Sunday, March 31, 2013

Remembering Easter

Sharing today a small wall quilt, named "Remembering Easter". This quilt is simply made, with machine applique, machine quilting and a bit of hand quilting, a tad of piecing and is 17" by 31" at longest point. A colorful version to celebrate life using a variety of cottons and Pellon 987F fusible fleece.

This quilt's genesus was the desire to use the little pieced blocks--they were leftovers from Color Pools table runner (see earlier post) and for some reason I felt compelled to USE THEM. I am truly odd and sure this is some kind of condition I have. Anyway, the quilt started construction from this point, adding elements and colors that were cheerful. You just never know where inspiration will begin!

Fix a Quilt Boo Boo

I can't believe I did this. I made a table topper, Heart Strings, and used a white pencil to outline heart shapes for some very sparse quilting. Being the overly detailed personality that I am, I used Fray Check to hold down the thread whiskers at the seam line end, but did so before I removed the white pencil lines. Do you see where this is going? I glued down the white pencil dust. I still use Fray Check quite a bit, but I think I'll be sure to remember to remove pencil lines first or use the product on the back side from now on. This is a great product and I've never noticed any visibility from using it--this is clearly operator error! There is a happy ending--I covered the boo-boos by coloring the whitish spots with a permanent black Sharpie. Whew!

Monday, March 18, 2013

Beatin' the Blues

Sharing this most recent completion, for someone special. Used raw edge applique and zigzag machined edges, machine quilted. A very simple approach to using fabric to design. A bit of  stimulation for the day. Now...........tag, you're it! This piece approximately 15" x 22".
 

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Re-purpose Your Fabric

 

Just wanted to pass along this tip, in case there are folks who haven't had this experience. I am making a wall quilt and needed a purple fabric, one with not too much red or too much blue in it. I ruffled through all the candidates in my stash and nothing seemed just right, except this piece with the gold metallic stars on it. Can't remember where or why I picked this up and never seem to have the project that wants it with the gold stars shining away, wanting attention. Voila! I turned it to the reverse side and there hides a perfectly suitable, hand-dye look that I did use in my quilt. Moral: always check the back sides of candidate fabrics when auditioning!