process « Sue Andrus- My Quilted Gardens

Posts Tagged ‘process’

More Playing with Inktense Pencils

Tuesday, January 25th, 2011

After finishing my little Chickadees, I decided I needed to see what else I could do with my Inktense colored pencils. I sold out of my covered mini photo albums, or brag books in early December, and really need to get more made. The covers were made using sunprinted fabric or photo transfers along with whatever dyed or painted fabric I thought looked good with the focus piece.

Brag book- Set of 4

This photo above shows a little group of the books I finished last fall. I try to use my best sunprints for the focus fabrics on the fronts of the covers, but I have LOTS of prints that just don’t have that WOW factor…. They are either not very sharp, or otherwise pretty boring.

Cosmos Sunprint

This photo shows one of the “wishy-washy” sunprints. The fern printed OK, but the Cosmos flowers are pretty blurry. Also, there isn’t much contrast in the piece of fabric. I could jazz it up with stitching and thread, but decided this was one good “victim” to try my pencils on.

Cosmos with Pencil

Above is another sunprint from a similar batch after I outlined the flowers and centers with the Inktnse pencils. I used Fuchsia for the petals, and Sun Yellow for the centers. I lightly dampened the fabric just were I wanted to add color with water, and added the pencil. Since I love all things sparkly, I decided to see what happened if I used my iridescent medium over the pencil to finish things. I used very watered down medium over the flowers, then added some thicker pearl to the flower centers, dotted over the yellow. With the water just where I wanted the color, and careful placement of the medium, I got pretty sharp lines.

Maple Sunprints

This is a sunprint of a couple of Maple leaves on nearly black paint.

Penciled Maples

This photo above doesn’t do justice to these leaves, but here is what happened when I drew the veins in the Maple leaf sunprints done on black. I started by just adding water over the pencil, but since I was playing with sparkle, I decided to add some to these… The effect gives an impression of the sun shimmering off snow on a very cold day. I kept the pearlescent medium just in the leaf areas. The actual look is much softer than the photo.

Ginkgo Sunprint

Here is one of my Ginkgo leaf sunprints on black…..

Ginkgo Cover

I tried a similar idea with the Ginkgo sunprints. I added Fuschia colored veins with the pencil, then used the pearlescent medium that wasn’t as watered down as on the Maples. The thicker layer of paint nearly covers the color completely. The camera is also picking up a lot of shine…. in real life, at different angles, you see varying amounts of the pencil color.

Fern with Flowers

Here is what I ended up with when I dipped the Violet pencil in water, then scribbled over a small flower stamp I have. The stamp gave a faint outline that I then traced over to get more color. I again used very watered down pearlescent medium over the pencil, then thick medium for the centers. The flower centers are sparkly even though they look white here.

Album Covers in Progress

This photo shows some more of the sunprints I played with. A couple more on black, where I added color, and other sunprints I added little bits of color to. I have used some of last Spring’s dyed fabric for the remainder of each cover. The pieces used here are pretty bright and pull colors from the pencil I added. It will be fun to see how these look when I get them finished.

One thing I discovered while starting these, is that the little sketch book I made and used for my bird sketches will fit just right in one of these covers. I didn’t really pay attention to the size of the book I was making- I just cut the heavy drawing paper I had and folded, but the pages ended up being 4″x6″… just the size of the photos that fit in the albums that go in these covers.

So far this year is beginning much more creatively than the past couple…. Now to get these albums finished so I can list them in my Andrus Gardens Studio on ArtFire.

Tags: andrusgardens, nature, process, sue andrus, sunprints, work in progress
Posted in Book Covers, New Projects | 7 Comments »

First New Art Quilt of 2010

Saturday, January 23rd, 2010

I finally got the creative juices flowing a bit yesterday, and finished the first FFFC (Fast Friday Fabric Challenge) quilt I have attempted in a very long time. New challenges are posted on the 4th Friday of each month, with the idea of finishing a small art quilt by the following Saturday. I originally thought that this piece would be done before the next challenge was posted, but while double checking the rules for Challenge 40, I found that the next challenge had already been posted- yesterday was the 4th Friday of January- where has the month gone?

Cocoa Mix Box

For Challenge #40, we were to pay attention to product packaging and how the colors used affect your perception and buying decisions of the products, and then use the colors from a selected package in a quilt. The piece was to be a still life, and be mostly plants or flowers. I drink hot chocolate every morning, and used one of the boxes for my color palette. I immediately thought of my favorite cobalt blue glass bottles, and wanted to include a couple in my composition.

Photos of Blue Bottles Printed on Cotton Fabric

I am not great re-creating glass in fabric, so I decided to take photos of the glass and a spool of thread, and printed them onto fusible backed cotton fabric.

Group of Cobalt Blue Glass Bottles and Eye Wash Cup

Here is one of the photos I used to arrange on the page to print onto the fabric. I placed them on, and backed them white card stock to take the photo. I love the gold design on the perfume bottle- my favorite.

Ist Layout Idea

This was the first version of the layout. I hadn’t remembered that plants or flowers were to be a big part of the composition. The original thought was to use the thread spools and some chunks of chocolate around the bottles… Not too hard to change direction a bit…. the short bottle could be a vase, and I had thought of adding a white flower on the table anyway.

Second Layout Without Thread

OK, to keep with mostly plant theme, chocolate and thread spools are out, bottles and eye wash cup still in. I found some great silk leaves in the perfect shade of coppery brown found on the cocoa box to back the white silk flowers. I added a stem into the open top bottle, ready for flowers. The chocolate colored fabric I had picked out was used for the stems and small leaves needed.

More Progress

Here is what it looks like after flowers have been added, and stitching has been done. Most of the flower petals were stitched only down there centers, leaving them 3-dimensional.

Blue Bottles and Flowers

Here is the “finished” piece…. The more I look at it, I think I need to figure out a way to make the white lace show up better. The bottles look a bit dull to me, and I may add a bit of gloss medium over them….. The flower centers could use some beads. I guess I will have to hang it on the design wall for a while to see what happens.

Update- 1-27-10- Well, after looking at it for a few days, I decided to add some beads in the flowers. Below is the most recent photo.

Art Quilt Blue Bottles and Flowers by Sue Andrus, Andrus Gardens

Newest Version of Blue Bottles with Beads Added

Art Quilt Blue Bottles and Flowers by Sue Andrus, Detail, Andrus Gardens

Detail shot of Blue Bottles and Flowers

This last photo shows more detail. I even added a little gold butterfly resting at the base of the lower right flower.

Tags: art quilt, FFFC, process, sue andrus, wip, work in progress
Posted in FFFC Challenge Quilts, New Projects | 3 Comments »

Babies Left the Nest Today

Friday, January 15th, 2010

Finally I have spent some quality time in the studio!! A couple of nights ago, I pulled out a batch of postcards I began working on before Christmas to get them finished and on their way to their new owners.

Sunprinted Fabric After Cutting

I thought I had taken photos of the postcards in all stages, but can’t find them…. Probably forgot again…. I keep thinking I will photograph a group at all stages, well, next batch…. Above is the remaining fabric from the fat quarter sunprint I cut 6 postcards from for a Postmark’d Art Exchange.

I began by fusing chunks of the sunprints onto 4″x6″ pieces of Peltex interfacing. I then used colored pencils to draw back in the veins in the prints, then free motion stitched the edges and veins of the Maple and Oak leaf prints.

Postcard, work in progress, sunprint, sue andrus, andrusgardens

One Postcard in Progress

The next thing I did was to add more interest by adding “ghost” Oak leaves by laying silk leaves over the stitched postcards, brushing white pearl paint over the edges. The above photo shows two ghostly images on a card. I then had to wait for the paint to dry….

Sunprint leaves postcards, works in progress, sue andrus, andrusgardens

Set of 6 Postcards with Oaks Painted

After the paint dried, I stitched around the edges of the Oak leaves and the veins with an iridescent white thread. One card has one of the silk leaves that was painted over, stitched onto it. Another card has two prints made from pressing the silk leaves paint side down onto it, transferring the paint. The photos show more shine than shows in real life. There is some shimmer, but the flash reflected off the pearl paint.

ARt Quilt Postcards, leaf sunprints, by sue andrus, andrusgardens

Group of 4 Postcards

Above is a closer look at the stitching, pearl paint prints, and applique.

Printed Fabric for Postcard Backs

Once the stitching was done on the fronts of the cards, I printed the backs on cotton fabric. By setting up a legal size, there is room for 4 backs on one page. I have blanked out the addresses in this photo. The backs were cut, then fused onto the postcards. Black yarn with silver metallic through it was then couched on the edges to finish them, using the white iridescent thread.

Backs of the Finished Postcards Ready to Mail

This photo above, shows 4 of the cards with the backs fused on and the edges finished with the yarn. I forgot to take another photo with the stamps on…. First class stamps were used for mailing.

Set of 6 Postcards Ready to Mail Front View

The final photo shows all 6 postcards finished- the front view. The stamps were added and I sent them on their way to their new owners today.

Now that this batch of postcards is done, I can begin playing with another batch of postcards or possibly pull out the stone wall pieces that I started while at my grandmother’s house. Maybe I can finish one or more of them before next weekend when we will help her celebrate her 96th birthday… I can’t imagine living that long…. I am now half her age….

Tags: Art Quilt Postcards, nature prints, paint, process, sunprinted fabric, work in progress
Posted in Art Quilt Postcards, New Projects | No Comments »

OK, So Much for Getting Back to Quilting

Wednesday, February 4th, 2009

OK, So much for the clean studio getting me back into the "creative zone"….

I have been sort of on "standby" for going to stay with my 95 yo grandmother when she gets out of the rehab center and back to her own home. She ended up in the hospital during my studio cleaning spree, after falling on the ice. Nothing broken, but she was treated for hypothermia, and needs help gaining more strength. I was trying to put together some pieces to take along with me to do some hand work and beading on while there.

Orange Echinacea 4

This is the first piece I ended up starting…. Notice anything about the colors??? I don't use orange, do I??

The charm squares of the orange fabrics just happened to fall together with the manipulated coneflower photo printed on cotton. Since the rocks have been everywhere, I added some rocky pieces, then not knowing what else to do, a piece of deep brown suede-like fabric called out to be added. This is how far I got- the piece is headed to be 12" square.

Orange Brown Rocky ACEO’s

With the little bits and chunks left over, I decided to make up some ACEO's. The next photo shows a couple of the ones done in the oranges and brown. I have a nice little bunch of photos printed out on fabric to play with. In both pieces with the coneflowers, I brightened up the orange flowers with dye pens and pencils. These are ready for beads. I did finish another one that I listed at my Art Quilt Etsy Shop. Click the link and check out the first ACEO you find. Etsy is not behaving for me tonight to get the direct link.

Blue Rocky ACEO’s

I did have to try some prettier colors, and here are a few done using some bright blue dyed silk, with other flowers. Each one has a little chunk of the rocks that I will add some beading to. I have not accomplished any more than is what is shown here until this week.

I have been a member of a group quilters "team" at Etsy, keeping up with daily chatter, etc. A little while back, someone mentioned scrappy strip blocks, and one thing led to another, and we decided to set up a block exchange. We are each making a batch of simple scrap blocks from strips and are exchanging them. Many of the Etsy Quiltsy members are more traditional quilters, making quilts of all sizes for snuggling and babies to large beds, as well as art pieces.

Crowded Cubby 1

Here is what I started with… the above cubby in my shelves was packed with various strips and other scraps of fabric. I have not done any "regulation" piecing in a long time… Fusing has been my favorite construction method, so pulling out scrap strips from old projects and stitching them together has finally gotten me to my machine. I have actually spent a few late nights stitching! That is a real accomplishment, since I haven't been able to "lose" myself in my
quilting in a very long time. To start the year, I needed to clean and organize the studio- great, I have room to turn around, but still no real urge to get in there and do something.

Empty Cubby

Digging out leftovers from my days of mass producing wall hangings, placemats and table runners, and ironing out the creases (OK, lots of creases when you jam things in small spaces), and sorting them into color families (Yea, real scrap projects aren't supposed to be sorted..I've gotta sort- see photo below), has proved to be "just what the doctor ordered".

Strips 1

I started with the simple blocks with strips stitched onto foundation blocks, and now am just randomly stitching strips together for blocks. I keep telling myself that I will not pull out any more scraps to iron and sort, but keep seeing something peeking out to grab, and more than that one comes out in the wad, so lots more ironing is getting done. I guess there is something therapeutic about pulling the old stuff out to make something useful out of it.

Scrappy strip blocks 1

While so far, I don't really consider what I am doing at the moment as very "art quilt" related, it is helping me to sweep the cobwebs out and get myself ready to be at the place where I can create again. Above are a few of the foundation pieced blocks I made for the swap.

Strip Bag Process

My playing with strips led to playing with a new idea… Prettier bags to use for grocery shopping trips.

Grape Market Bag 1

This bag was one I ended up with… One was a "keeper", I did the handles wrong… it works for me, though. I listed this one at my AndrusGardensQuilts Etsy shop, and it sold already! I guess I better do up a few more- I have strips ready for some in blues and dusy rose and mauves along with more in purples.

I hadn't planned to take anything more than hand stitching projects to my grandmother's, but now I think I will take my machine and some of my nice neat bundles of strips along to work with. Maybe in the end, I will finally get back to my quilting…. I have really missed the therapy of losing myself completely in it.

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Tags: process, scraps, sewing, sue andrus
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Wreaths Done and More Rocks

Tuesday, December 2nd, 2008

It seemed like a never ending task, but I finally got the second wreath order finished with the help of Ken the last couple days of production. The second order needed to have all the wreaths decorated with velvet bows, pine cones and red berries. I spent a lot of TV time making bows, while Ken put wires on pine cones.

Pile of Bows

Here is a pile of bows decorating the back of my couch- about 30 of the 125 needed for just the one order. My hands cramp up after about 25 at a time.

Floor Full of Wreaths

Here is most of the order ready for pick-up. There are 5 wreaths in each stack. The floor is covered from one side to the other- 12' wide space. 50 wreaths and 49 swags here, and 26 larger wreaths in another room.

Swags

Here are the stacks of swags- 30-32" long bunches of assorted greens with bow on top, and cones and berries. Ken made and decorated all of these- I made the bows, and cut a few boughs, but he did the rest. That kept me from having to pull an all-nighter or two. He spent a whole day and a night doing these and cutting tips for me to use in wreaths.

Now I just have a couple small wreath orders and grave blankets to make. It should only take about a day to do those, so I will be able to get back to quilts.

Rocks and Flowers

I finished beading my second ACEO, and have another partly done. Then I can do the beading on a rocky piece with purples. I used a photo of Purple Coneflowers, or Echinaceas with the rocks in this one.

The last photo shows the unfinished rocky pieces on the design wall. The Rudbeckia piece is finished along with the top of the left section as the ACEO that are shown in a previous post. The left piece was cut into 3 ACEO's- the two lower pieces are what are almost done. The Echnacea on the Rocks piece is now quilted and ready for its beading, the green and purple fabrics on the sides of this are from my Elizabeth Busch class- went perfectly with the photo. I should have these finished in the next day or so.

The little pieces on the lower left of this photo are what I cut out from where the flower photos went into the larger pieces. I am not sure just what I will be doing with those little chunks- I have more flowers printed in purples and yellow to play with.

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Tags: art quilt, process, rocks, wreaths
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Black and White

Thursday, October 23rd, 2008

I have been playing with black, white and gray fabrics lately, and have not even taken time to show what I have done here… The fibro has not been playing nice, so my brain has been foggy, and I have spent many months just getting through one day at a time. Finally feeling a bit better, I decided to show what I have done without color, and NO, your monitor has not gone wonky– I really have been working without color!!

Forest Ferns beginning01

Forest Ferns beginning

Here is one of my mock-ups for my "Forest Ferns" that will be in the "My World in Black and White" exhibition that will be travelling next year.

I don't usually work with blacks and grays, so I had to paint up some, and even buy some. I did the sunprints of the ferns this summer, with black Dye-Na-Flow paint from Jacquard. I really like how they turned out- the ferns are definitely the focus in this fabric. When I use my colors, the color combinations and patterns also grab attention.

The first photo is one of the first tries- I had some laces that I wanted to use- here a white one on the sides, but when I had it critiqued, the comments were to keep the ferns as the focus and the lace distracted. I also played with something else here- I took photos of the sunprints and turned them negative in my photo program, the printed them onto cotton. The corners show a couple of these.

The second Photo shows the final mock-up that I decided on, just before construction. This piece was fully designed on the wall before construction began- a change from my usual way of starting and adding.

I decided against the corner negative ferns, went in the back yard, and found some nice small Maple leaves. I used these for leaf prints. I used black paint on the gray fabric, and a silver metallic mixed with pearlescent on the black fabric. The outer border fabric has a design of leaves that resemble Oaks to me.

Forest Ferns

This is the finished quilt- 28.5 X 36" in size- Big for what I usually do.

While doing the quilting on this, I had to make thread decisions, and I am always afraid of ruining a good piece, so I had to make up an "guinea pig" piece to play with.

Black & White Study 1- SOLD

I had printed more fabric than I needed for the larger piece, so I put this little one together- it is 10" x 12.5" in size. I knew I was going to use clear thread for the sunprints- anything else usually takes the attention away from the prints. For the leaf prints, I thought of accenting the veining with thread, and tried it here. Most every Maple leaf is quilted differently. I found on both the black and silver prints, I liked the smoke colored invisible thread best. The black and silver threads made the images more stark, and that is not what I wanted for the larger piece. This did make an interesting little quilt by itself, it was available for purchase at my Art Quilt shop at Etsy, but is now SOLD. Check out the shop for other art quilts available. More B&W's are in the works.

While working on these, I also had ideas floating around for another black and white piece.

B & W 3-01

I still have the laces I wanted to try using, and also found a lot of white silk flowers. A design popped into my head, and if all goes well another piece will be done. This will be all flowers and lace. I began with the back side of a black printed fabric for the center oval. the background is two different black & white prints.

You can see a bunch of the flowers pinned to the wall beside the piece on the wall.

After a little more playing on the wall, I have gotten to where the final photo of this post is. I think I will use the gray fabric for leaves, and will have the white flowers arranged, spilling over the edges of the oval. The center oval will be edged in a heavy black lace I have been wanting to find a use for, and the outer border is a black with gray print.

B & W 3-1

There will possibly be more lace, and some beading somewhere, just not sure how far it will go. I will post more as I continue. I guess I've always been more of a "girly" girl, loving ruffles, lace and flowers. Hhopefull they will come together in this.

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Tags: art quilt, black and white, process, wip
Posted in Uncategorized | 3 Comments »

My Newest Project and Giveaway

Wednesday, February 13th, 2008

Last week brought with it many "Bad Attitude" fibro flare days. I call them Bad Attitude days, because I feel horrible, but then think of others out there who must feel worse. That helps me to get up and at least try to do something. Amazingly, if I can get my brain really busy with something, I don't feel the pain or fatigue as much (extra naps also help).

It was a perfect time to begin something I had been thinking about, but not followed through with yet. Can you say PROCRASTINATION? I had an idea for a pattern to sell. Sitting propped up on the couch with pencil and notebook in hand, I began scribbling out a rough draft.

I am bad about not drinking enough fluids throughout the day. I know I feel better when I drink more water, but need it icy cold, and near me to remember to drink it. I was drinking a lot of Diet Pepsi for the caffeine, maybe it would help me feel more awake? (I know, not the best thing to drink) Buying water in the summer, I was using a lot individual bottles of water for travel. That led to my recycling water and soda bottles by washing them in the dishwasher, filling half full of water, laying them at an angle in the freezer, and Presto, ice for my water or whatever I'm drinking. My Pepsi would dilute a bit while chilling, and I got used to it this way, now if I drink it straight, it is too sweet. Now that it is winter, I stay with water, sometimes with lemon. Our well has wonderful tasting water (when it's not dry).

Original Cozy

My problem- when I used my bottles with ice, I left puddles everywhere. I used a coaster, but when I moved from room to room, carrying it was a pain. The wheels started turning, and my fashionable bottle cozy was created . I made it to fit the bottles I had the most of- 16 oz. Diet Pepsi. (OK, I had some 24 oz. too, they stick out the top a bit) I used a bunch of my little quilt sandwich scraps, and the first one was born. This slides on the bottle and stays on it where ever I go. (Newly added…. I found a photo of the original cozy, this first photo. It has been washed many times, has some cola stains, and has spent time on my paint table- the speckles add to it's character.)

I've used my first one everywhere, took it to shows (it helped keep drinks cooler, longer in hot weather), and when traveling in the car. It received many comments, and I had some requests to make them for others. I didn't think the work involved would pay off, the price would have to be pretty high, but a pattern for people to make their own might work.

Pair of Cozies

The second photo shows 2 of my new cozies, made while I was writing and taking photos, as I did each step of construction.

I made 6 cozies in this size while writing. My original is similar to the one on the left in the photo, satin stitching quilt sandwiches together. I know not everyone has these just lying around, so I made others more simply, with a single outer fabric, or fabrics fused to batting. I also found a few things that don't work, while playing (I show what to avoid doing), and have one I'm keeping so now I have 2 to use (keeping the bad one).

The pattern is almost ready for testing. It has instructions for 3 main methods of construction, beginning with the easiest. There are patterns to cover the 16 oz. bottles (the size shown), and the narrower water bottles, along with information for any other bottle size you wish to dress up with it's own cozy. Once you learn the basics, the sky is the limit as far as sizes or looks. I haven't used beading on mine, but that would really make one special, though maybe a little bumpy for holding.

Cozy Group Closeup

The three cozies pictured in this last photo are available for purchase at my Etsy Store.

If you are someone who likes to play, and do it yourself, I will be giving away a number of these patterns in PDF format. With the free patterns, I would like you to each fill out a questionnaire that would help me find out what changes I may need, to make things more understandable, or better for someone who may not play like this a lot. Other eyes looking at it may find things that need clarification, or typos that spell-check or I didn't find. The instructions are filled with many step by step photos. I know I do better by seeing than just by reading.

If you are interested in being one of my "guinea pigs", or testers, please email me (sue at andrusgardensquilts dot com or use email link on left sidebar), with "Cozy Pattern" in the subject line, and I will get the file to you as soon as it is ready. It will be in a PDF format, so you will need a reader like Adobe Reader, to use it. I would appreciate only those who will use the pattern right away to request it, so I can get the feedback I need before making it available to the general public for purchase.

Now back to work with the finishing touches.

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Tags: freebie, giveaway, pattern, process
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Red?!? The Quilt That “Asked” to be Made

Sunday, January 13th, 2008

Did you ever have a bunch of fabric pieces land on your table and ask to be put together in a piece? Well, that happened to me this week. While cleaning up in my studio (just tidying, actually), some chunks of fused quilt sandwiches fell together and told me to put them together. Now for the really weird thing…. the colors were red, black and gray, with a sunprint thrown in. Definitely NOT "My" colors. If you're familiar with my work, red is not a favorite color at all.

Chunks

Here is how it all happened, step by step (that is after the "chunks" fell together and talked to me).
Photo "Chunks"- The Layout- These are the little quilt sandwiches, or "chunks". They really did fall together really close to the way I have them here. I was going to ignore them, and put them away, but they wouldn't let me do that. I only had the red chunks to use for making pins- Yea, some people really do like red. This shade of red seemed to look OK with the peachy tones of the sunprint.

02 Painting Edges

Photo 2- On the Janome 6500 Challenge Yahoo group, we have a challenge to use the decorative stitches our machines can do in a project(s). Since I really didn't care what happened to this piece, I decided it would be a great guinea pig for the challenge. I decided to paint the edges of the chunks with a metallic brass colored fabric paint, and use different stitches for the seams instead of satin stitch. I put paint on palette paper and "dunked" the fabric in, then used a brush to be sure edges were covered, to seal them from later fraying.

01 Pieces Trimmed and Painted

Photo 1- shows the edges done- pins mark outer edges, that did not get painted.

03 Butted Pieces

Photo 3- This shows pieces, after the paint dried, with edges butted together for stitching. I found some stitches that I liked, and many that didn't do just what I wanted. I was hoping more of the paint would show, but after stitching, not much did. I did have to overstitch one of the decorative ones with a zig zag to keep things together.

04 Stitching Done

Photo 4- Stitching done- I used different stitches for just about every seam. The only one I did more than once was a memorized group, using the snowflake like stitch in 2 sizes with a narrow zig zag between them. I did different length zig zag. OK, I have to admit, I didn't really like this yet, so decided I would keep playing.

05 Fern for Printing

06 Painted Fern Placed

07 Pressing Fern

08 Overpainted Fern

I decided to do some more with the brass paint. A little peeks around the stitches, but not too much, so I dug out a couple pressed ferns from my sunprinting stash. I painted the first one with the paint, then pressed it onto the quilt, covering it with a paper towel and pressing hard, to transfer the paint.

I liked the pattern on the paper towel better than on the quilt, so I painted the second fern, while on the quilt, and when I removed it, had a nice negative "print" of the fern. I then added more prints with the ferns and stamped some flowers with a stamp I had. I haven't used stamps much before on quilts, but there is always a first time for everything.

10 Printed Piece

09 Negative Print

More photos of the piece as I printed on it with the paint, ferns, and stamp.

11 Print and Stamp Detail

Photo 11- A closeup of the flowers stamped on.

12 Piece Trimmed

Photo 12- Trimmed to size- 8"x10".

13 Quilting Done

I free motion quilted the piece with silver metallic thread to contrast with the bronze paint. I quilted either just "skeletons" of the ferns, or around the leaves, for a little variation. I used the snowflake like stitch from the machine programmed with the lock stitch, for the stamped flower centers. This stitches the pattern, then locks the stitch, then stops, so only one snowflake is stitched at a time.

Finished Piece

After I finished quilting, I decided to add some beads. I just happened to have a vial of small red, silver-lined seed beads, that I used for pins. I added the beads to the flower centers, over the sunprinted flower centers that were painted brass first, and then added beads to the tips of the fern skeletons. I used a black Boucle yarn for the binding. It adds a good amount of texture.

Detail 2

Last is a detail shot, showing some of the piecing stitches, the paint, and beading in a corner.

OK, I have to admit….. I do like the way this piece turned out. Even though it done in colors I don't really care for. Just think, if I hadn't listened to my fabric chunks on the table, this would not have happened.

I guess you don't have to like the colors to end up with a decent piece, though I still prefer pink, blue, purple and green.

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Tags: art quilt, color, process, red
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Posts Tagged ‘process’

More Playing with Inktense Pencils

First New Art Quilt of 2010

Babies Left the Nest Today

OK, So Much for Getting Back to Quilting

Wreaths Done and More Rocks

Black and White

My Newest Project and Giveaway

Red?!? The Quilt That “Asked” to be Made

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