On the Road Again

On the Road Again was created for the Project Quilting Season 7 I Need a Vacation Challenge.

Last week my husband, Frank, needed a getaway, so we called some friends and took off for Paducah for a few days. The National Quilt Museum, Hancocks of Paducah, the Moonshine Company, Paducah Beer Werks, Boos butcher block and cutting board outlet in Effingham, IL. Four fabulous days.

My goal was to complete my Sun Prairie Heritage Quilt show challenge before we left, but I didn't quite get there. I came home on Sunday afternoon (in the snow) and knew it needed to be ready for the hand work by Tuesday when I was helping at the polls. Success. Finished.

Now, time to figure out what to do for the I Need a Vacation challenge.  Yes, I think up these challenges for Kim, but that doesn't mean I have an idea in mind. Sometimes, but not usually.  This time I did not.

Our daughter lived out of state for the last 10 years and Frank and I would drive out to see her, usually 3 times a year. I have taken multiple pictures of him driving with the scenery in the background and looked and looked for them on my computer. No luck. I pieced mountains and continued to look. Still no luck. Finally, I told him I needed a favor. I wanted to take his picture in the truck. What a great guy! He said yes!

So we sat in the truck in the garage and I took his picture.  I played with the size a little and printed it out. I cut out his profile and added the shape of the window.  Done.

So this quilt is a memory of all the road trips we made to Virginia. Our daughter recently moved back to Wisconsin (YEAH!!!), so our trips will be going in other directions going forward.

Created by Diane Lapacek near Poynette, WI
15" x 20"

Worlds to Explore

Created for the Project Quilting Season 7 "All About That Thread" challenge and also for the Lodi Valley Quilters Guild Circles challenge.

I started with 1 yard of my hand-dyed fabric, then found some circular objects and traced them on a piece of freezer paper.  I labeled each section and added marks on all the lines so I could get the pieces back together correctly.  All the circles were set in by machine and they laid flat when I was done!  Victory!

Different quilting in each circle and and simple lines in the background completed the quilting.

To fit the thread theme of the challenge, I got out the jar of rayon threads that sits by my machine.  It holds trimmings, tangled threads and a few spools that were only slightly wet after the water leak in my sewing room a few years back.  I thought they'd be okay, but they seem to break way too much when I try to use them now.  I layered threads between 2 pieces of water soluble stabilizer and quiltied the layers together densely to create "fabric" made of threads.  I cut circles in assorted sizes and stitched them to the quilt.  Done! All requirements satisfied for 2 challenges.

I struggled with a name for this quilt.  My first set of pictures was taken last night and they were terrible.  I took another set this morning in my sunroom and looking at the pictures on my screen, it came to me.  Worlds to Explore.  It relates not only to the image I was seeing, but to the techniques used and those yet to come in my quilting world.


24" x 32"
Created by Diane Lapacek near Poynette, WI.

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Seasons

Seasons was created for the Project Quilting Season 7 Seasons challenge.

I really enjoyed making Confetti Fall, so I decided to go with similar techniques for this challenge.  A bigger, wider tree.  More confetti for spring, summer and fall.

But what to do for winter?  I went looking in my collection of old craft supplies from my days of mad crafting and found a jar of snow-tex.  It was kind of hard, so I scooped off the top layer and threw it away, then added some water and stirred.  Perfect!!!!  Supplies can sometimes last for years without using them!

Created by Diane Lapacek near Poynette, WI.
20" x 38".

Confetti Fall

I created Confetti Fall for the Project Quilting Season 7 Confetti challenge.  

First I made some confetti in fall colors. by whacking up some of my smallest scraps.  I scattered them over a piece of water soluble stabilizer, then added another piece of stabilizer on top.

  

I added lots of free motion stitching to hold all those little pieces together, then swished the whole piece in water to dissolve the stabilizer.  Now I had a piece of leaf "fabric" made from confetti.

To create a background, I selected one of my hand-dyed fabrics and added assorted fibers and shreds of fabric to create the tree shape, then layered and quilted the whole thing before cutting my leaf "fabric" in pieces and stitching it in place.

31" x 35"

Created by Diane Lapacek near Poynette, WI.

Focus Through the Prism - the Series

My Project Quilting Focus Through the Prism Challenge series is complete.  I hung them as a group over my dining table and they make me very happy.  I'm not very happy with the pictures.  There are windows on both sides to confuse things and the quilts all look like they aren't exactly straight.  Good thing I'm a quilter and not a photographer.

Cirque de Zinnias

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Created for the Project Quilting Focus Through the Prism snowball challenge.

Since red was the only Focus color I had not used yet, I started by making a background using lots of different reds.  I incorporated free form snowball blocks to  the conform to the snowball challenge requirements, then proceeded to layer and quilt the whole thing.

On to the fun part.  I've had zinnia's on my mind ever since making shredded flowers last moth for Cirque de Shreds.  So I cut some strips of fabric, folded them lengthwise and snipped the edges, and formed them into circles for rows of petals.  A button in the middle finished the flower.

 

Then I got to thinking.  I could make a snowball to go in the center of the zinnia.  A little fabric folding later and I was good to go.

Created by Diane Lapacek near Poynette, WI.

Cirque de Shreds

Cirque de Shreds was created for the Project Quilting Focus Through the Prism nine patch challenge.

I need to confess that the inspiration for this piece had nothing to do with nine patches.  I've made several quilts with 3-D flowers in the past and had a mad urge to make them again.  It's apple season here at Lapacek"s Orchard, and quilting time is scarce, so I needed to make my urge fit this challenge.  I started with a background of free form 9 patches using lots of scraps of greens.  Challenge requirements were now satisfied.  I sandwiched it and quilted it and started on the fun.

First, I added shredded flowers.  Shreds are those small pieces of fabric that you cut away whenever you square up a piece of fabric.  Any sane person would just throw them away, but I had an idea I could find a use for them.  So I created shredded flowers.

For Cirque de Shreds, I made lots of flowers and formed them into a circular wreath shape.  This was what was in my vision, but I thought it needed a bit more.  Maybe a bow?  Hmmmm.  Previewed a few things, but this was one of those times when I needed to go to my secret drawer of future quilting embellishments.

AHAAA!!!!!.  Mesh bags.  Probably from oranges or onions or a ham or whatever.  Then a few yoyos and a fabric flower on top.  Done.

Created by Diane Lapacek near Poynette, WI.