techniques

When creatives connect

collaborations, techniques

I’ve had the special opportunity to be in contact with Lynn Woll, founder of Create Whimsy, for an interview.

She allowed me to talk about all the creative media I use. This arrived in the very right moment: her questions helped me to clarify my thoughts of these days. For example, Lynn asked me:

“You are a full-time engineer and have a variety of interests outside of work. How do you keep all the balls in the air?”

When I read this question, I started to laugh and weep at the same time… it looked as if the question hit the nail.

During the current year, indeed, my work-life balance has changed, such that I could not schedule my free time as easily as before.

Changes of life can surprise you with unexpected twists, which may, some days, overcome your coping skills. Complex and super busy periods strongly force your capability to adapt. The interesting thing is that stretching skills acts on the brain in a very powerful way. Fertile land is prepared for future creations, that will become interpretation for the plenty of things that you have learnt, while passing across difficulties.

Just in the days of Lynn’s contact, I was starting a new photography stream, which was acting as a valuable strategy to cope with stress: it made me feel much better. It’s impossible to have a photo UFO, because one photo is taken in one second! I took the habit of setting collected seeds and textile supplies in a way that gave me visual emotions. Then, the photo-finish of the day was made!

I have used different creative media depending on the period of my life and the work-life balance. I decide which medium I want to work on, based on the amount of time that I have: quilting is for long projects, drawing is for average spare time; photography is available even if I have a few-minutes-only break.

In the picture below, a set of natural treasures collected during a walk, part of my creative supplies.

I invite you to read the interview on createwhimsy/spotlight-paola-machetta and to check also other featured makers: I’ve found plenty of inspiration on Create Whimsy. Thanks Lynn!

Little hiding dot

Exhibits, techniques

A few weeks ago, I told myself: “I want to build something new”. I was in a park, I collected seeds from the trees. Autumn had started, it was the period when trees created ball shaped seed collections.

I approached the start of a new season, together with small things. Such as, shapes from fabric (that I’ve used in my quilts) and shapes from Nature. I started a new photo series, based on small treasures from nature and fabric scraps from quilts.

If I connect the dots of what happened in the last months, I find that my last quilt finish was made with dotted fabrics, and my first photo-composition playtime was made with that same dotted fabric and round seeds.

“Spot the dot” is the title of my last quilt finish, where I played with dots and their travelling around. It will be on display soon, at the International Quilt Festival, Houston Texas: October 31 – November 3, 2024. It has been selected to be part of the SAQA show “Camouflage”, juried by Lorraine Roy: an exhibition celebrating the wonder of wildlife and the artistry of concealment, inspired by a theme submitted by SAQA Member Leilani Purvis.

I’ve just received the catalogue of the SAQA show “Camouflage”.

In a future article, I will tell the story of this quilt.

Tips to square a quilt

improv process, techniques

Sometimes people say that engineers have a squared mind (intended as: they are not really flexible, because their mind is closed inside a squared box…).

Well, since I’m an engineer, I like to think of methods for making nice squares. So, I tried different ways to square up my quilts, especially when they are big. I share my process here.

When my quilt is finished, I don’t use any marker to define its contour, nor I cut excess material. Both methods are irreversible. On the contrary, I define the edges with masking tape.

My references can be straight lines in the piecing or in the quilting: thanks to them, I line up the ruler (which is transparent, and can be aligned with such references), and the cutting mat just after the ruler (since the ruler length usually is not sufficient), to simulate the position of the edge. Looking at such guide, I will cover excess material with a line of masking tape.

The corner of the cutting mat indicates the 90 degrees angle, so I can proceed in this way for the next side, completing all the four sides.

After having masked all excess material, I can look at the simulated quilt contour, and I can adjust it, based on the following needs: do I want to exclude or to include some other peripheral elements of the picture? Are the opposite sides really parallel to each other?  To check parallelism, I measure the length of opposite sides. Usually corrections up to one inch are still needed in this phase… and I appreciate having the possibility to change my masking tape position.

When I’m satisfied of the contour placement, I start the facing procedure.
I love Audrey’s tutorial on cottonandbourbon web site: from the first time I’ve tried it, I’ve never left it anymore. Still, I apply it, but with a small difference: I don’t cut the excess fabric before starting the facing. I think it’s better to sew on a wide, flat area (all material of same thickness still existing on both sides of the walking foot), rather than sewing quite near to an edge (which creates a step). So, I first complete all the machine sewing operations on each couple of parallel sides (up to step 8, and later, up to step 10 of Audrey’s tutorial). Then, I cut and press.
Final hand sewing of such a clear quilt back becomes a piece of cake!

Quilts getting air time

techniques

I’ve been asked about the hanging system I use for my quilts on the wall.

I use a thin rod, made in wood (for small quilts), or made in aluminium (for the bigger ones), which I cut with a hand saw at the desired length.

I sew three or more belt loops where the rod will be inserted.

In this way the rod remains accessible and can be easily positioned on nails or hooks.

I’ve equipped my home with a rail system, from which a series of wires can drop down. With this method, the position of the hooks on the wire can be adjusted every time I need a change.  

As soon as I complete a wall quilt, it goes on air in my home.
It’s always difficult to choose which one of the old quilts will be removed, to leave room for a newcomer! Some quilts get replaced after one week. Others become favourite ones, and they keep their position for more than one year…

This way, I continuously change the atmosphere in my house. And I even try combinations of quilts. Such as this group, that later became may part of my exhibit Tagliamento, king of rivers. I liked so much the capability of the light blue to complement the rich oranges, that these three quilts entered the gallery exactly in the relative position earlier tried in my living room.

Use all the tiny bits!

improv process, techniques

I save all the smallest scraps from my quilting work. Half an inch is enough for me.

I’ve made sample textures with this starting material: column and row grids, log cabins… In my first video talk about improv I show some of them.

I recently took out this starting material. I noticed that the yellow and the purple patches had some colours in common. Good starting point to join them with a few transition lines!

It was a nice occasion to experiment with walking foot channel quilting, having needle positioned at variable distances.

When I had almost completed my work, I changed my mind: no more landscape rectangular orientation, but rather a square with a twist. It felt like adjusting the composition with a move of the photo camera… a cropping zoom. A good occasion to face fear of cutting an already made work… and to feel it can improve.

Good that mini quilts are completed in short time. I gave it the title “transition”: like the two starting blocks that blended, in a transition from purple to yellow with different piecing shape.

Connected crafts

techniques

I have been drawing for several years, during my life.

My first sketchbook daily practice dates back to Primary school. Maybe I still have it, somewhere.

I’ve practiced several creative techniques during last decades: drawing, photography, painting on fabric, stitching, paper marbling, creative microscopy (that one was very addictive!), improv quilting (which added a relevant discovery: of quilting community!).

I’ve recently started to draw again, fine-liner pen on cotton paper doodle-type.

During the last exercise, I was surprised of how easily some spiralled clouds emerged from my blue pen ink work. Then, I realized: it was thanks to the long hours of free-motion quilting practice done while using that same motif: quilting spirals, indeed.   

The different crafting techniques one tries are connected to each other in some ways.

My photos of flowers were usually made in macro mode, so close-up that they tended to be abstract, and I tiled them in columns and rows like in a mosaic.

My first three quilts were aimed to represent a landscape; then I dropped that idea, and I continued mainly with abstract improv piecing.

My drawing re-start intent was to play with doodles and geometries, but it quickly turned into figurative subjects derived from my year-long database of photographs.

There is still a lot of room to learn, from this re-mix of techniques!