TSNEM – January 2016

This is my first post for Try Something New Every Month 2016.  January’s theme is quilting.  Since I have tried just about everything I have wanted to when it comes to quilting, it was difficult to figure out what to try.

I have been interested in the zentangle movement since it started.  I just haven’t had the time to dedicate to learning how.  I have had some exposure to zentangle at guild meetings.  So I figure this would be a great chance to try zentangle quilting.

I have followed a few zentangle boards on Pinterest.  I have seen zentangle quilting on The Quilting Arts show on PBS.  So I searched for designs that I could quilt. Remember, when you quilt, you can’t easily start and stop.  It’s easy to pick up a pencil, but it’s different when you are using thread.  You need to figure out how to make the design continuous.

I search both Google and Pinterest.  I printed out some designs I liked.  Then set out drawing some designs I thought would work. Here is a bit of what I came up with.

Then I came across a design incorporating circles.  I liked the idea of the circles.  So I incorporated them into my zentangle designs.  I used a 9″, 7″, and 5″ diameter circle templates, quilting everything on my long arm machine.

Here are the two samples I made.  Some designs are more quilting than zentangle, but I had fun.  And I like how they came out.

I wanted a finished look to these zentangle samples, so I bound them with a random edge.  As one of my nieces would say, it’s a quilt blob. They are approximately 18″x 26″.

Since this was just playing for me, I did not obsess about tension.  I also used up partial bobbins. The back has a few different, non-matching, colors.  Now a have several more empty bobbins.

This was fun.  I have also seen a similar design using interlocking squares.  I’m going to try that next time I get the urge to zentangle quilt.

Next month the theme is Tactile Craft; paper mache, clay, soap, candlemaking.  I was leaning toward paper mache.  My mom used to do some simple paper mache using a balloon as a form.  I even have an idea of what I want to make. But I won’t be using a balloon.

Stay tuned.

C