There is a Title for Hockey Garden part 7

The quilt is finished. The label is sewn on the back, the binding is stitched and the hanging strip at the top of the back edge is in place. I have nothing more to say about it, except it was fun.

End of the Hockey Season by Ann Fahl

You may read my final statement about this quilt on my website. Enjoy.

Ann Fahl

How Do You Quilt a Hockey Bag? part 6

The time has come to begin all the detailed quilting of my hockey quilt.  I've spent two days outlining all the shapes with monofilament thread. I outline everything using monofilament on top and in the bobbin, with a size 10 titanium topstitch needle. This stabilizes the entire quilt, and reduces the amount of shifting of the fabrics on the wool batting.

Now that the outlining is done,  I can play with the beautiful threads and doodle in the areas between the garden elements. But back to the question; how do you quilt a hockey bag?  This question has never come up before, so I went to my notebook full of quilting ideas and found one idea that would work.

This is the sketch in my quilting design notebook that I chose for the hockey bag.

I keep a notebook (3 ring binder) full of quilting ideas.  So when I need an idea I go to this resource.  This is the sketch of an idea that appealed to me. I used a rich variegated blue thread and it looks great.

I chose a rich blue variegated thread for the quilting on the bag.

Now, how do I quilt a hockey skate?  There is very little space to fill, so I chose a shiny gray thread and began a spiral where the ankle bone pushes out the side of the skate.  I just detailed the rest.

The hockey skate has been embroidered and quilted.

It's time for the sky. So I'm just going to play a little keeping the scale of the curls, coils and loops small.  There is very little space between the hockey sticks and other items to do much quilting.  I chose 2 variegated blue threads to use. The darker for the center and the lighter one for the 2 sides.

Thread choices for quilting the sky.

Here is a closeup of how the coneflowers are detailed and stitched.

Now all that's left is the  grass on the lower edge and the border.  Hmmmm what will I use for the binding? The binding is almost sewn on, here's a peek at how it will look.

Here's a look at the binding and the midnight variegated thread used for quilting the border.

 So it's almost done.  I already have an idea for my next quilt.

Ann Fahl

Hockey Garden part 4

To border or not to border that is the question............ I've been trying to answer this for the last week or so.  I've added a vine or two to the subject, just to add a little something more for the viewer to find.

Look closely under the helmet and purple coneflowers to see the beginning of a little vine growing out of the bag.

When I get stuck like this, and an answer doesn't come my way, then I feel it's time to take action.  A border will add focus to my crazy arrangement, so I know there will have to be one, even though it wasn't in my original plan. So rather than just sit and wait for inspiration to hit, I will play with the idea a bit first with fabric, then with photoshop.

I pulled out heaps of fabric to test for a possible border, I held up the black (a little too harsh)  and the blue (not strong enough..) Rather than cut strips of actual fabrics, I folded the large hunks of fabric into long narrow strips and pinned them on the design wall around the hockey piece.

Here is the piece with a black Photoshopped border.

I like the way the black pulls everything together, and makes the garden more of a focal point, not just a mass of stuff.  However I feel the solid black is a little too overpowering as a border.

Here is the piece with a blue Photoshopped border.

I like the blue better, but will it go in my son's apartment or office?  He has brown leather stuff. It still creates a strong focal point, without the harshness of the black.  So what to do?  I will have a diet Coke and slice of fresh lime and think about it.

Here is the actual border.

I found a wonderful denim-like cotton decorator fabric for the top portions, and used a mottled black fabric for the lower border.  It has an ever so slight masculine feel to it.  Voila!!!!  I've added a few more leaves, and pressed the hockey bag over the border and the leaves from the dandelions too.  I love it.  I can almost smell the scent of the gritty hockey equipment, but you will be spared that bit of realism.

Next week, I will begin the embroidery and applique.

Ann Fahl

Hockey Garden part 3

This week I've added lots of color.  I liked the hockey stuff sitting around the bag, but I know I'll be happier once some garden elements are in place.  You will notice that I've only added one glove and 3 pucks to the arrangement since last time.

Here's the next stage of "Hockey Garden" most of the elements are pinned onto the background.

The rose bush idea has been thrown out.  I showed you a photo of the rosebush surrounded with hockey sticks last time.  I'm going for something very simple and colorful.  What could be better and easier than coneflowers? I can draw them in my sleep. When discussing flower selection with my husband, he suggested dandelions. Wow what could be better for a garden full of stinky hockey gear? It did take forever to cut out the tiny slender petals of the weeds, but they added a great touch. Since it is winter here in Wisconsin, there weren't any dandelions in the snow, so I had to search on line for photos to use as my inspiration.

In the past, I have always admired Frieda Anderson's dandelion pieces; so have avoided using them, because Frieda had done such a wonderful job with the weeds.  But heck, I've got tons of them in my yard, I should be able to use a couple of them! I love the way their greens add interest and movement to the front edge of the quilt.

You may not want these in your garden, but I love them here.

Now that I have been looking at the quilt at about this stage for a week or two, something is troubling me. I want the corner of the hockey bag to hang below the edge, for a more 3 dimensional effect. But I'm thinking this is getting rather chaotic.  Do I need a border?  I'll have to think about it.

"Keep your stick on the ice."   Red Green

Next time,
Ann

Hockey Garden part 2

The garden with the hockey sticks continues.  I have cut out and placed lots of the hockey items that would be included in a player's gear.  Hockey sticks, helmet, gloves, bag, pucks.

Here is the hockey bag, that has been fabricated since my last post.

 

What I usually do for pictorial pieces like this is take a photograph of the object--like the gloves resting on top of the hockey bag.  I simplify the photo into sections that I can fuse together with different colors of fabric to add shading and volume.  I assemble each item and press it onto a piece of baking parchment; instead of having 20 little pieces of fabric, I have one big glove or item to move around on the surface until it is in just the right place.

The helmet was done the same way.  And I think it will be sitting atop a hockey stick in my garden.

My plan was to have a pair of skates in the picture, but the above skate has tons of tiny little pieces in it.  So my quilt will only get one skate, you will have to make believe there are two! I liked having it sit on an angle, it seems more chaotic that way--more "real life!"

What I have shown you has taken weeks to accomplish, and this quilt isn't very big.  But that's how this piece seemed to evolve!  So here is the first big reveal.

Here is the background with the pieces in position.

What's next?  The pucks have to be fabricated and so do the gloves, they are in the photo above cut out of paper.  My plan is to then add the garden elements all to make a quilt without a traditional border.

I'm going to be needing a title for this one, and I need your help with that!

Till next time.........

Ann Fahl

A Different View of a Garden Quilt

It was just before the holiday season when I stopped to have dinner with my son in Chicago.  My creative mind was in the "off" mode at the time, and he suggested that I start a quilt called "Hockey Garden." Of course I immediately dismissed the idea, because I have already made a hockey quilt. Hockey Mom was made years back when both my sons were playing hockey and my husband was coaching.  Hockey was all that was discussed in our house that particular year. I did have great fun making this quilt and it is my only self portrait.

Hockey Mom, quilt (c) Ann Fahl made in 1996, 39.5 x 41 inches.  Also pictured in Quilter's Newsletter  Dec '96

But as time passed by, I decided that I had a really good idea for a hockey garden quilt.  The next few posts will show the piece in progress. You may recall my post called the World's Most Expensive Free Rose Bush? A year or two ago, my neighbor gave me a start from her grandmother's old fashioned rose bush, and I used my son's broken hockey sticks to keep it under control.  I decided to take this same idea and make it into a small quilt.

Here is the rose bush, surrounded by the expensive broken hockey sticks!

Background of the new quilt Hockey Garden.

 So here is the beginning of my next quilt.  I've pieced together a sky background, the foreground is a little bit of garden soil and grass. My idea is to have a garden of fragrant flowers growing in and around some smelly hockey gear.  Only mother's with hockey players will truly understand this. 

Here is the hockey bag which is central to the life of a hockey player because it contains all of their expensive equipment.  No matter how often the stuff is washed there is always a very strong unpleasant aroma attached to it.  The bag is also central to my future garden as a planter.

There will be more later.

Ann Fahl