mosaic

Venetian Mosaic Block: shaping up

1 Comment / Fibre art / By

This is one of four large blocks I’ve been working on for a long time. That is to say, I started this project a long time ago and then put it away for a long time! I recently pulled it out again, last winter, and thought I could have it pieced and quilted by the end of March this year. As you can see, that did not happen!

Circular medallion design bordered by a striped fabric by dorislovadinalee.com

The quilt is based on marble mosaic floors I saw in Italy. I took many photographs and purchased a few postcards that inspired these original designs. And, because they are original, I am designing and drafting the quilt. Mostly as I go. I did have an overall plan, but not all the details.

detail mosaic striped border by doris lavadina-lee canadian artist

All four of the medallions are pieced and the circle into a square striped border have been stitched.

back of paper pieced mosaic block

Fabric still needs to be trimmed and some paper pieces can be removed. The four triangles for each medallion have been designed and colours chosen. To date, I have 2 and 1/2 triangles completed. The new deadline is still March, now of 2020. I am a bit more optimistic that the quilt can be completed. I plan on machine quilting it myself and will quilt each quadrant separately and then join the four together.

Large square with circular design bordered by 2 triangles

Wish me luck!

Evolving Mosaic Quilt – President’s Challenge 2014

President's Challenge Quilt / By

The outgoing president of the Yorkshire Rose Quilters’ Guild of Toronto issued a challenge to the guild: make a manhole cover quilt! Guild members were challenged to create a circular quilt the size of a manhole (around 24 1/2 inches) to celebrate Toronto. The design and technique were left up to each individual.

The mosaic quilt process:

My entry into the President’s challenge is created using a mosaic technique. I selected a variety of colourful scraps, ironed a fusible web onto the wrong side, cut the scraps into 1 inch squares and arranged them onto a solid grey.

Evolving Mosaic squares
Evolving Mosaic Quilt squares

I arranged them in a curved pattern, fused them to the background.

Evolving Mosaic in progress
Evolving Mosaic Quilt in progress

Each square was machine stitched 1/8 of an inch around the edge. The backing and batting were attached using the pillowcase technique. I under stitched around the perimeter, which helped to keep the backing fabric rolled towards the back.

Evolving Mosaic quilted
Evolving Mosaic quilted

Each section was machine quilted in a curved spiral.

Evolving Mosaic Quilt detail
Evolving Mosaic Quilt detail

All the quilts from this challenge will be on display at our quilt show Sept. 20-21, 2014. Visitors to the show will vote for their three favourites and the top three will be unveiled at our October meeting.

Artist’s Statement for Evolving Mosaic:

Toronto has been called a “Cultural Mosaic”. Almost half of the over 2.8 million people living in Toronto are immigrants. They speak over 140 languages and dialects. This quilt celebrates the diversity of Canadians that comprise our city.

The squares of the mosaic represent the more than 200 distinct ethnicities that make up Toronto. The quilt is a swirl of three primary colours, some squares are solids while some are a combination of colours. They symbolize the people of Toronto, all Canadians while still maintaining their rich ethnic, racial and linguistic heritage. We are fortunate that all the ethnicities have retained their uniqueness, contributing to, and strengthening the fabric of our community. The motto for the City of Toronto describes our rich culture: “Diversity Our Strength”.

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