Texture was the the last chapter in Carolyn Friedlander’s Savor Each Stitch  book and the last chapter of our Book Bee.

Maybe because it was the last chapter and because a myriad of other commitments this summer, I am still working on this chapter quilt.

Carolyn’s project in the book was inspired by Crazy Quilts. I took that inspiration as well.

I have a Bernina 560 and it has dozens of embroidery stitches. I bought some linen and linen/cotton fabric and started stitching those embroidery stitches.

I had a basket of thread from my mother’s stash. She died 20 years ago this year, and I liked the idea of using her thread in my Texture quilt.

It was fun to see what was on my Bernina. The stitches were narrow and at first I made straight lines.

A fellow bee member said it looked like I had created my own fabric. I made some more “fabric” and didn’t travel in straight lines. Then I experimented with meandering with the embroidery stitches until I was tired of it.

I played around with my own Crazy blocks and added them to my embroidery blocks which I had cut into 6.5″ squares.

That’s where I am. I feel my Crazy blocks aren’t that crazy and I’m unsure if my “fabric” blocks mesh with the improv blocks.

I looked back at Carolyn’s blocks and there is a sophistication to them, and I see that in my fabric blocks, but not in the Crazy blocks. Lots of texture and tension, for sure. I’m going to take a break from them and see where I want this quilt to go. I looking for a better ending to this chapter.

The Savor Each Stitch Book Bee was an enriching experience. By focusing on Lines, Contrast, Scale, Color, Emphasis, Volume and Texture, I learned to trust my instincts, and I saw my design skills improve. I learned so much about myself, and I really enjoyed the experience with amazing quilters who were generous in their comments. I even got to spend some a few days with one of them last year at this time. Susan — you are the best.

I made a collage of my quilts, minus the Color one, to see if there were any trends. I have not finished quilting the Emphasis quilt (far right top).

Use of solids

Improv with structure

Curves with a nod to tradition

Some risk taking

Top Left: Lines: Date Night; Middle: Contrast: Contrast Material; Right: Emphasis: Mod Drunk; Bottom Left: Scale: Roses and Right: Volume: Solitude!