Monday, June 16, 2014

Happy Blues

Happy Blues started with a scrap pile, and a determination to use up some of these smaller pieces of fabric. I've often said I'm not a piecer but this is easy, not super precise and great fun.

I tried to arrange the fabrics so they were going from dark to light, bottom to top. They are mostly cottons, some of my hand dyes and probably some silk. I was going for color and not necessarily fabric. I like the effect of the mix.
 I was adding daisies on top using a "sky" fabric microwave dyed and very pale with patches of white. I wanted to give it a little pop and started adding Lumiere paint to highlight it.
 It's a very dense paint with a high metallic content. It also dries quickly.

 Well I really didn't like it....just too strong. So I quickly ran it under water and using an old toothbrush, scrubbed the paint away. I would have just started over, but this was all the fabric I had on hand.
 I decided I really liked the white in there. Sometimes it's just better to live with something a while which I should have done here.



I went back and added some discharge paste to different areas of the petals and really liked it so much better.
 I also added this cute little spikey flowers to give it more movement....
 and did a buttonhole stitch around the edge using my BERNINA. I really love that stitch and find myself using it more and more. It's decorative but subtle.
I used a dark denter in the daisies to give it contrast.
And now it's ready to quilt. I have a busy week so I don't know if I'll get to it for a while but I'm hoping to have it done for our Arboretum show in July.
Til next time..

9 comments:

  1. This is gorgeous!!! I love the idea for the background....such a good idea for using up bits of fabric!!!

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  2. Fascinating to watch the quilt come together and follow your decisions along the way.

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  3. Lovely, summery piece. I like your fabric treatment for the daisy petals--wonderful light/shadow effect.
    best, nadia

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  4. I really like how the daisies turned out. They enlightened the background while having colors that complement it well. The whole is gorgeous!

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  5. great use of scraps, I can't throw anything away either. Beautiful!!

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  6. Thank you....thank you....I can't say I made a dent in my scrap pile....but it was fun to do

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  7. oh, how fresh and lovely. I also loved the process... making it work... keep on adding/subtracting. I love the white with blue undertones. Thanks for showing us!!! :LeeAnna Paylor
    lapaylor.blogspot.com

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  8. It came out great. Absolutely lovely.

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