Quilts for Christmas!

Here's a peek at five of the six quilts I made this year for my grandchildren.

Quilts for grandkids

The sixth one was being long arm quilted at the time of the photo.

I quilted all the others on my domestic machine.

I will document all of these in the new year.

Wishing you and yours a very Merry Christmas!

Terry

Linking to The Needle and Thread Network.

Flying Santa

Quilt Documentation #181

Flying Santa

I bought this little panel several years ago. I thought it would be fun to make as my husband is a pilot.

Hand printed panel

Last year, I added the border and sandwiched the layers and never got any further.

So this year, I quilted it and added a fused binding and a couple of little tabs to hang it from.

binding

It measures 12” x 15”.

Merry Christmas to all!

Terry

ART PROMPT - #17 – Find something unusual to add texture

Coat of Arms

Coat of Arms

This is not so unusual but is a new process for me. I have added texture to fabric before using hand stitching but this time I wanted to see what I could do with only a running stitch to highlight a design.

During our NOFA fall retreat, we played around with staining and scorching fabric, see here, so I'm using this little 8" x 8" piece to play with.

After a little experimenting with different threads and even fine wool, I chose a metallic thread to co-ordinate with the scorched areas on my sample.

in progress

I tried stitching on the cotton only and did not care for the look I was getting.

In the end, I added batting and a back and basically hand quilted the piece.

I really like the texture I got from crisscrossing the stitches.

detail

Here it is blocked and sprayed with lots of water.

blocking

And a close-up of the criss-crossing.

criss-cross detail

I'm not sure how successful this is and also not sure what to do with it.

Placing it in an 8” x 8” frame doesn't do much.

Add caption

Win some, lose some!

I'm leaving the edges unfinished for now, it may get added to another project in due time.

Linking to Nina-Marie's Off the Wall Friday.

See you next time,

Terry

NEXT PROMPT -  #18 – Use stencils

HERE'S MY “ART PROMPT” PLAN

One prompt, one project (taking as long as required to finish the project)

It's OK to finish or use a previously started project (UFO) as a starting point.

Make something creative.

Use any Media.

Blog about the project.

Pick another prompt once the project is done.

ART PROMPT - #16 – Cover up something - Part 2

Quilt Documentation # 180

Can't See the Forest for the Trees

Can't See the Forest for the Trees

See Part 1 here.

When I left that post this is where I was at:

Grid covered background

I thought that this could look like a sunset through the trees?????? maybe???

So I decided to add more trees, this time using "felt" that I could cut and/or burn into the shapes I wanted.

trunks pinned in place

I first stitched the trunks in place and then thread painted all the branches.

I cut a paper pattern for placements of the bushy branches and then used the pattern pieces for cutting/burning the black felt.

branches

burning edges using patterns as a guide

As it is very much winter here, I needed to set up where I had a fan, for me, that meant on the kitchen stove. Here's my set-up: A ceramic floor tile on top of a raised cutting board (for height), soldering iron, steel wool for cleaning the point, I also use it to set the iron on, a metal chop stick, and a mask. Wear the mask and turn the fan on!

setup under stove fan

It turned out I had two different kinds of black felt and they burned quite differently.

The one on the left got very shiny and glossy when burned, so probably more polyester content.  Hard to see on photo.

Different felts - different looks

I free motion zig zag stitched over the burned branches to attach them to the background.

I added a sleeve, a plain black binding and a label.

label

Even though I like the looks of the burned felt, I don't especially like the texture, it is rough to touch, not smooth at all.

So, this is what I started with:

What needed to be covered up

And this is what I finished with:

Can't See the Forest for the Trees

Can't See the Forest for the Trees - back

Link to Nina-Marie's Off the Wall Friday and The Needle and Thread Network.

See you next time,

Terry

NEXT PROMPT -

ART PROMPT - #17 – Find something unusual to add texture

HERE'S MY “ART PROMPT” PLAN

One prompt, one project (taking as long as required to finish the project)

It's OK to finish or use a previously started project (UFO) as a starting point.

Make something creative.

Use any Media.

Blog about the project.

Pick another prompt once the project is done.