Another Hawaiian Bay

 ...because, what else could this be but Hawaiian Bay II (the Second)? This is the first time I've ever used a quilt title twice (although it's definitely a different quilt), but nothing else seemed fitting.

The sky fabric was the inspiration for the quilt, and the mountain pieces were unused leftovers from another project. All the other fabric pieces were auditioned before cutting. (Click on any photo to enlarge.)

The water fabric was free-motion quilted with Sulky's Holoshimmer threads, in gold and light copper. 

Decided to sew on some shells (my husband drilled the holes). Glued them down first with Aleene's Jewel-It, just to keep them firmly in place while sewing.

Scattered some beads into an arrangement I liked, marked their places with a little white dot (ceramic pencil), and sewed them on.

Decided the foreground needed something extra. Couched some heavy, "blingy" threads (Wonderfil Dazzle 8-wt./6-ply rayon with metallic) in dark-red and purple around some of the unbroken leaf outlines. (The free-motion satin-stitching and feather stitching were done with Isacord 40 wt. embroidery thread.)

Just for the heck of it, here's the first Hawaiian Bay:

You can immediately see that for some reason they're both heavy on orange and purple, but the newer one has a considerably warmer tone, overall. The sky fabric was also the inspiration for the older one. 

Have a great weekend, and happy almost autumn (or spring, depending on your hemisphere)!

Linda

Misty Mountain Morning

Carving out a little studio time during 7 weeks of yard work (resulting in 32 big cans of yard waste and 5 lbs. lost, yay!), I was inspired by this tree fabric to begin a new landscape quilt...and to quilt that particular piece with a decorative machine-stitch, using the dual-feed foot. The stitch reminded me of snowflakes.

From there, compatible fabrics were pulled from the fat-quarter stash and quilted onto the batting and backing, one piece at a time. This is the first time I've pieced and quilted simultaneously. Saves a lot of strain on the body! [Most of the pieces were first auditioned together on the design wall.]

Anyway, next I quilted the piece for the water, using free-motion stitching with a holographic thread for sparkle.

Following that, a rock/water fabric and a tall-grass fabric were added and quilted in free motion...

(photo taken during audition, before quilting)

...and then, some boulders and falling water (cut from a panel), to add depth to the scene.

An elk was cut from another panel and added...

(also taken during audition)

...as well as an eagle---both outlined in clear mono-poly thread.

There was a problem, though...

See the vertical wrinkles? Believe it or not, I didn't notice them until it was too late---and there was no way to remove them. That should have been done earlier, with the 50/50 mix of white vinegar and water that I keep in a spray bottle, and then pressed with a hot iron (works every time). This would melt the holographic thread if I did it at this stage.

So, what to do? Cover those wrinkles! Two small evergreen trees (one by itself just looked weird) were cut from a wildlife panel fabric and "planted" close together in the tall grass (foreground). Landscape quilting is forgiving; there is almost always a fix.

Two little evergreens were also added across the river, for balance (see below). And here's the finished quilt, titled Misty Mountain Morning.

The elk looks a bit worried, doesn't he? I don't think the eagle is a threat. Maybe the elk is just saying hello to the eagle.

A sleeve and label will be added after some procrastination, now that the fun parts are done.

Everyone have a great weekend, be well, and stay safe!

Linda

Quilting Fronts

Since most of my time lately has been devoted to gardening, there isn't a whole lot to show on the quilting front.

There is one more Mini-Scape...

I threw everything but the kitchen sink into this one.

...and one little piece I call a cameo/medallion-style mini-quilt...

I grew up and live in the home of the Kentucky Derby, and this little scene really spoke to my heart. You can tell it was made without any computer programming or die cutting...just free-motion stitching on my sewing machine. Obviously I need more practice at satin-stitching an exact shape. I generally don't have to be concerned with that kind of precision in my landscapes. Oh, and one more thing...

Do you recognize the background?? Those are my little turtles from Catch a Wave! (Click on that title to see more about the quilt.) I'm so excited and grateful to have this quilt included in the Summer 2020 issue, and absolutely over-the-moon thrilled that it made the cover. Here's the full quilt...

What makes it even more thrilling for me is that Art Quilting Studio (Stampington Publications) is and always has been my favorite quilting magazine. Everything about it screams "quality." And the staff there is just wonderful to work with. Check out their submission guidelines here.

That's it until next time. Have a wonderful summer--or winter, as the case may be where you're located!

Linda

Making a MIni-Scape

Four more mini-scapes have materialized since my last post. (Speaking of material, did anyone besides me grow up calling fabric "material"? Just curious.)

Here's the only mini-scape I remembered to photograph in progress. As you can see, these are just little scraps arranged and glued on a small rectangle of batting (roughly 9" x 12" before trimming).

Click on any photo to zoom.

Here are the other 3 mini-scapes, finished.

(This one is sold.)

I'm getting the itch to try something new. Over the years, I've collected ideas in a notebook. So we'll see. Summer always brings a different energy into the process, too.

Also, next time there'll be some news regarding a previously featured landscape quilt. (Hint: I will be sooooo excited and grateful to see my little turtle hatchlings on a magazine cover!)

Have a good weekend and stay (or get) well.

Linda