Thursday 27 December 2012

52. The End of a Beginning Journal Quilt

Here it is, the final Journal Quilt for this year and the end of my 52 Journals project. I have made one small journal quilt (this one is A4) for every week of 2012. I will reflect back on this project in a future post when I've had a chance to think about the process and I hope also to take a photograph of all the journal quilts together providing I can find a way to do so (it would involve ladders and the like!).

For today I'm focussing on this, the last one. And what better way to celebrate the successful conclusion of this project than with flowers. So I gave myself a fabric bouquet. The background consists of a collage of flowers from a wide variety of different fabrics. They were cut out and adhered to a background fabric using Mistyfuse and I then stitched them down with invisible thread using my sewing machine.
The green frame was made by making a doodle on the back of the green leaf fabric to which I had ironed Bondaweb, cutting it out, dispensing with the inner piece and adhering the resulting frame to the previously made flower background and ironing it on. Then I adhered it permanently with double buttonhole stitching on the machine. I beaded along the frame using size 15 seed beads and also added embellishments to some of the flowers taking the fabrics as my inspiration as can be seen above.  Of course seed beads were also stitched along the edges of the binding. In this case they were size 11 and orange.

I was looking for a title in the vintage book that I've used for the titles of the journal quilts quite a lot this year. And by that wonderful synchronicity that I love so much I found the perfect words: "the end of the beginning". That's indeed what this project has been for me. Almost every small quilt has provided me with inspiration for a potential larger one. Needless to say some of these ideas are better than others and I will spend some time considering which ones to pursue.

In the meantime I have already started work on 2 large quilts so my hands won't be idle and one of them is the direct result of one of the journal quilts I made for the 52 Journals project. Nor will I stop making journal quilts. I have been producing them since 2004 and will carry on making them for the Sketchbook Challenge and maybe combine that also with the challenge set by the Contemporary Quilt group. But those will be monthly ones!

It has been a pleasure to be able to share this project with my blog readers here and with my fellow blippers on the Blipfoto site where I have been uploading these little pieces every Thursday this year. Thank you all very much for taking the trouble to look and comment. Having you with me has made the whole thing a lot more enjoyable for me!

Finally if you want to see all 52 JQs, you can see them in the slideshow in the sidebar of this blog or if you want to read about them in depth by clicking on the 52 Journals tag at the bottom of this blog.

9 comments:

Georgina said...

Well Done Frieda! What a creative and productive year: a fabulous achievement! Thank you for sharing it.

Unknown said...

Whooo Hooooo!!!!! Cheering and happy dancing here :)

Well done you on a great achievement.

Linda said...

Flowers are often part of celebrations, seems appropriate for this ocassion. This little quilt really shows off the beading and hand stitching. It's been great to see the quilts and hear the their stories, thanks for taking the time. A truly beautiful ending!

Jewels said...

Frieda - I've had the opportunity to view them all this year as you were on your journey. I think they are all just wonderful and I am amazed you were able to get them all done (I could never be that productive LOL)! I've actually learned a few techniques myself along the way. Well done my friend and I look forward to seeing the large quilts that were inspired! Cheers.

Jill said...

Congratulations on a magnificent challenge completed - I love watching your display of each one. So inspiring and demonstrates what can be achieved with the 'humble' quilt.

creativelenna said...

I first found this -#52 on blipfoto, but so enjoy the commentary and details of how you created it here, along with another close-up view. WOW! I am so enchanted with your flower bouquet for yourself. What a wonderful to finish up this amazing series! I would love to hear more of your thoughts on the project at a later date ans some kind of view of the entire project . . . in a pile, strung on lines, in groups??? I am sure thinking about how to accomplish this will require some creative thinking!! Sending love and admiration for a project so beautifully and creatively accomplished! xo lenna

Linda Kunsman said...

Oh Frieda, what a truly breathtaking quilt to end your project!!I am blown away by this gorgeous bouquet.

Irene said...

Well done Frieda. I've enjoyed watching your journey this year. Your final one of flowers is lovely. Thank you for sharing your thoughts and techniques and beautiful work.

Anonymous said...

I have just come over here from blipfoto (BikerBear) and read about your quilting ..... how amazing are you!!! Although not a hobby/pastime/work of art I would enjoy doing myself I was fascinated by what you have achieved, the intricacy of your work and all the love you put into it.

Stunning stuff.

~ Anni ~

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