BeeSewcial September: Home
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| Both Home September BeeSewcial Blocks |
Block One: Titled “Staycation” 16”x19” (shown above on left)
September's BeeSewcial prompt for Anne was HOME and she provided a gorgeous palette and asked that we personally symbolize our interpretation. Choosing one of the most iconic scenes: The sunrise over the Santa Cruz municipal wharf as viewed from the Dream Inn hotel balcony. The blocks ended up quite pastel but I wanted to capture the subtle color changes that happen right before your eyes.
Other design elements that I focused on were the contrast of horizontal and vertical (land/water, pillars/piling etc) were key and I also tried to infuse bit of the California woodcut artists influence that I admire.
This was my first time staying at the hotel and I must say, listening to the bark of the sea lions while drifting off to sleep was pretty spectacular.
The scene was also a reminder of the time that Anne and I played tourist with our first SBAMQG charity quilt and had an epic photo shoot day along West Cliff way back in 2013 💕. It was displayed at QuiltCon and gifted from our chapter to the Autsin Children's Shelter
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| 2013 QuiltCon Charity Quilt SBAMQG |
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| Prompt and Inspiration |
Fun facts about the wharf: built in 1914, it is the longest pier on the west coast and visited by 1.5 million annually. No wonder traffic is challenging!
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| Initial Sunrise Portion |
Block Two: Titled “Not to Code” 9”x13” (shown in the first photo above, on right)
An improv take on a house block as a nod to the fact that many homes were built as vacation cottages back when it was a sleepy little town people would escape to in the summer.
One of my favorite quilting phrases immediately came to mind: Embrace the imperfections. Aim for structurally sound. The unplanned pencil portion is a nod to (not) drafting blueprints.
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| Block two in process |
Here are a few other photos that I have great shapes in them for future quilt design ideas and relate to my second block:
August BeeSewcial - Rapid Transit Map
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| Bart 18"x23" BeeSewcial Block |
18”x23” BART block for Silvia @astrangerview
I chose the Bay Area Rapid Transit map for July’s Subway prompt, focusing on 3 of the lines including the only one I’ve ridden on from Fremont to San Francisco.
Many people ride the subway early in life but I was a grown up the first time I did. Despite that, I remember being just a little freaked out about traveling at a high speed not only underground but underwater. The Transbay Tube rail tunnel is a pretty unique thing to have available and I really should take advantage and plan a trip to the city.
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| Sketch |
Minimalism is something that I push myself to explore with the bee blocks and I decided to eliminate the bottom portion of my sketch. The final design reminded me of a seat or even a body seated in a very modern art sort of way. Considering the subject matter and that when I do go to San Francisco it is to visit museums, this felt very complete in concept.
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| In process underside |
Although the thin lines could have been done with bias tape appliqué I chose to machine piece. The technique of scissor and rotary ruler-free cut until the final square up suits me fine.
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| auditioning fabric |
I'm excited to have these blocks mailed off to my bee mates and can't wait to see them all together in a quilt.
