Project Quilting Season 8-2 Carolina Lily

Update:  I forgot to include a link to the project quilting site so you could go and see all of the amazing entries and vote for your favorites.  Voting begins Sunday afternoon.  Scroll to the bottom of her page to see all the entries.

I started out with fabric to create dimensional petals.  Several people were already doing that in different ways so I needed to come up with something I don't normally use.  I have recently begun to use my Babylock Embellisher more.  It is fun, to see what I can make.  The tree in this unfinished piece is made with the same technique I used to make my lily.  

I was loosely using this photo for inspiration.

I like how the background is not in focus, so I went with that for my piece as well.  I used some hand dyed silk hankies to felt into the background.  A piece of yarn creates the stem of the flower.

Next I made my petals. I used a fabrico marker for the brown dots.

I pinned them to the background to see how it would look.  I have never tried this before so wasn't sure if it would work.

I decided it was ok so I had to remove it again so I could quilt the background.  I wanted to give the impression of more flowers with my quilting, so I played with that a little.  I used a variegated thread since the background has so many colors.

Next step I did was to sew on the flower but I think it would have been easier to do the binding first.  Dimension on a quilt always adds extra challenges that I sometimes forget.

I did remember to sew on the binding and add corner pockets for a small hanging stick before adding the center to the flower.  This photo was taken before the binding is sewn, it is only lightly glued at this point.

I had some flower stamens made of metal, leftover from a previous project.  I think they worked perfectly with this.  I found a small bug button in one of my button jars.

 I still haven't decided on a name for this one.  Any thoughts?
Have a creative day
Janet

Holey Eight Project Quilting Season 8

Project Quilting has begun.  This is the eighth season for this challenge. In honor of this the first challenge is "Eight is great".  You can go to Persimon Dreams to read more about the challenge.  There are lot's of wonderful prizes to be given away.

I have had a couple of things going on in my life lately so haven't been doing quite as much sewing.  Recovering well from foot surgery, although I may need some therapy yet.  Also getting used to my new flexitouch therapy for Lymphedema which takes an hour in the morning and an hour in the evening.  I was excited about participating in something creative again.  So, I decided I could do it, just keep it small.

I started with some tiny pieced squares I had left over from another project.

I wanted to use eight squares.  Having a hole in the center seemed like the easiest way, besides I am kind of fascinated by quilts with cut outs.

I added eight different embroidery stitches from The Embroidery Stitch Bible.  I need a little more practice on a few of them.  I also used eight different colors of floss.  The final touch was eight seed beads added to each different bit of embroidery.  Enjoy the step by step process.

First stitch added is the blanket stitch.  "Uses: straight and gently curved edgings, couching, laid work, cut work, straight and curved outlines." *Note* all uses are from the Embroidery Stitch Bible.

Second stitch added is the running stitch. "Uses:  straight and curved lines, outlines, as a quilting stitch, as a gathering stitch for smocking, as a foundation for other stitches."

Third is the chain stitch.  "Uses:  straight and curved lines."

Fourth is the coral stitch, although if you are familiar with this stitch you may not recognize mine.  I kind of stretched it out a little here.  "Uses: straight and curved lines with a beaded effect, closely worked rows make a textured filling."

The fifth is the rosette chain stitch and I will fully admit I need practice with this one.  "Uses: borders and edgings, flower motifs."

Sixth is a loop stitch.  "Uses: a broad, decorative line, straight or curved; several lines may be worked with interlocking 'arms,' as a filling stitch; couching, laid work, cut work, straight and curved outlines."

Seventh is the seeding stitch.  I kind of like this one, simple and quick.  "Uses:  a simple filling stitch; it may be worked as an even scatter, to give texture to an area, or clustered to shade an area from one side to the other."

And the eighth stitch is french knots.  One of my favorites!  "Uses:  a bold, raised dot, used singly (e.g. as an eye) or in groups (e.g. as a flower center); may be worked closely packed or evenly scattered as a textured filling, or clustered for a shaded filling.  May also be worked with a short tail for a more organic effect."

And here it is with the eight beads added to each of the eight embroidery stitches, in eight colors of embroidery floss, on eight squares.

And just so you realize I did go small...

Only 4.5" square!
Have a creative day
Janet

Sibling Revelry!

I was thrilled one of my quilts was exhibited at AQS in Des Moines.  This was my first opportunity to exhibit at a 'big' show.  I was even more honored by my family who drove from Minnesota and several different cities in Iowa to converge on, for most of them, their first 'big' quilt show too.  Here is my fan club with my quilt in the background.

Stephanie, John, Jane, Lloyd, Julie, me, Beth, Judy, Jo

Stephanie and myself

Julie, me, Jo & Judy

Here is a photo of me with my quilt.

High Trestle Bridge Quilt

I traveled to the eastern part of Iowa with my sisters after the show and stayed with them for the rest of the week.  This is where the sibling revelry begins.  I'll just touch on a few of the highlights.

Julie, me, Jo & Judy

They took me to a wonderful quilt shop' Helios Stitches N Stuff, in Mount Vernon, Iowa.  The owners are so nice and very knowledgeable about their fabric.  We learned some fun facts about the origins of some of the fabric designs.  I bought quite a bit of fabric to bring home and play with in the coming months.

Christmas is coming!

The next day started out a little drizzly so we had a mini quilt-in with show and share as well.  I brought supplies with me to make blocks for the 70,273 Project.  

supplies

I borrowed this explanation from Jeanne Hewell-Chambers blog as she explains it best.

"Between January 1940 and August 1941 (before the Holocaust began), 70,273 physically and mentally disabled people – men, women, teens, boys, and girls – were murdered by the Nazis. Though they never even laid eyes on the disabled person they were evaluating, the Nazi doctors read the medical files and, if from the words on the page, the person was deemed “unfit” or an “economic burden on society”, the doctor placed a red X at the bottom of the form. Three doctors were to read each medical file, and when two of them made a red X on the page, the disabled person’s fate was sealed. Most were murdered within 1-2 hours."

This month and November there is a sibling challenge.  I put one X on a square and one of my siblings puts the second X on a square.  If you need a refresher on the 70,273 Project you can find more here.  There are three different sizes of squares so I made one of each for each of my three sisters who were at the 'party.'  I'll have to mail some to my fourth sister(wish she could have been there too) and maybe my brothers. We figured three of the four of us might have received red X's and sent off on the buses never to return.

Julie's blocks

Jo's blocks

Judy's blocks

snacks and provenance forms

hard at work

We let the guys join us for dinner!

One of the reasons I might be on one of the buses is because I have lymphedema.  Last Sunday I went to a 5k to raise money for lymphedema awareness, education and research.  My husband and I are on the far left in this photo. 

Emma's Lymphedema walk/run 5k

We are all members of the Minnesota Lymphedema Advocacy group working to get the Lymphedema Treatment Act passed in Congress.  Please consider contacting your Congressman and urging them to support this bill.  Here is a link to send a prewritten letter to your Congressman.  Quick, easy and painless.  Thank you for your support.

Just before I left home I finished piecing and quilting this small quilt for the project.  Eventually there will be 70,273 squares with two red x's in over 1,000 quilts.  It isn't quite finished in this photo but I guess I was so excited to send it off in the mail I forgot to snap one when it was done.

Two of my sisters brought their inherited antique quilts for show and share.  Enjoy the show.  They are beautiful.

We also did some antiquing around the area.  One of the places we went is called Sisters Garden and Bloom in Kalona, Iowa, so of course we had to take a photo of ourselves in front of their sign.

When you see anything with blue type that means you can click to link for more information.
Have a Creative Day
Janet