Project Quilting 7 All About That Thread

I wasn't sure if I was going to enter this weeks challenge.  I've been working on a couple of gifts for people, and a mystery quilt as well as a block of the month.  I really like these challenges though they are getting me back into the creative aspect of quilting.  It's fun just to be a part of something with so many creative people, hopefully a little will rub off on me.  I really enjoy making traditional quilts too but the design of an art quilt is somehow rejuvenating.  So, when Friday arrived I just had to make a quilt for the Thread challenge on Project Quilting.

This is a photo of a postcard I made several years ago.  It was donated to a guild in Ireland to be used as part of a fundraiser for breast cancer research.  I made two others at the time but this was my favorite.  Here is a link to that post.

I severely underestimated my sewing time for this but was able to finish all in one day.  I used a hand dyed velvet because that just seemed to go with roses and Valentine's Day.  I plan to use this for a Valentine's Day gift.

I drew the pattern on some water soluble solvy and pinned it to my fabric.  First I outline an area with a straight stitch.  It is easy to get confused as you are sewing so having the stitch guidelines helps keep me in the right area with the right color.  I fill in the area with a small free motion zig zag stitch.  This photo is from the postcard I made but I did them the same way just on a different scale.  Postcards are about 6" by 4".  This is about 10.5" by 8" without the border.

Once it is complete I soak it in water to dissolve the solvy pattern.  So it was dry this morning (Saturday) but I could tell I hadn't rinsed it very well, it was still tacky in spots.  So back in the water it went, which of course meant no sewing for awhile.  But, that was ok since I didn't have a fabric picked for the border yet anyway.

I had an awful time figuring out what to use for the border.  Every thing I tried seemed to clash.  I dragged my husband (he is really a very good sport and has a good eye for these things) to the store so I could get a second opinion.  We found a couple of choices that were ok but not very exciting.  I happened to run into an old friend, Mary Jo, who suggested green.  I hadn't even considered green but guess what, it was just what I needed.  My husband found this fabric and with just a touch of pink in it seemed like the perfect choice.  kind of gives the impression of leaves.

I just wanted it to look a little like a picture frame, so I hope you like it.  Don't forget to click the Project Quilting link at the top of my post.  You can see all the amazing entries and vote for your favorites.  You click the heart to vote and/or click the photo to be transported to their blog to see more about the entry.  Enjoy!

Have a creative day

Janet