Indigo Ocean

 A couple of years ago at one of our PTA retreats, several of us made this very easy quilt top. I actually made 2 of them and finally finished this one just recentyl. It is one of the quilts featured in an exhibit at the NC Arboretum. Kate, Mary and I who often work on the same projects all worked on this pattern and used them at the entrance to the show and Both Kate and my quilt made in this pattern have sold already!

  When I first saw this quilt, I couldn't figure it out, turns out, it's very easy and uses only 2 pieces and gives the illusion of being woven.

 I used very simple quilting...

 mostly in the ditch. The fabric was so busy and thought the quilting should be simple.

 Since I used very nautical type fabrics, I decided to call it Indigo Ocean

 I also used a little strip of red in the border to tie in with the red blocks scattered throughout.

 The is the other one I made using Indigos and white which still needs to be quilted.

This is the pattern I used, including seam allowances. A skinny strip (1.5 x 5.5) is sewn on each side of the center rectangle (3.5 x 5.5). The finished block size is 5.5 square. The blocks are arranged by alternating them end to side and end to side and so on....it was great fun to do.

Changing Hues

This is another piece finished for our upcoming Arboretum show in April. I started with a piece of fabric I "blotchy" dyed. This is the back of it. 

I often used this dye application technique when I did a lot of appliqué. By laying clear templates over the different areas of color, you could create some wonderful shading and color movements.

On this particular piece, I laid down different widths of masking tape and marbled it. Marbling is a fast process, not giving the tape time to fall off. After the piece was hand rinsed from the marbling process, the tape was removed revealing lines with lots of colors and movement.

I then layered and quilted it using free motion stitching; I followed the lines of the marbling which was a tradional wave pattern.

I knew I wanted to add something to the top but felt it had to be sheer to allow the marbling to show through. Organza is always high on my list - it takes a paint well, is crisp and holds it shape and easy to work with.

I used Dye na Flow which works on all fibers. It's the consistency of water and therefore somewhat transparent. I wanted to pick up the colors in the marbled fabric so I used yellow and orange.

After it had dried, I screened a leaf on top...many leaves actually.

I made the screen in several different sizes to have a nice variety to work with.

I tried to pick up several different colors in the leaves by careful placement of the screen.

I cut the leaves out (after drying), close to but not on the edge.

I went back with a woodburning tool and burned the edges. It is easier than cutting as organza being so thin, burns down quickly.

I scattered the leaves on the top; using a monofilament I stitched down the center and sides of each leaf so they could move and appear to be floating.

I binded it with a red hand-dyed fabric and here is the finished piece. You can see where the sheer leaves are present but still allow the background to show through. This was a fun piece to make.

Un-named but Finished!

I'm finishing up old pieces - samples I made years ago. This sample was done for a book I wrote on fabric marbling;  I've always liked it but had no use for it as it was, I thought quilting would make it pop and perhaps turn it into a pillow or small wallhanging.

 This is a whole cloth piece. I cut leaf shapes out of contact paper and laid them down on white silk before marbling. Marbling is a quick process so I was able to print it and remove the contact shapes before they loosened and fell off naturally. I then went back with silk paint to fill in the white leaf shape areas. It was a tedious process but I like the results.

 I wanted to make the leaves pop from the background; laying an extra layer of batting underneath the leaf area will do this.

 I also take advantage of being able to use up half filled bobbins in thread colors I can't use. I made sure my bobbin tension was spot on so no weird color thread appeared on the front.

 The quilting was free motion following the lines of the marbled pattern.

 The leaves were outlined with a rayon decorative thread; the veining done with the same color thread.

I used stretcher bars to frame the piece.

And the finished piece still waiting for a name. The leaves look to be floating so I think that might be a possibility.

Through the Leaves

I've been finishing up samples from former workshops. They are 3/4 finished so little has to be done and they work up into nice little pieces. If our PTA group exhibits at Pisgah again this year, this type of piece fits well. I used to teach several workshops in machine needlelace; this was one of them. In this workshop, students did machine lace inside appliques of medium size; this was one of the steps in the process. 

 It needed something in the center so I added a silkscreen of a tree - I'm so predictable.

 The screen itself was a little fuzzy in areas so the print was not super clear - I liked that effect.

 I used a screen which filled a good portion of the center.

 It needed more so I went back with gold metallic paintsticks and Lumiere paint to highlight areas of the tree. I also used a black, very fine Pigma pen to outline some of the tree. The leaves were machine appliquéd and the entire piece - free motion quilted.

 I decided to mount this piece on burlap and wrap it around a 16" x 20" canvas. I liked the
roughness" of the burlap as it worked well with the organic feel of the leaves.

 It was wrapped and stapled to the back of the canvas and then covered with a fabric to make a nice, clean finish. Picture frame wire was added for hanging purposes.

And the finished piece.

Shimmering Forest finished

I've been grabbing moments to finish up projects - things that don't involve a big investment of time . Some things I feel so-so about;  some might develop into something better - this was one of them. I don't know if I'll do it again but it was fun to try and a very different look for me. A while back my Fiber Junkies group enjoyed a day of playing with a technique developed by Judy Coates Perez.

 These are the beginnings of my piece.

 There was lots of layering with paper and paint.

An image was drawn on top and filled in with a different color paint. The piece itself is quite stiff. I usually like a softer feel to my pieces - one of the beauties of working with fabric, but this was an interesting way to work and I'm happy with the results.

   I did bind the piece using an organza, but since I was mounting it on another piece of fabric, the binding was brought to the back but not turned under and stitched.

 I did paint the organza with a light wash of Dye-na-Flow paint which dries quickly.

 I cut a piece of black fabric - @ 2" larger all around and mounted the piece in the center. Using a monofilament thread, I stitched in the ditch all around to secure it to the black fabric.

 The stretcher bars were 15" square and the piece only 14" square. There was to be a 1/2" edge of black all around the piece. This was a little tricky as I was working from the back and had to keep it centered so all the black edges were even.

 I then attached a piece of black fabric to the back - hand stitching it to the edge. I put the label on before attaching the back, the wire went on last. This was time consuming but it does make a nice finished back.

And the finished piece I will call "Shimmering Forest" because it really does shimmer! I have to say it feels good to be back in my studio even if only to be finishing up some things.