Art Quilt

I am pleased to say that I finally finished this art quilt -

I had lots of fun making it, and trying new techniques.

I painted a piece of wet fabric (with regular fabric paint) and then sprinkled salt on it.

This was how it looked when it was dry (the salt pulls the paint around into interesting patterns).

I quilted leaves and swirls in the painted area, and a 1/2" grid on the border.

I filled in the grid with different fillers. I also added beads, and a quilted leaf attached to a piece of heavy copper wire, that I hammered for texture. This piece is about 13" x 17".

This past week I dyed some wool fibre. I recently discovered a new blog - Pat's Knitting and Quilting, Pat makes the most incredible things!  I was so inspired, and I have a few ideas I want to try. I just need to finish a sweater before I get started spinning (then knitting).

I am working on the neck band, and then just the button bands left to go.

It looks like winter is here to stay!

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!♥

Mixed Media Art Quilts

This weekend I made a couple of art quilts.

I tried using different types of fabrics and more embellishments for these. They are both around 9"x6".

The background is linen/cotton mix, and the appliqué and binding are raw silk.

I stamped the leaves using So-Soft fabric paint.
I did some free motion machine embroidery on the leaves before applying the appliqué, and added a couple more leaves with stitching.

I used fusible web to add the flower and then stitched all around close to the edge to secure it (free motion using Aurifil #50 thread),

I then added some more free form decorative stitching.

I added some accents with metallic thread (I had to switch to regular sewing because my machine doesn't like free motion sewing with metallic thread - I tried adjusting the tension and changing to different types of needles with no luck)

I added two circles of raw silk for the centre, with the grain of the fabric at 45 degrees to each other,

so that the fringe would be full when I removed the outer fabric threads. I also added a few beads and a button (stitched on by hand).

I quilted around the design and added some leaves using Aurifil #50 thread to match the background.

This one is made with the same background fabric, and similar stamped and machine embroidered leaves.

I also added a picture made from a scan of an old book (Flower Fairies of the Autumn) that I printed directly onto a piece of fabric (using a piece of muslin ironed onto a piece of freezer paper and a regular inkjet printer - photo quality setting).

I added a piece of wool crepe and some decorative stitching with metallic thread,

plus a piece of lace, mother-of-pearl buttons, and some beads.

I always use a stabilizer on the back when I am doing decorative stitching and I tried some "Burn Away" stabilizer for this one. I cut away the excess and then ironed the back until the stabilizer turned brown. It then just brushed off.
I used a thin piece of batting as a stabilizer for the quilt with the yellow flower.

I always start projects like this thinking that they will end up more free-form, organic and "messy", but all my work seems to end up neat and organized! I guess I just have to resign myself to that.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!♥

Playing with Fabric Paint

Today I was playing with fabric paints.

For these ones I used watercolour paints (my children's old school paint) with textile medium on wet fabric. For each one I only used two different colours, but as they sat drying, different colours appeared. I heat set them. The butterflies are stamped with fabric paint after.

This one is painted with fabric paint on dry fabric.

I then couched embroidery threads down (with a special sewing machine foot) using different types of sewing threads, and zig-zag or decorative stitches. It is the first time that I have used this foot and it worked very well.

All ready for  quilting. This will be a quilt for the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!♥

Art Quilts

I am trying my hand at some art quilts.

My friend Wendy (at Inky Threads - she has a giveaway going on until the 10th of November) kindly gave me some fabric (haven't used it yet, but I will) and batting to make some mini quilts for the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative. These are my first three.

I tried a couple with photo's that I created using Photoshop Elements. This one is made up of many layers - a sunrise from last week, a tree with the blue sky - the image of the tree has been removed from the picture, that is why there are those blobs, and the faint mottling is a picture of the bark of the tree. Plus I added an picture of some old keys that I have. I printed the photos on fabric with freezer paper, using my regular printer (the fabric is soft and pliable, better that iron on transfers, but not as bright).

This one is 11" x 8+1/2".

I tried some Laserbrite thread by Signature for the first time (I used a large metallic needle). I only tired it with the walking foot on my machine not free motion quilting - it seems hard on the sewing machine (lots of odd noises - I should have reduced the upper tension).

I used a french curve and a Hera marker to mark the veins for for the feathers. I find that the Hera marker works better when it has a guide to run against, the fabric doesn't "drag".

I used a white board and dry erase marker to try out different feather designs. A white board is a handy tool to have to practice free motion quilting designs before moving to the sewing machine.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!♥