It stands for Work in Progress Wednesday and was started by Sharon Boggon of Pintangle.
Once I got into the habit of reporting my progress on needlework or quilting project every Wednesday, I seem to push myself to have at least a little bit of progress to blog about. With this routine I can see and measure how a project develops. It was good to hold onto it with the Trinity Green quilt as there were so many stages and it took such a long time. Without it I just might have been tempted to shelve the quilt.
So what progress have I got to report on this dull and cloudy Wednesday in Tokyo?
A catch up and a start.
Reference Charts
TAST: I have filled in #147 Raised Cretan
Sunday Stitch School: I have added every one of the 38 stitches learned so far:
I had to use a piece of waste canvas to get the Hungarian stitches even, but it was worth it.
There is space for only four more stitches, then I will have to make a new chart.
New! MOLA
Whenever I visit a major quilt show in Japan (Yokohama International Quilt Week (sadly no longer hosted) and Tokyo International Great Quilt Festival) I enjoy admiring Fumiko Nakayama's stunning Mola quilts.
Last January at the TIGQF in Tokyo Dome, my friends Julie, Tanya and I decided we would challenge ourselves into making something Mola.
Tanya has already made some charming Japanese zodiac signs, and Julie is working hard on a waist coat.
It is high time I got started on the bag I am planning to make.
Not having much of a clue as how these quilts are appliquéd, I went to the library and borrowed one of Ms Nakayama's books. I have also checked the internet for information.
First I had to draw some kind of design. I settled for a floral motif.
I also needed to try the technique out on a small sampler. So I traced a star on a piece of black fabric, placed a red and then a brown piece of fabric underneath. I basted the three layers together. Then I cut open a slit in the black fabric and started reverse appliquéing the black fabric so the red would be visible.
Once that was done, I cut the red fabric and revere appliquéd it, too. As you can see I am not finished yet.
The next step to learn is cutting slits outside the star and adding small pieces of other colours underneath like you can see on the book cover (turquoise slits at the top).
11 comments:
I would like to try this technique. I have a mola panel that I was given and I like to look at it.
Nice progress. On seeing your stitch reference charts i am inspired to start one. I have finished the running stitch family. I am going to finish it into table runners so that i can display it on and of in my table. By the way you can find clear cut tutorials in the following blog
http://www.textileartsnow.com/2015/04/mola-tutorial-03-comple-two-layer.html?m=1
I have saved those tutorials long back and will try next year after a couple of big projects in wip basket gets over.
You've made a good start there!
Looking good!!! You must have enough varieties of stitches to make a giant quilt by now.
Ms Nakayama has made some very unique Molas. Instead of the traditional wild life she has done the landmarks of the world, the Eiffel Tower in Paris, Taj Mahal in Agra, the Opera House in Sydney... I think you can make anything once you get the hang of the technique.
Thank you for the link! You are so thoughtful, Shami. I also have some saved articles from magazines that I will need to look through.
It is a good idea to finish any UFOs before staring new projects.
I really need to figure out the order in which to layer the fabric, the size of the cut slit and and how to speed up the process.
You remember the embroidered huge panels we saw at the quilt show in Seibu? I think it would be possible to make 'blocks' of embroidered stitches on a whole cloth piece of quilt.
Have you completed your garment yet?
The mola brings back memories. It was one of the techniques I did for the City & Guilds embroidery course.
Lucky you! I would love to have a teacher checking over my shoulder that I am doing the right thing!
I BOUGHT one of Mrs. nakayama's books but I still don't really know what I am doing. How can that be after nearly a year of working on Mola? I wish I could figure out something original to do but as I don't yet understand the process, I guess I'd better finish up the Chinese zodiac... time is getting away from me!
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