It's a Doozy!!!

Sharon put together a stunning combination of fabrics. For the quilting she requested feathers in the corners. I decided to try a new kind of feather that curled in on itself. I worked and practiced for a long, looooong time. Several sketches later, I felt ready to tackle the quilt. I couldn't have been more excited about how well the feathers turned out. I always feel like I'm free-falling off a cliff when I begin taking the first stitches of a new design. Even though I've been sewing feathers for a while now, these were tricky because of how tightly they curled in on themselves and because of the fact that they had to fit into the corner squares and set-in triangles.

I also added swirls to the flames this time. This gave them a slightly more elegant look that better complimented the feel of the quilt.

Taking on the challenge of this new feather design was worth it! The quilt turned out even better than I imagined, and Sharon loved it.

Click on photos for larger view.

Smaller curly-q borders...

Set-in triangle feathers and swirling flames...

This photo really shows off Sharon's excellent composition of colors.

Swooshing Feathers

Here's another of Robin's quilts. The artsy, funky feel of her quilt lent itself to a variety of stitch design possibilities. I had lots of fun quilting swooshing feathers in the wide purple sashing and in the borders. Robin not only hand dyed many of her fabrics as in her other quilt here but she also used a variety of corduroys, cottons, linens, satin, and more. The purple feathers shimmered because of their wavy design and the shiny, silky purple fabric. The pumpkin, gold thread was complimentary as well.

Doodlings...

This is a special card that I made for my Aunt Kim. She sent me a big box full of goodies on my birthday in September. A few weeks ago I designed this thank you card and sent it to her. She LOVES, I mean reeeeally loves, cats. I had fun creating this rather round kitty. His personality really shows. He ended up being roughly 7-8 inches long and about 4-5 inches tall. The materials I used were colored pencils and a fine black pen for outlining. You will recognize some of the quilting motifs I used - like the Mermaid Hair on his belly...I am really stuck on Mermaid Hair right now...I love sewing that design. My aunt said she loved it and might even frame it. I think I might have to do some more of these sometime...I had fun creating this kitty!


Upclose: his back feet...I don't know WHY this posted sideways! Oh well...

His happy face and chubby cheeks....

I made sure to stick to ROY - G - BIV for his tail...all the colors of the rainbow side by side really pack a punch! His tail was fun to color in but even more fun to cut out.

A Splash of Color!

Betsy did an amazing job putting these colors together. I loved the bright combinations and the swirling designs in the fabrics. Due to the business of the fabrics, I decided that simple curly q's would be best. They also echoed the motif already in the fabric. The curling quilting added a lot of movement and texture. I have to be honest...I wanted to keep this one! It was my colors!

Underwater Adventure #3

Sewing in the Seaweed...

I thought this motif turned out pretty cool...looks somewhat like a sea creature ready to float across the quilt.

I loved sewing these pebbles and stones...the unusally oblong shape added a lot of interest and 3D texture.

Robin did a great job hand-dying her fabrics.

I know I've already posted pics of these scales, but they were my favorite part, so here they are again!

More "sea creatures" and seaweed...

And of course....Mermaid Hair in the borders...which also looks like swirling ocean waves.

Underwater Adventure #2

Robin's quilt had several large plain blocks that lent themselves to fancy quilting. I had fun designing and fitting this funky feather in one of the larger squares. This feather always ends up looking fabulous, but it takes FOREVER to stitch all those itsy-bitsy, teeny-weeny circles around the edges. It was worth it though. Robin was very happy with the results. Her selection of hand-dyed cottons (which she died herself), lace, velvet, seersucker and a variety of other fabrics, in combination with the wacky overall design of the quilt squares gave this quilt an unusual funky feel. The design of the quilt also allowed for a wide range of funky stitching designs. I had fun playing around on this one. There's a lot more of where this came from...so stay tuned everybody!!!!

Underwater Adventure #1

The quilt I recieved from Robin had an artsy funky feel to it. She had creatively stitched together several different fabrics, including velvet, cottons, lace and a variety of others. She said to do whatever we wanted on it! I love hearing those words! The quilt was framed in a green batik border with fish printed on it. This is what originally inspired me to take this quilt in an "ocean themed" direction. The rest of the fabrics were somewhat neutral and did not have a specifically nautical theme...but when I saw the border I knew the decision making process was over. I immediately dove in on this underwater adventure and had a blast stitching seaweed, pebbles, waves and scales all over the quilt! More to come soon so stay tuned!!!

Something Fishy Coming Soon!!!!

I've had so much fun sewing fish scales, waves & seaweed all over this quilt...wait til' you see it!

The Background...Last of the Bernina Stash Dash Quilt...

Don't really have a whole lot to say about the background. I'm glad I decided to go ahead with doing Mermaid Hair. It ended up being just the right thing for the background filler around the center star and the various blocks. It also meshed well with the other curly swirls background filler (seen in last photo).

Here you can see the 2 background fillers meeting and meshing well.

Stash Dash Quilt Up Close, Part 5

Borders....there were A LOT of little vines, leaves and flowers to quilt around. Getting started on this special Heart of Carolina Stash Dash quilt was little intimidating. The purple, red and orange stars were the first things I quilted. I was ready to rock n' roll after doing 28 of these. The feathers really enhanced the elegant look of the stars. Below you can see how teeny weeny the quilted feathers are - that's my baby finger.