Still more journal quilts

April Journal Quilt - I really wanted to go for the blue background this time. I also thought I would try circles. I generally choose the colours first, so it was interesting to discover that, as circles, they looked like citrus fruit. And with the blue, it really was hard to see as a “background” because it was so much like the sky. When laid out, the whole thing looked like juggling fruit. As I discovered before, when I stitched things down, it took on a new look and has the feel of planets and orbits. One of the other things I tried was a cropped composition. I really liked how this worked, so will consider cropped compositions in the future.

May Journal Quilt– The process of putting the very thick pieces on the background, discovering a good composition, and then sewing them is actually quite unpredictable, because the sewing flattens things and it looks totally different. This time I decided on a different stitch, and then decided to try it for the quilting as well. It really changed the background – much less flat. With the variegated thread, and the swirling unusual pattern, once again it looks a bit like planets. When I am composing the circles, they still look like fruit to start with!

I was showing the completed journals to someone the other day, and couldn't remember which way up I had decided they would be! I am glad I have this visual record. I need to work on getting some labels made before Contemporary Quilt Group begins organising them to show somewhere!