Who said anything about magic?

[tricia868]

If you've found your way here through my fiber arts and are wondering if you could buy any, my work is sometimes available for sale or by commission over on Etsy!

ptriciadactyl - Etsy

Shop Fiber arts and creative quilts by ptriciadactyl located in Boston, Massachusetts.

You're also welcome to send commission inquiries to [email protected]

A few samples of pieces I've made for sale:

[tricia868]

Kikimora stained glass style art quilt! Craft swap gift for a friend.

I designed a stained glass version of Kikimora, painted it on fabric, and then free motion quilted the lines between panes using my sewing machine.

Design sketch:

Painting process:

Sewing process:

[tricia868]

Sudden Bliss shawl, pattern by Kristina Vilimaite

Yarns used were Lang Linello and Sandnes Garn Tynn Line, both linen/cotton/viscose blends.

I made the mistake of putting this work in progress down for a couple years and had to knit the same 5 rows 4 times trying to remember how the brioche pattern works. Also learned to add applied i-cord edges, new skills all around!

[tricia868]

Greetings from the quilt mines! Some works in progress for Terror Camp 2025, where I'll be participating in Artist's Alley again.

I am especially excited about having quilted the full James Fitzjames armfish scene sketch, both with and without the script above it. I do all of my work free motion, sketching with thread by moving the quilt under the sewing machine needle by hand.

(I also tea-dyed some white fabric for a nice old parchment color.)

[tricia868]

One of my favorite craft activities during the year is that entering pieces in my local fair comes with an invitation to demonstrate my process to attendees. So yesterday I spent 4 hours talking to strangers about quilts and sewing, while thread painting in the craft hall at Topsfield, working on a (still in progress) landscape made of fabric and thread.

This is freehand machine embroidery, made by manually moving the piece under my sewing machine needle. I rarely work with stitching this dense, and it's stiff enough that I'll need to stretch/frame it rather than hanging it like I would a typical quilt, but it's a lot of fun! I'm a chronically ill autistic introvert, so of course exhaustion hit me like a freight train afterwards. But it was totally worth it, just like it has been the previous couple years. How often am I encouraged to infodump about my special interest for 4 hours straight? I especially like when I meet kids interested in art who just want to hang out and watch for awhile.

[sinni-ok-sessi]

behold! by Endurance we sit comfortably, or something

based on That One Photo by Frank Hurley, which I am obsessed with, this has been my main project this year. it's doubleknit, so theoretically reversible, although the seaming means that one side is much neater than the other. it was a stash yarn project, including 100g of sock yarn from a shop in Bergen (the blue) and 100g of handspun sockish yarn from Tormisdale Croft on Islay (the grey), so about as far from Antarctica as it's possible to buy yarn 😅

[sinni-ok-sessi]

a couple of people have expressed interest in a pattern, so if you'd like the full How To Make A Cushion pattern, that's here and if you just want the Endurance pattern itself, that's here. note that as it's charted for doubleknit, each stitch is much wider than it is tall, so the proportions will probably look weird for e.g. cross-stitch. the chart settings should allow you to download a copy and make changes, though, so feel free to just take the existing pattern as a starting point!

[tricia868]

A photo that launched multiple fiber arts. I might have to make this too, thank you for the pattern!

[tricia868]

Do you ever do repeated commissions? I love the Endurance quilt you made, and would love to commission something similar eventually!

ADHD crafting means I can't make the same thing TOO many times, or I get bored! But I would be willing to make another ship quilt or two.

I had a lot of fun with that one. And I do make repeats occasionally.

I am about to close commissions for awhile to work on projects already in my queue, but please email me at [email protected] if you'd like an alert when they reopen!

[tricia868]

Continuing the Tamora Pierce inspired crafting kick, I've wanted to make a weather-themed shawl for ages, in honor of Tris Chandler, my favorite character. (In my heart, this is a shawl Sandry made for Tris.)

Pattern is Rigoles, by maylin Tri'Coterie Designs, and is available on Ravelry.

Knitted in fingering with the larger number of stitches. Because non-wool yarns don’t block into shape as easily, I modified the pattern like this:

Cast on an extra 18 stitches. (Do this for every triangle.)

Decrease by one stitch each row 6 times. (where “row” is defined as “whenever you reach the bottom of the triangle or start a new row at the bottom of the triangle)

Decrease by one stitch every other row 6 times.

Decrease by one stitch every 4th row 6 times.

This will give a curve down to the point, which many shawls achieve via blocking.

My yarns were Katia Fair Cotton Granny, and some white Katia Fair Cotton that I dyed gray. (Also known during the dyeing process as 'Forbidden Noodle Soup.')

[tricia868]

My childhood best friend is a huge Tamora Pierce fan, so for her birthday, I made an Alanna the Lioness quilt! As proof that quilt.exe runs in the back of my mind taking up some amount of mental CPU at all times, I designed this in the car on my way home from work one day.

Featuring her shield, Faithful (both forms), the Dominion Jewel, the ember necklace, Lightning, and her violet Gift.

This technique is inspired by Alison Glass' reverse applique Cozy Quilts. A layer of quilting cotton sandwiched between cotton jersey on the front and back. Stitch around shapes, then cut away the top layer of jersey inside each shape to selectively reveal the middle layer. I love jersey quilts, they're SO comfy. This one was machine stitched, unlike the original hand stitched Cozy Quilt pattern.

Here's a quick design doodle I did before I began cutting/sewing!

[tricia868]

I was commissioned to make an art quilt inspired by a photo of the Endurance, Ernest Shackleton's antarctic exploration vessel.

Here are my reference photo (taken by Frank Hurley on August 27, 1915) and some process pictures!

I printed a scale copy of the image, then used it to create an applique pattern and to trace the rigging onto water soluble fabric so I could free motion quilt over all the lines. (FMQ is essentially freehand sketching with your sewing machine by manually moving the quilt under your needle in whatever patterns you want to create with thread.)

[tricia868]

Art quilt of Mad Sweeney from American Gods (TV show version) and replica lucky coins

I'm really proud of my workmanship! A lot of hand embellishment went into this quilt (most notably the gold coin designs in the corners.)

The replica coins were made by carving molds out of bars of soap, then filling them with hot glue from a glue gun. I let the halves solidify, then pried them out and glued the two halves together. A couple coats of metallic gold paint finished things off.

(I can't share art inspired by a show based on one of Neil Gaiman's books without acknowledging that he has committed heinous acts and I absolutely do not condone it. I was 99% done with this quilt when that article was published, and I wrestled with finishing and sharing it at all.

I am not profiting from this piece; it was a craft swap gift for a friend who I've made sure still wants it despite also repudiating Gaiman. And I will also not do anything that puts money into Gaiman's pocket.)

[tricia868]

My latest finish!

Center square pattern is Braided Star by Angela Walters, and the borders are my design (included: sketchbook idea doodles). Pieced and quilted by me.

When my mom moved away, I gave her a bag of fabric scraps and promised a quilt to follow. So she already had her walls painted to match, and I love seeing the quilt where it belongs!

[tricia868]

Sea turtle quilt!

The pieced/appliqued pattern is The Original Beach Crawl by Sweet Tea Girls.

All the quilting was my design, including the turtles visible on the back of the quilt and the starfish and sand dollars in the border. Free motion quilting is still my favorite part of this hobby, I love doodling with thread!

[yinza]

@tricia868 commissioned me for another gecko dragon as a companion piece to the one from the other year. She has such pretty coloring!

[Image Description: Digital artwork of a small dragon based on a crested gecko, positioned like she is climbing down something. Her coloring is mostly dark brown, lighter on her back with a rough striped pattern, and pale yellow on her tail. The membranes of her wings are also paler. /end ID]

[tricia868]

Embroidered pendant with an ocean sunset landscape - that was my first time designing anything of the sort, and it was really fun.

[tricia868]

Quilted cushions for my hammock chair!

I scoured the internet for this out of print moth fabric from the Alison Glass Art Theory collection and have zero regrets.

Did I remember how to make piping or sew zippers? No, I did not. It was a learning experience! (ADHD crafting means most projects are, otherwise I get too bored to finish.) Please appreciate how gorgeous the piping and zippers are, I'm SO happy I went with fun multicolored ones.

Isn't it great to live in a time where we can easily buy rainbow zippers?

[tricia868]

Another quilt - this was exactly my jam, getting to skip straight to my favorite part of the process. I love free motion! It's just sketching with a sewing machine.

It was exciting to have tangible evidence that my skills have leveled up; I definitely couldn't have done this 3 years ago.

And it looks perfect with my newly painted bedroom walls. (I chose a color that goes with every quilt I want to use in here, and I stand by that decision 100%.)

EDITING FOR CLARITY:

A lot of the quilts you'll see on my page are fabric collages, images I create from scratch with shapes I cut out and applique. This one wasn't. Fabric picture panels exist, so my work here was the intricate thread texture over it, which I did freehand with my sewing machine.

(If anyone wants one of these panels to quilt, search for "Dream Big panel" and you'll find these flowers in a bunch of colors)

Sorry I wasn't clearer in the original description!