Persimon Dreams - Spring Challenge "May I ?"

 
Its been awhile since I completed a Quilt Challenge and the title "May I ?" creates lots of images in my brain.  We have had a very wet spring here in Seattle.  Everyone's impression of Seattle is rain but this year we broke all the records.  Now that we are near the end of May the sun has finally come out and it couldn't be more beautiful.  The northwest is an amazing place when the sun is shinning.  My yard is in full bloom.  When I think of May I look forward to the flowers and color so when I saw the challenge I had to make something showing off the beautiful colors nature provides.  I have a collection of watering cans that I take inside for the winter but May is my time to bring them out and spread them around my yard.

This is my Inspiration:
The Rhododendron in my yard is in full bloom.

 I want to capture an image of the Water Can and the color in the flowers.
First I had to choose the shape of the Can that I want to reproduce.  These are just a few of the cans that are in my yard.

 

One I had chosen a photograph of the can I wanted to use I used my Printer to enlarge the image to the size I wanted to work with.  Since I only have a little household ink jet printer this can be a challenge.  I ended up with 2 images that were then taped together to create my final design.

First I traced the outline and divided it into sections.  

This would give shape & color variation to my picture.. 

Then I traced each section onto a piece of freezer paper.  Its like putting together a jig saw puzzle.  

The numbering makes it easier to reassemble the pieces.

Starting with a piece of fabric about 12 inches by 12 inches  I put Wonder Under on the back of each square. I then ironed the freezer paper shape on to the front. This method gives a cutting line to cut out each shape.  I added a 1/4 inch to the pieces that were to be behind other pieces.  

For the foreground I cut on my original line.  I assembled the water can on a Teflon ironing sheet.  The original image of the can is under the sheet of Teflon. 

After removing the freezer paper from the fabric place a piece or two at a time in to its space
and then press them into place.  

Once its assembled it can be removed from the Teflon and placed onto the background fabric.

 

The Flowers came from a single piece of fabric.  They aren't Rhododendrons but they do capture the color I wanted. I backed them with Wonder Under and then cut out each individual flower.

 I played with the placement of the can and flowers before the final pressing. 

I added more detail  such as spout of the can so it stood out from the flower.  

 From here I added batting to the back and then stitched everything down.  

I then continued to use thread painting to enhance the design.  

I also use Derwent Inktense Pencils to add more detail to the images.  I'm in love with these pencils.

Finally I added my backing fabric, Quilted the background by following the lines in the fabric design.  I added a border and binding and this is my completed project. 

 

  My finished quilt is 22 inches by 22 inches.

Here is a close-up of some of the details.

Project Quilting Season 8 Week 6 "Time is up"

I'm back again.  I took a couple weeks off from the Quilt Challenge.
It's hard to keep up the momentum and finish 6 challenges is 12 weeks.

This is my entry to this weeks Challenge.
It's a 14 x 16 inch wall handing.

I have to admit I was a little brain dead & at a loss for ideas.  I decided to take the challenge topic literally and keep it very simple.  I created the hour glass with light weight clear vinyl, there is a small piece of clear plastic tubing in the middle to create an opening for the little seed beads to flow through.  The hour glass was the last piece attached to the quilt after appliquing on the words.  The binding was created by piecing small strips from my stash.

Project Quilting Season 8 Week 3 "Tune into Texture"

A couple weeks ago I saw this picture of a mosaic and fell in love with it.  When I heard the title of this weeks challenge "Tuned into Texture" I immediately thought of the mosaic. 

Green isn't my color I want to do it in another color pallet. I went searching my stash to find that I didn't have anything I wanted to use for my main colors.  I headed out to my favorite quilt shop. 

This is my starter fabric selection.  I will fill in with other things from my stash.

I've decided to add some crochet & tatted doilies that I also found in my stash.  When I stop at a garage sale these hand done items usually find their way home with me.  Its such a shame to see these beautiful treasures sitting forgotten at a garage sale when someone spent their time creating them.  

 

I started by drawing this beginning design which is a 16 inch square.

I plan to use it to cut my fabric pieces, each section will then be cut into smaller pieces to get the appearance of the mosaic. In doing this my piece will be larger than this original.  For my fabric I first cut 8 x 10 rectangles and backed them with wonder under so they could be fused to the background. I used butcher paper to trace each section of my design, once traced I ironed the butcher paper cutout to the front of my fabric with the wonder under backing.  I then cut out each shape.  I worked on one section at a time.  Once I cut a shape from the fabric, cut it into the small mosaic blocks you can see. As I cut the little pieces it was a challenge to keep them in order so I could put them back together.   Using teasers I placed each piece on the background.  The next two photos show my progress.  I worked in sections.  Once I was happy with a section I ironed it down. On the second photo you can see the little pieces sitting off to the side.   I used 505 spray adhesive to hold the doilies in place.

 

This weekend I was scheduled to attend a sewing retreat with the Clothing & Textile Advisors of Washington.  This is a wonderful group that I joined a couple years ago.  If you have ever attended the Sewing & Stitchery Expo in Puyallup Washington this is the organization that provides the volunteer staff to help run the expo. We spent the weekend at a church camp in Black Diamond Washington.  It ended a little early today because we woke up to snow.

 

Once I had all my pieces in place I added batting to the back and used my stitch regulator (BSR) to stitch down all of the pieces. The final step was to trim it to final size, add backing and binding.

 

It was a bit to ambitious for a retreat weekend but it is done.

The bottom photo was taken at the retreat so I could enter the challenge.

I wasn't able to get all the detail in that picture.  

This photo was taken today and shows the color and detail much better. 

Project Quilting Season 8 Week 2 "Carolina Lilly"

It's been a busy week. I'm happy to say I was able to finish the challenge.

I forgot to take pictures alone the way but this is my finished project.  

It's a 14 x 14 inch square wall quilt.  

The fabrics are a combination of batik cottons, Kaffe Fassett 

cotton prints, and a little orange broad cloth. 

 I used Wonder Under to attach the flower and accents. 

 I then added free motion quilting to attach the petals and create more detail to the design. 

Project Quilting Season 8 Week 1 "8 is Great"

2017 has arrived.  Its time to start a new challenge.  

I find the title of this 1st challenge leaves so many possibilities.  

What shall I make?  

I recently purchased a coloring book of Mandala's.  

Coloring them has been a great escape from the boring TV.  

I've decided I want to create a Mandala and turn it into a 

small table runner to use on my round dining room table.  

With our theme of  "8 is Great" I'm starting with 8 colors.  

My helper Frankie had to get involved and check out my fabric.  

These fabrics are a combination if sheer Organza & Shinny Tulle Netting.  

I'm planning to layer them to create a color wheel. 

The layers are ready.  

I've combined between 3 to 5 layers of fabric for each square to create my color array.  

I choose to start with Yellow, Red, Green & Blue.  

From there I combined colors to create a color wheel,  

 Now for the fun, it's time to start stitching.

Using my circle attachment I outline each block.  

I trimmed the fabric to the stitching line then added a decorative stitch for the final look.  

Its a challenge to position them so they are all placed evenly.

 Circles are done and adding some detail using a variegated thread.  

Time to choose a backing and put it together. 

 

This is the final project photo

 and a photo of my backing.  

I love the colors in Kaffe Fassett's fabric.  

This piece was hiding in my stash

Project Quilting Week 5 "Through the Eyes of a Child"

Creating quilts to enter into the Quilt Challenge put on by Kim at Persimmon Dreams Blog has been a creative challenge for me.  Two weeks ago we had a topic of "I need a vacation".  I started to work on a design and then decided that the topic was a great idea.  It happened that the Sewing and Stitchery Expo in Puyallup Washington was coming up and as a volunteer and avid participant it was a very busy week for me.  The Expo, as always was a fun filled 5 days.  Tons of classes as well as a huge array of vendors from the sewing industry.  If you have never attended it I would highly recommend you check it out.  With the Expo over I'm ready to tackle a new project. 

This weeks topic is "Through the Eyes of a  Child".  I've chosen a painting that my Granddaughter created in the 2nd grade.  This drawing is of Seattle and in case you didn't recognize it that is the Space Needle in the middle.

Wednesday I created a background and started cutting out buildings.  This is what it looked like at the end of the day.

 

On Thursday I completed the buildings and then took some time to step back to see if I needed to make any changes before I attach the houses to the background.  Once I was happy with the design I attached all the building.  Then it was time to start stitching.  The stitching is a labor of love.  I enjoy the process of embellishing the design with stitches.  

This is my completed quilt.  The colors are not as nice in the picture as in real life.  Its 2:00 a.m. and so no natural light to take the photo. 

Sunday Morning, I made the deadline by staying up very late last night.  The top picture was taken this morning when I had better lighting.

Project Quilting Week 3 "All About that Thread"

The first decision of a new project quilting is always what to make.  It usually takes me a couple days to come up with an idea.  Thread painting has been on my list of things to try for a couple years.  This will be a good opportunity to experiment with something new.  I've chosen a photo of pink poppies.  I enlarged my photo.  I then used a black marker to outline the sections of the design.  I transferred the sections onto freezer paper, then cut out the pieces leaving a 1/4 inch border around the shape.  My plan is to create the base flowers using several different shades of pink fabric.  I cut a piece of each fabric and backed it with Wonder Under.  I then ironed the freezer paper shapes onto the fabric.  I trimmed each piece as I placed it on my background.  Once I was happy with the placement I used an iron to fuse the design.  Now for the fun.  Using a variety of thread colors I embellished each flower petal with thread.  I finished the design by adding some beading in the centers of the flowers.  The last steps were to add backing, quilt the background, the bind the edges.