April is Parkinson's Awareness Month, so I'm thinking, what better time to address the "elephant in the room" at Linda's Landscape Quilts?
Linda's Landscape Quilts
“Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” Howard Thurman
Tuesday, April 12, 2022
Quilting with Parkinson's
April is Parkinson's Awareness Month, so I'm thinking, what better time to address the "elephant in the room" at Linda's Landscape Quilts?
Saturday, March 26, 2022
The Birds and the Bees (Part 2)
Work has progressed since the previous Birds and Bees post and now all four quilts are (nearly) finished. A hanging sleeve on number 4 is all that's left to do. Here they all are, together on the design wall.
Again, this project was all about rescuing some beautiful upholstery fabric samples from a potential date with the landfill...birds and bees, embroidered in silk thread on 100% silk fabric, which I cut out and fused to various cotton backgrounds. The edges were secured with a decorative machine stitch, but both the cotton backgrounds and the silk panels were stippled in free motion, mostly in matching threads so as not to distract the eye from the stars of the show--the birds and bees! Check out the previous post (about the brown quilt, number 1) for more detail regarding the process.
Here are better photos of quilts 2, 3 and 4:
21 in. wide x 17.5 in. high |
23 in. wide x 18 in. high |
24 in. wide x 17.5 in. high |
Here are some "texture shots":
All four quilts are in my Etsy shop now (https://www.etsy.com/shop/LindasLandscapes?ref=shop_sugg) and are looking for a good home.
Thanks for checking theses tweeties out! Please consider checking with your local upholstery shop for possible availability of discontinued sample books for your own quilting or craft projects. This was a fun and rewarding recycle project.
And speaking of birds, which are in mating season just now, happy spring (or autumn if you're in the southern hemisphere)!
Linda
Wednesday, February 9, 2022
The Birds and the Bees (Part 1)
Originally I thought I'd cut the birds (and bees) out of the fabric and use them in landscape quilts, discarding the backgrounds.
But the backgrounds are 100% silk, as are the embroidery threads...why not strategically cut the birds apart along with some of the background, which includes lovely stems and leaves, and feature them as panels in a (non-landscape) wall quilt?
So the first one was completed this week, except for a hanging sleeve, and 3 other bird (and bees--who chose not to fly into this one) quilts are now in various stages of progress. This first one is the most neutral in tone; the others will be more colorful.
The three panels were fused onto the batik print background with Steam-a-Seam II Lite, then edge-stitched with a programmed sewing-machine stitch in the heirloom category, with tear-away stabilizer pinned behind each panel. Fusible fleece was gently fused (no pressure with the iron, just heat) to the entire back using parchment paper between the iron and the fusible fleece. A backing fabric was then pin-basted beneath them in preparation for quilting. The backgrounds, both the batik and the silk panels, were free-motion stippled in matching polyester threads, but not before a few free-motion "feathers" were stitched in contrasting thread, where space allowed. The quilt was then steam-blocked and checked for squareness. Binding was made with 3-1/4-inch-wide batik strips on the sewing machine and handsewn on the back. Here are a few closeups, and a texture shot (click on photos to enlarge):
You can vaguely see the shadow of the paper frames that bordered the backs of the fabrics in the sample book. Removing those paper frames was an impossibility--obviously a very tough industrial glue was used. I quickly decided the paper frame shadows would be part of the quilt's charm, as well as a shout-out to creative recycling. π
This next photo was taken before the quilt was stippled, but it displays the lovely heirloom machine-stitching better.
Sunday, November 28, 2021
Belated Halloween
Last post, I promised a Halloween project would be up next. Well now it's Christmas season, but you know what? I finished the larger of the two Halloween projects just yesterday, so I'm going with it anyway! (And now the decks are cleared for something new.)
This first one did get finished in time to hang on the living room wall for Halloween...
I have never loved a Halloween panel as much as I do this one. It's from Wilmington Prints titled, "Frightful Night Haunted House Panel."
Here are some closeups of the free-motion quilting (click on any one to enlarge).
The house was the most difficult section to quilt, as I was using dark mono-filament on black fabric. So believe me, the stones/bricks were stitched more by instinct than by sight. This house reminded me of the original Addams Family TV series, which I loved, and I think that and the black cat (adore black cats) were what sold me on the panel.
The second, coordinating project was made from a "layer cake" (forty-two 10-inch squares) of companion fabrics from Wilmington. That's the one that just got finished yesterday. (As is often the case, life got in the way.)
As you can see, the back is more of a Thanksgiving quilt, which is fine--dual duty. The last photo is to show how I cheated by sewing the label on right through the front of the quilt. Since orange thread was used in the needle and purple thread was in the bobbin, the stitching is almost invisible in the front.
This is for my granddaughter but it will stay at our house for her to use it when she's here.
Happy Holidays!!
Linda