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 

The lighthouse continues

Hello,

I need to give my sewing machine a break, and myself too, I suppose.  So, I thought I would post the next stage of my lighthouse.  I've been working on the rocky foreground now.  I'm pleased with how this is turning out and excited to finish and see the completed quilt.  I am considering framing it though instead of finishing as a quilt.  I guess I'd better go make supper so I can give my sewing machine a chance to cool off for awhile.  Janet

Lighthouse thread painting

Hello,

I'm working on my lighthouse today.  Just trying to go with it and not re-think every step of the process.  If you've ever been to Split Rock Lighthouse you know I am taking artistic license here. But, I think it isn't too bad.  I think people might even be able to tell from looking that it is a lighthouse. LOL I'm trying quite a bit of thread painting.  I like how it looks but Im not sure I will be able to get it to lay flat when I am done.  This is a learning process though and if it doesn't work that's OK.  I'll figure out what I could have done differently and try again.  That's a big step for me as I used to worry about getting everything 'right'.  I finally have come to the realization there is no 'right' just different ways to do the same thing.  Some work better for me than others.  I'll post more later as I work on the rest and let you know if it's going to work out or not.  Janet

Photo Postcards

Hello,


I'm not quite finished with the postcard of my daughter, but I am close.  I did have to go buy some more purple fabric as you need multiple shades for it to work.  I have added photos of the postcard in progress.  The first photo shows the fabric with the pattern underneath on top of my lightbox.  The second photo is the postcard with all the fabric but no thread painting yet. The third is the finished postcard of my son.  I did his in shades of blue.

Talk to you tomorrow!

Janet

Soy Wax Batik, learningfa(fiber arts)

     My first post told of my adventures with The Rosie Quilters (my small group).  The seven of us gathered at the school where one is a (let's see if I can get the title right) Family and Consumer Science teacher.  We had a big classroom with lot's of tables and outlets to plug in our electric skillets.  It was perfect.  We had a good time and each learned from the other as we went along.  None of us had done this before.  Yesterday I spent some time dyeing my soy wax batik fabrics and washing out the wax.  I haven't done any dyeing since early last summer so I had to do a little refresher first but I think they are looking pretty good.  The two fabrics I painted while at the school on Saturday have crisper design patterns than the two I brought home to dye.  I lost wax along the way.  I don't know if it was just the cold that made it crack and fall off or if you should always do the batik immediately but that's what happened to mine.  I like them in spite of losing a little of the design.  I plan to spend one more day with these fabrics before I call them finished as I want to color in the white.  I'm thinking maybe yellow with the purple but I'm not sure.  I haven't decided what to add to the raspberry colored fabric yet.

I have been anxiously and not very patiently waiting for my class on how to make a blog.  The class is this Saturday.  As you can see I jumped the gun and started my blog early.  I have many questions though and can't wait to learn the answers.  I feel fortunate to have found the yahoo group hosted by Shirley Patterson called learningfa, for learning fiber arts.  It is kind of a cooperative as people in the group take turns teaching each other skills that we have.  I originally signed up because I was interested in the thread painting taught by Shirley, she does amazing work and you will find a link to her blog here on my site.  She truly is a wonderful person who has taught me many things in the short time I have been a member of this group.  Chris will be teaching our blog class and she has one hundred students!  I will periodically post things I have learned to do on this site.  Here is a postcard I used my new thread painting skills to create. 

Today is a class day for me.  I received three classes along with my embellisher so I am going to take one of those.  Tonight I have a class called My Bernina Does That!  I will learn about a few new feet and what they can do.  Sounds like fun.  I'm also working on some postcards for a couple of exchanges and a landscape challenge that Shirley gave us to do.  I'm hoping to re-create Split Rock Falls in northern Minnesota.  I'll keep you posted. Janet