Columbus Cityscape Block of the Month: Topiary Garden

Posted on April 1, 2019 by thenotsodramaticlifeadmin / Posted in Columbus Cityscape Quilt, Quilting, Works In Progress (WIP) / Leave a comment

The Topiary Garden in Columbus, Ohio is situated behind the Main Library and provides a lovely outdoor counterpart to the building. This month’s block highlights this unique park.

Walking paths wind around the gardens with carefully sculpted plant structures. This month’s block depicts a common topiary shape in a pottery planter.

This garden is most known for the topiary depiction of Seurat’s Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte. The figures are positioned looking over the pond, and allow you to see this recognizable image from many perspectives. At the top of the hill you can take in the scene from the view of the painter.

This pattern is available from Dabble and Stitch in Columbus, Ohio. If you have already purchased the pattern, you can access the extra templates here. You will need the password included in the pattern instructions to access this page. I will be doing a construction demonstration of a portion of this block at 1pm on Sunday, April 7, 2019 at Dabble and Stitch.

QuiltCon Judging Feedback

Posted on March 24, 2019 by thenotsodramaticlifeadmin / Posted in Quilt Shows, Quilting / 1 Comment

Quilting is typically a solitary activity, so there are very few opportunities for feedback on your creations. This is especially true if you are looking for critiques that will help to improve your work. Entering shows with written feedback is one of the best means to get a fair assessment of your quilts, and QuiltCon typically provides very interesting comments since they have judges from a wider range of backgrounds. The judging panel includes a certified judge, an industry professional, and a third judge with a strong artistic, but not necessarily quilting, background. I also find it useful to read comments on other people’s quilts, so I thought that some of you may enjoy seeing what the judges had to say about my three quilts.

Complementary Convergence was in the Use of Negative Space category.

Ebb and Flow was in the Two Color Challenge category.

Synthesized Slivers was in the Small Quilts category.

I always appreciate the time that the judges spend looking at each quilt and offering comments on both the good aspects of a quilt and the areas that could be improved. I can’t begin to imagine how challenging it would be to judge a show like QuiltCon. It is so different than most shows- A winning quilt is not necessarily the one with the most construction challenges. The emphasis on overall design combined with technical execution is what makes it one of my favorite shows to attend and enter.

Columbus Cityscape Block of the Month: Franklin Park Conservatory

Posted on March 11, 2019 by thenotsodramaticlifeadmin / Posted in Columbus Cityscape Quilt, Quilting, Works In Progress (WIP) / Leave a comment

The Franklin Park Conservatory is situated just east of the core of downtown Columbus, Ohio and creates a botanical hub for the city. The main building depicted in this quilt block is primarily a greenhouse structure that hosts plants and artwork that melds with nature.

Each section of the conservatory replicates a different climate and highlights the plant life found in those areas. Outside, a spectacular children’s garden engages visitors of all ages.

Interspersed throughout the building are installations of Chihuly glass. This sculpture is the upper portion of a tunnel so you experience the piece by walking below it.

Each winter the conservatory transforms to a winter wonderland covered in colorful lights. One of my favorite parts of this display are the trees that have their root systems reflected in lights along with their branches.

A hot shop is also part of the conservatory year round, and this tree was created with glass made on site by the artisans doing demonstrations and offering classes.

Columbus Cityscape Block of the Month: Statehouse

Posted on February 1, 2019 by thenotsodramaticlifeadmin / Posted in Columbus Cityscape Quilt, Works In Progress (WIP) / 2 Comments

The Ohio Statehouse is situated in Downtown Columbus near many of the buildings we have already added to our quilt. The Ohio Theatre is across the street, and the science center is a couple blocks away, just over the river. In the other direction you will find the main library and the art museum.

Our statehouse is particularly distinct because it doesn’t feature an exterior dome, but a cupola. There is an internal dome structure in the rotunda, and the tour of the building is worthwhile to experience the art and architecture featured in this impressive structure.

I will be demonstrating the construction of a portion of this block Sunday, February 3rd at 1pm at Dabble and Stitch.

Turkey Quilt: A 2019 100 Day Project

Posted on January 12, 2019 by thenotsodramaticlifeadmin / Posted in 100 Day Project, Quilting, Works In Progress (WIP) / 6 Comments

Last year was my first time attempting a 100 Day project, and I love the resulting quilt, Resonance. This year I am doing another 100 Day Project, but I am going with something with a more specific design. I have been wanting to make a turkey quilt for quite awhile now (keep reading to find out why), so the 100 day time frame seemed like the perfect opportunity to give it a go. This is the project design that I have been working on:

I like to start my 100 Day projects on January 1st because (except for leap years) my birthday falls on the 100th day of the year, and it feels perfect to sandwich this type of project between two key dates. I have spent the first twelve days on the design process. I will spare you every process photo, but here is an overview of the design process.

I wanted to give the turkey a certain amount of formality, so I spent a lot of time looking at art books, and ultimately decided to place the turkey in an archway with a checkerboard floor. The inspiration for this design ranges from Renaissance paintings to 20th century Rock and Roll posters. Most of the design process has taken place on AutoCad Lt.

After looking at a lot of turkey images, I sketched out a large wild turkey.

I took a photo of the hand drawn sketch and loaded it into AutoCad to trace over the main lines and insert the turkey into the archway.

For the semi circles surrounding the arch, I designed a bunch of somewhat formal designs to surround the turkey- I like to think that they all feel a bit feathery to coordinate with the turkey tail.

Once these designs were complete, I inserted them into the semi-circles around the arch. Each these motifs are unique- there are no semicircle repeats in the quilt! I then finished off the line drawing of the design.

By now, I’m sure you are all saying, “That’s nice, but why the turkey?” There is actually a good answer to that. When I was in the primary grades of elementary school, we colored what I am sure was at least 1,000 turkey coloring sheets throughout the month of November. At one point there was a coloring sheet that had no specific directions, so I decided to take some artistic license. I colored a gorgeous blue turkey with every shade of blue in my 64 color box of crayons. As you may have guessed, this did not go over well. I was informed in no uncertain terms that turkeys are brown, and apparently have tail feathers that alternate red, yellow, and orange. From that point on, I never colored anything a color different than what it was “supposed” to be until I entered adulthood. (Come to think about it, maybe my dislike of brown fabric stems from this incident!) Since that time I have always had a nagging feeling that I am doing something wrong when I make recognizable objects an unrealistic color, even though I know logically that it’s really an ok thing to do. My big hope is that the process of making this quilt will help to squelch those inner demons!

So here is the finished design again. It will be constructed with a combination of traditional and foundation paper piecing along with a generous amount of appliqué. The actual turkey will have a lot more detail once it goes into fabric. I plan on using the turkey drawing as the general outline, and then getting creative from there.