Wednesday, May 4, 2016

Loose Ends

The last three weeks have been a time to tie up loose ends:

1. Giving the blue jay a focus in Asters. (Click to enlarge.)
















The joined acorns were cut from a printed cotton. The single acorn was put together and painted on wood-grain-patterned fabric with fusible web backing.

2. Label made and sewn onto Nordic Night.




For this one, I used a photo taken before the horses and the tree were added, and the quilt top was still on the design wall. I love doing this as a bit of a surprise for the buyer of the quilt. It's a good reminder that the finished work is a collection of many fabric elements and that it didn't just all come together overnight.

3. Label made and sewn onto Mallards.













For this one, a photo from the finished quilt was used.







4. Sewing together every leftover scrap of sky fabric I had.




This may have been one of my goofier ideas. It took a whole lot of trimming, piecing and pressing.





This sky conglomeration may need to be turned upside down to make sense in a landscape--oranges at the bottom. We'll see what happens with this, if anything.

5. Rescuing a UFO from the closet (and actually doing something with it).



Progress has been made since then, but I'm not really looking for stellar results. Just having fun with it, and hoping it turns out pretty. Working title is "Kissing Geckos."



6. Finally managing to take a straight-on shot of Asters in its entirety (including acorns).



In the end, it was photographed on the floor, the only place I could get far enough away from it to take a decent shot. I almost cut off the top, but it's actually all there.

7. Giving Asters a haircut and a shave...speaking of loose ends. Or in other words, trimming loose fibers from the raw applique edges and oh-so-carefully sticky-rolling lint off the quilt.



[Also, browning out two little lines of light-blue thread on the tree branches (hence, the brown Sharpie). Sometimes it's a lot more practical, when quilting, to cross on over into another area instead of breaking thread or going way, way around the thing you're crossing. As long as the thread is lighter than the thing you're crossing, you're good. Just remember to color the thread later. Cheating? Nope. Just common sense.]



8. Packing up Asters for shipping. Yep, it leaves here tonight and will hang in my sister-in-law's house in Maine. I'm pretty happy that this particular quilt isn't leaving the family.

Have a great weekend, everyone, and if you're betting on a horse in the Kentucky Derby, best of luck!

Linda

4 comments:

  1. Glad to read about 'my' quilt! Maybe the geckos need a trip to AZ!

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    1. I'm thrilled you're going to have it in your house!! Actually, those geckos would probably get all kinds of inspiration from a trip to AZ. :)

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  2. Glad to see you took the "lizards" out of the closet! I love your labels. So you take the photo, then add the words. Then I'm assuming you print that out on fabric? Very smart idea.

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    1. Carol, it's awesome that you remembered these guys. Some day my 'lizard mandala quilt' will be finished, too. Yes, it is really fun playing with those early-stage photos and adding text. I print on Jacquard Inkjet Fabric Sheets. Afterward, I hit them with 3 thin coats of Scotch Guard.

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