Woof!

I am still in a strange place creatively so I decided to make a quilt that is from one of my little drawings, but that will probably be donated to one of the local groups that takes care of abandoned dogs.
I am including the first photo of the quilt when it was just fused together and then another photo once the quilting was completed.  My husband Bob is an excellent person to give me constructive comments on my quilts.  When I showed him this little quilt before the quilting - he REALLY disliked it.  Didn't like the color of the dog, didn't like the tail having three ends, didn't like anything about it.  I take his comments quite seriously but figured that I probably knew what I was doing, and continued.  Worst case, I figured I could just throw it away if it turned out really bad.

And then I started quilting.  I decided to do the quilting around the figure with a heavy zigzag stitch so that the finished quilt would look sort of like I had drawn a picture with a marker and then colored it in.  And I think it looks pretty good.  And I think the three prongs on the tail make it look like either the tail is wagging or is sort of fuzzy.  What do you think?   Barbara

Free Motion Class Sample

I will be teaching a free motion quilt class in March at my Hill and Hollow quilt guild so I wanted to make a new class sample.  The circles and feathers are fused on using my hand dyed fabric.  The background is also my hand dyed fabric.  I used a small amount of metalic thread just to proove to the students that they can too.  The rest of the quilting is done with Rayon thread.  This is still my favorite part of the art quilting process so it gave me a lot of joy to do it. Jan

Hawaii Honeymoon

My wonderful grandson and his bride went to Hawaii on their honeymoon.  They tried to include the people they love by posting on Facebook as they enjoyed their experience.  As they were walking on the beach, Amanda took a picture of their shadows and posted it.  I thought that it was a heart warming image of where they were and the love that they share.  It just screamed to be a quilt for them.  When I printed the pix from Facebook it came out to be a little over 1".  I put it on Photoshop and enlarged it to 5"X7".  I traced it and used a program that I love,called RapidResizer, to print it to 18"X24".

I painted the background and fused the shadow onto the background.  It was embellished with real shells.  They should see it this weekend if the snow and ice allow a trip to see them.  From the beach to an ice-snow storm must be a real shock to the body.  Jan

Everyone Counts

This particular quilt has had several names.  The original name was Counting Butterflies (there are butterflies in the border fabric).  But the border isn't really wide enough to see the butterflies clearly.  I shared the quilt at the Hill 'n Hollow meeting and a fellow quilter suggested using a math related name.  So I tried a bunch of those (like Counting is Confusing) but didn't really like them.  But I DO like Everyone Counts - it seems like a kind and gentle message.  So - that is the name - at least for now.

Some things about this quilt:  The numbers are those little stretchy "gummy" bracelets they sell for kids.  They stretch to go around your wrist, but then return to the original shape (in this case numbers)when you take them off.  They were not easy to attach but I think they will stay in place.  And I successfully used both metallic thread (around the glasses) and variegated thread (the quilting lines on the golden fabric) with NOT ONE SINGLE thread breaking!  I used that stand thingie that you put behind your sewing machine to hold the thread.

I think I will start another quilt today - so watch for more photos soon!    Barbara

Finally back from the holidays!

Has anyone else had a difficult time readjusting to REAL life after the holidays?  It seems the entire month of December just sort of melted away - it was a lot of fun - but NO productivity.  And it is taking me FOREVER to get started on being creative again. 

Scan of Chicago drawing

But I did make some new little critter drawings while we were in Chicago - and fell in love with one of them in particular.  Well actually with four of the new ones - but I can only work on one at a time. 
So here is the sketch - and the quilt is already in progress and should be ready to post soon.  The theme will have something to do with Butterflies!  And Numbers!  More soon!   Barbara

Hint from King Challenge

I have been working on the "King of Clubs" challenge and wanted to give a little hint as to the direction that I am taking.

I am always looking for a new technique to make something more interesting.  This is a window and I wanted to add "glass" so I experimented with transparency film.  Much to my surprise, it held up to the heat of the iron.  No melting or wrinkling.  I know that this doesn't look like much but when it is finished, I hope you get a kick out of the interpretation.

I will keep posting parts but the finished art piece will not be reveiled until after the May Renegade reveal.