipple. But this time, I used only 2 layers of batting...one was smaller than the other, and the larger one was stopped about 1" from the outside edge. When I quilted it, I stopped the stippling where the batting stopped.

Below, you can see my nipple collection! The original square one, the newest one with pins, plus the too-thick one, which, BTW, makes a great Frisbee! That sucker will fly across the room better (and more level!) than any plastic Frisbee I have!

Before I sewed the new nipple to the quilt, I added the ring with the bead. I used a monofilament dental-floss threader and ran it through the golden earring (with the ear wire removed) and used it like a needle-threader: I put thread through the loop then pulled the thread through the ring. Then I put sewing needles onto the ends of the thread that was sticking out each end of the ring, and pierced the nipple, stitching through the felt stack and tying the threads securely on the back.

Now the new-and-improved nipple was pinned onto the center of the expanding checkerboard and I stippled around the outer 1" to secure it.

But there was a visible ridge at the edge of the batting that bothered me. I needed to soften that ridge...so French knots it is! I did a series of knots around the outer part of the batting area.

This is looking more and more 'anatomically correct'! My DD calls the French knots the 'no-slip grips'...a term that was new to me, but I liked it!

More later, so check back!

Square Peg, Round Hole

Today is the day...the challenge quilts were presented and voted on, to decide WHICH 8 quilts would represent our guild at the AQS Ultimate Guild Challenge in Knoxville. And once again, my quilt was chosen! Yea!!!



I even won a prize for Viewer's Choice:
this lovely crayon toothbrush set! :)












As you may remember, we blindly chose 3 crayons, which would determine the colors for our quilt. We could also use black, plus the complementary color of any ONE of our crayons, for a total of 5 colors.

My crayon colors were:

Goldenrod (light)

Tumbleweed (medium)

Indigo (dark)

As a complement, I chose Purple.



I decided on an expanding checkerboard design, with a twist.




This is my challenge quilt, 'Square Peg, Round Hole'.




Yes, that is a broom handle and duct tape loops that are holding it up!




Ok, so maybe quilt display is not my best skill...










The challenge rules stated that the quilt HAD to have at least one bead or button as embellishment.




So I put a single bead on a gold ring.



And I put this gold ring through my square peg.




















To add a bit of texture, I also did a series of French knots around the outer area of the 'round hole'.




I couched on some sparkly black thread over all the seams.




I'll go into more detail in my next post, and show you how I made this quilt.










Jeanie Velarde made the participation ribbons...isn't this cute?

It's a challenge.

Once again,, I am choosing to participate in the ULTIMATE GUILD quilt challenge. The challenge issued by my local guild is~
Color Saturation: Stay within the Lines.

At our meeting in September, 2010, we were to blindly draw a crayon from each of 3 bags, one containing light colors, one medium colors and one containing dark colors.

These are my colors.

Goldenrod (light)

Tumbleweed (medium)

Indigo (dark)

So in October, when I went on a day-trip to Paducah, KY, with my local sewing guild (a different guild from the quilt guild!), I visited Hancock's of Paducah and picked up LOTS of fabrics with these colors.

Now I am working on a quilt. But I can't post many details until after it is presented to the quilt guild for competition on the 4th Tuesday in February. But I'll try to sneak in a peak every now and then!

AQS Quilt Show in Knoxville

Last weekend, DH and I drove to Knoxville, Tn, to attend the AQS Quilt Show. The show started on Wednesday, but we drove up on Friday, arriving around dinner time.


After checking into our hotel, we headed over to Market Square.


We strolled around to see what was there. Many of the restaurants were tempting, but in the end, we decided on Cafe 4 , where we ordered Fried Chicken and Waffles! Yep, that is really a dish...and it was good! The waffles were served instead of bread with the meal...two 'quarters' of a circular waffle...not a big 'ole plate of waffles smothered in butter and maple syrup! Although that sounds good right now...



But I digress.



There is a greenspace/park area at the southern end, with shops on each side. North of the 'park' area, there is a concrete mall. There is an interactive fountain, which was turned off that night, plus a performance stage set up at the north end.



This is the southwestern end...the building with the awning and lights is Market Square Kitchen.








This is the western side of the square.

There were several tempting restaurants on this side!













Many of the resaurants had seating areas outside, too, with colorful plantings and/or lights.














Ok, imagine this is a panoramic view...chopped up!
I will start on the southwest corner and turn clockwise.

I am standing near the middle, and this first picture is looking southwest, toward the market Square Kitchen.










Turning clockwise, this is the northwest side.
















These tall buildings are just beyond the north side.

You can see the stage set up on the north end (lights near the ground, behind people walking).

When we arrived, there were musicians playing and singing, but then Shakespeare on the Square began. However, street musicians were scattered about here and there, playing softly.







This is the view to the northeast. We visited a couple of shops in this area.














And the southeast side. That last awning with the lights on it at the far right is Cafe 4, where we ate.

It was a lovely evening and a lovely place to visit!











On Saturday, we walked to the convention center to see the quilt show. While I cannot post pictures of all the quilts, I will share the display of the guild that mine was a part of.

This was the ULTIMATE GUILD CHALLENGE, where guilds across the country compete according to a theme. Each guild has a different theme to interpret. There were 8 quilts in each group.

Our theme was REPETITIVE CONSEQUENSES. We were to take a block or shape, and change it in some way...size, shape, orientation, color, etc...and repeat it at least 3 times such that it is a recognizable element in the quilt. The quilt had to measure 180 inches around its perimeter, but no single side could exceed 60 inches.







This is the view oif our quilts from one end...




















And the view from the other end.


I couldn't get enough distance to photograph the set straight-on without a wide-angle lens, which I didn't happen to have.











Here I am standing next to my quilt. I really wished to remain annonomous, but did pose for a few quick pictures when no one was looking.

















I took a break for a moment to send a text message, and Dh took my picture! But then I noticed that the quilts in the background are also from a local guild...the Davies Plantation guild in Bartlett. Theirs was a nice display (Theme=Log Cabin in the Woods).

My favorites were the ones where all quilts in the set were the same size and shape, and had a recognizeable theme. While our quilts were each beautiful in their own right, they didn't seem to have much in common, like some of the other sets did.