Knotty Celtic Knots

My Celtic knot applique took a decidedly different turn Friday afternoon. In order to increase my productivity, I began using pre-quilted fabric for my fused-then-stitched Celtic knots.

This was my first foray using colors other than yellow, red, and blue on a black background; I also made smaller pieces than before.

First was a yellow and purple knot, followed by a green Celtic cross:

Purple and yellow Celtic knot

 —–

Green Celtic cross

As I was stitching down the green shapes, I realized the Celtic cross was not one knot, but two. So I made another Celtic cross in red and black:

Red and black Celtic cross

Remember the “knot gone wrong” from last week?? I set it aside and created a new one that I like much better. I still need to stitch the shapes down, add a hanging sleeve, then bind it:

Celtic Christmas wreath

This morning, I fused a three-color Celtic cross with shapes I traced and cut out yesterday. Again, I still need to stitch the shapes down, add a hanging sleeve, and bind it:

Blue Celtic cross

If I can create five quilts over three days, I’ll be interested to see how much I get accomplished between now and Saturday.

Today, I took the pieces from my last show to my next venue.  I am participating in “Bulging Packages Under Your Tree,” the 3rd Annual Holiday Gift Show at PHD Gallery.

Philip Hitchcock, the gallery owner liked the Celtic knot work. He asked if I had some smaller pieces to fill a range of prices . . . I said I did not, but I’d try to create a few new pieces before next Saturday.

Next Saturday!!

In four hours this afternoon, I created the following two knots:

Purple and yellow Celtic knot

This purple and yellow Celtic knot measures 21″ x 17″.

Green Celtic Cross

This green Celtic cross measures 26″ x 32″.

For both of these pieces, I fused the shapes directly to pre-quilted fabric, which saves me the trouble. I still need to stitch the shapes around their edges. Then, I’ll attach a hanging sleeve and bind the edges of the quilt.

I hope to have 4-6 smaller pieces done this week before the show opens.

Well, try as I might, I couldn’t get the spacing of the pieces to work . . . I really needed to use the placement I had originally marked.

I took the time to trim away some excess around the pieces and laid ‘em out. Unfortunately, there was no empty space between the pieces.

I fused, then stitched all the pieces in place. This is what it looks like on my worktable as I begin safety pinning the top to the pre-quilted fabric beneath.

Safety pinning the Celtic knot wreath

I’m not happy with it . . .

As I’ve been told by others, “Only YOU know what’s wrong with it, Raymond; it looks fine to me.” Well, it looks OK where the red and green strands appear to weave over and under each other, like here:

Red and green strands weaving over and under

I don’t like what happens when the red and green strands cross themselves, like here:

Red and green strands crossing themselves

There’s a little bit of white showing between the red shapes in the lower right, but I’d like a little more white showing and I’d like the white to show throughout the piece.

So, I’m gonna paint the space in.  After I quilt the piece, I’ll take white textile paint and paint across the ends of the shapes where they butt up against another shape.

Do you send it to a corner for a “time out”??

Do you spank it and send it to bed with no supper??

I say, “Hang the sucker!!” (on the wall, that is . . .)

I started a new circular Celtic knot around 2:00 a.m. Sunday morning. I used the same design as my “Circular Knot I,” only I changed the colors to red and green; I want this one to look like a Christmas wreath.

Normally, when I trace the shapes on Wonder Under and fuse it to my fabric, I cut away the lines made by the felt marker, but not this time. This made my shapes larger than before, and I had to do the placement of the shapes freehand.

I’ve been working flat on my worktable, but it wasn’t working.  I’d start and work my way around clockwise to find too little or too much space at the end. I’d start in the middle and work in two directions at once with the same result.

Finally it dawned on me that I wasn’t making the knot large enough!

So, I measured and marked a large circle on my fabric and began again. Closer, this time.

Still, I’m working with fabric flat on my worktable. Before calling it a night and going to bed, I started pinning all the shapes in place. I finished pinning when I woke.

I took the knot to work and hung it on the wall across the room from my desk so I can look at it. This is the view from my desk:

Celtic knot Christmas wreath

Now, all the pieces are there, and I can see where I need to shift some shapes here and there. I’ve got time. I’ll keep you posted.

My quilt show, “Piece By Piece: Fiber or Glass” opened last evening at The Gallery of By Design.  About a dozen people I knew stopped in to look at my art. For those who couldn’t make it, I’ve put together a virtual gallery tour (it’ll have to be the “next best thing to being there”).

Here’s the front door of the gallery:

Gallery Front Door

Yeah, this must be the place because this is the poster in the window (and just a ghost reflection of me taking the picture).

Poster in the Gallery window

Here, let’s step inside and see what we see . . .

Inside the front door . . .

To our left, is “Celtic Cross,” 41″ by 66″, an early piece (the second Celtic knot I ever did), and to the right of it is my Artist Statement.

Here’s a detailed shot of the piece:

Celtic knot cross, detail

I used a fusible web to position all the pieces, then I closely quilted everything with a 1″ grid (just in case the fusible gave way).

For ease of reading, here’s the text of my Artist Statement:

Piece by Piece: Fiber

Celtic knots fascinate me.

Celtic knots are endless loops: they twist and turn; they weave over and under; and they end up where they began.

Tracing the path of a Celtic knot is hypnotic and meditative.

The pieces displayed here are large-scale Celtic knot appliques, a departure from the method usually used.

Others use a narrow strip of fabric, called bias tape, to physically recreate a Celtic knot which only looks good at close range, where you can see the details of the knot.

In contrast, I use shapes separated by gaps to depict the twists, turns, and weavings of the knot and can be seen from across the room.

Sometimes Celtic knots are comprised of multiple strands.

I color each strand differently to set it apart from the others and to highlight its relationship to the others.

—–

Across the room, to our right is “A Matter of Scale,” 39.5″ by 57″.

"A Matter of Scale," 39.5" by 57"

"A Matter of Scale," detail

Along the left wall further into the room is a small table where Lillian, the gallery owner, has sign-in sheets, artists’ statements of current and past shows, and our business cards.  I just designed new business cards a day ago.  What do you think??

New Business Card

A little past the table on the left is a wall with four more pieces:

Along the wall . . .

The first piece is “Tri-Color Knot,” 16″ by 16″:

"Tri-Color Knot," 16 " by 16"

The second piece is “Circular Knot/II,” 43″ by 47″:

"Circular Knot/II," 43" by 47"

"Circular Knot/II," detail

The third piece along this wall is “Knotted Band/I,” 24.5″ by 59″.

"Knotted Band/I," 24.5" by 59"

"Knotted Band/I," detail

The last piece on this wall is “Circular Knot/I,” 39.5″ by 44.5″.

"Circular Knot/I," 39.5" by 44.5"

"Circular Knot/I," detail

Now, there’s one more piece to show you . . . I saved the best for last, but first a lead-in.

I launched this blog four months ago to do three things:  explore the Celtic knot font; demonstrate my new technique for large-scale applique; and, chronicle the creation of a new body of work for this very gallery show. When Lillian approached me about mounting a quilt show, I said, “Sure! But, can you gimme some time to create a new body of work?” She had seen my previous patchwork quilts on Nacho Grandma’s Quilts and Tessellation Nation, but this was gonna be “and now for something completely different” (for you Monty Python fans out there).

It’s been a learning process for me, too. For the first pieces (“Celtic Knot Cross,” “Tri-Color Knot,” “Knotted Band/I,” and “Circular Knot/I”), I fused the fabric in place, then closely quilted the entire surface, just in case the fusible gave way (and, in places, it already has).

For “Circular Knot/II” and “A Matter of Scale,” I fused the shapes into place, then stitched around the edges of the shapes. Since I wasn’t as worried about the shapes falling off, I grid-quilted a lot looser (2″ instead of 1″).

Since the background of “Celtic Knot Cross” is white, I quilted with white thread; it didn’t detract from the design. Since the background of all the other pieces (except “Tri-Color Knot”) is black, I quilted with black thread, and I used black thread to stitch around the shapes of “Circular Knot/II” and “A Matter of Scale.”

This brings us to the final piece, which I completed just days before hanging the show last week. This piece is “Knotted Band/II,” 30″ by 60″.

"Knotted Band/II," 30" by 60"

"Knotted Band/II," detail

The first thing I did differently was stitch the shapes down with matching thread, yes!! It made a world of difference!!

Secondly, I ran out of batting for this piece. (Actually, I had finished the top late at night, the fabric store was closed, and I was too anxious to continue to just go to bed.) I rummaged around and found some quilting-by-the-yard I had bought for some project or other. I used it between my backing and my top as though it were just batting. Since it was already quilted, I wasn’t worried about it shifting and bunching, and I used a lot less safety pins to keep the layers together.

I quilted about one-quarter inch away from the shapes with black thread, but I did not do any quilting on top of the shapes with the black thread, yes!! I quilted a diamond pattern in the open areas around the knot that roughly matched the diagonal within the knot.

So there you have it . . . the culmination of four months’ worth of fusing and quilting. The show will hang in the gallery for a month, and I hope the pieces sell. If not, I’m behind two baby quilts at my office, and they’ll gladly accept my gifts.

What’s ahead? A co-worker has commissioned a pair of Celtic knot crosses as gifts to her church; a leatherman in Arizona wants a leather pride bed quilt for an organization he’s involved in (he’s paying for the quilt so it’s HIS donation and not mine); and, I have a few more ideas for large-scale Celtic knots to try out (what if I do away with batting and back the applique with upholstery fabric??  or, put the applique directly on the upholstery fabric??).

Thanks for reading my blog!!

Approximately four months ago I launched this blog with three things in mind:  explore the Celtic knot font, showcase my “large-scale” Celtic knot applique technique, and chronicle the creation of a new body of work for a gallery show.

Well, I enjoy playing with the Celtic knot font, though I’ve barely scratched the surface.  I’ve created Celtic knot crosses, bands, and even circular knots.

I’ve learned something new about my technique as I work with it.  Each piece is better than the one before it; my latest piece is a far cry from the first pieces. I still think there’s room for improvement.

Along the way, I even tried my hand at animation, though it doesn’t have anything to do with Celtic knots other than being a novel way of presenting them.

Finally, yesterday, I installed the seven pieces I created these past four months in the Gallery of By Design for the show they were created for. The show is called “Piece By Piece: Fiber or Glass” because I’ll be sharing the space with Sarah Ansell, a stained glass artist. I think it’s a good pairing; my pieces resemble stained glass in a way. The opening reception is this Saturday, October 8th.  Here are the particulars:

The Gallery of By Design, 136 Front St., Alton, IL, on Saturday, October 8th, from 5:00 pm to 8:00 pm.

I took lots of pictures of the installation, but you’ve seen all the pieces (except for the latest one).  I’ll post a “virtual gallery tour” once the show has opened.

Go to my Portfolio page and check out my latest addition, “Goin’ ‘Round in Circles.”

Today’s experiments involve breaks in the knots.

The examples below show one through five breaks in the Celtic knot band and its circular counterpart. The results are separate knots all around.

1-5 knot breaks

The examples below show one through five breaks along one edge in the Celtic knot band and its circular counterpart (the outer edge). The results are knots intertwined with their two neighbors.

1-5 outer knot breaks

The examples below show one through five breaks along one edge in the Celtic knot band and its circular counterpart (the inner edge). The results are knots intertwined with their neighbors.

1-5 inner knot breaks

The examples below show one through five breaks alternating along both edges in the Celtic knot band and its circular counterpart (the outer and inner edges). The results are two intertwined knots, one revolving clockwise and one revolving counterclockwise.

1-5 alternating knot breaks

What sort of experiment will I run tomorrow? Come back tomorrow and find out!