Memory Quilt(let)

Sue completed a memory quilt project this week - this is her story.

I haven't been doing many commissions, but this was a request by a former co-worker for a belated wedding gift for another former co-worker, so how could I refuse?  I agreed to make something using the wedding invitation, but really didn't have a plan until I had the invitation in hand.  My initial thoughts were to create a transfer, but in the end it was easiest to just use the actual invitation in a mixed media piece. 

I started with the background fabric and taped off the dimensions of the front, since it was to be mounted on an 11 x 14 art canvas. 

After playing with layout ideas, I determined a sequence for putting it together. The next photo is a general idea of what I was aiming for, using some vintage lace and a doily and other embellishements. 

It became apparent that I would need to quilt the background first, if it was going to be quilted at all.  So I cut a piece of fusible fleece to fit the 11 x 14 dimension and fused it to the wrong side.  Then I quilted it with an all-over loopy design.

Next was figuring out placement of the design elements.  The doily was first; it was fused together where the folded layers overlapped, and then fused into place on the background.   The invitation would overlap the doily at the bottom.  Fusible was applied to the back of the invitation, and then the lace trim was fused just under the edge on 3 sides.

After it was fused in place, the next step was placement of the vines and flowers. Rather than stitching down the vines, the flowers were used to anchor them in place.

The last element to be added was the felted heart, which is also fused in place.

The final step was mounting it on the canvas.  After carefully positioning, the extra fabric was wrapped to the back and stapled in place.  A piece of felt was used to cover the back, also stapled in place. 

The finished piece.  Hope the recipient likes it!

On a Roll

This retreat weekend has been very productive.  Today I worked on 3 projects.  I did some hand stitching on yesterday's project, completed a wall art piece, and assembled some squares and circles for a table runner.

 Above I did some stitching in a dark pink in the center of the cherry blossoms.  Below I started stitching the smaller blossoms in a lighter pink, but then decided to stop and save it for later; it's a good TV project.

 Next I had a print that I planned to mount on a canvas frame covered with fabric. The canvas was already covered; I just had to do some stitching on the screen print and stitch it to the canvas.

Then after lunch I was ready to tackle something new.  When packing my supplies, I spied a pack of 5" squares and another packet of pre-cut circles in my fabric cabinet.  They looked like they would play well together, so I threw them in the bag.

Here's what I ended up with.

 The circles are fused to the squares with MistyFuse.  I think it will make a very cheerful spring/summer table runner.  Haven't decided yet if it will have borders and how I'm going to stitch it - a work in progress.  All in all, a very productive 2 1/2 days.

New Class - Beyond Basic Screen Printing

PG Fiber2Art will be teaching a new class at Artistic Artifacts in February, called Beyond Basic Screen Printing.  This will be a project based class focused on completing a piece of screen printed wall art.  Actually, it will include 2 projects, the first being a ready-made tote bag that we will print on.  We will start off with a quick review of printing techniques and materials (paint, discharge products, thickened dye) and some warm-up on fabric, then move on to the projects.  The wall art will involve taking a print (about 6x9), layering it with batting and doing some simple free motion quilting, and satin stitch the edges.  Then we will cover a 9x12 art canvas with a complementary fabric.  Finally, the print will be stitched to the fabric-covered canvas with a hand running stitch.  Read more about it, the supplies needed, and how to register. Come join us on February 14!

Wall Art #5

Wednesday's project:

This print has been ready to mount as long as all the others, I just couldn't decide on the right background.  Today I was looking through my stash and pulled out this piece and decided it was the right balance for the blue.  It is a piece that was originally dyed green, and this summer I over-dyed it shibori style in blue, just using up some left-over dye.  I'm happy with the result.

Wall Art #4

Previously in some August and September posts I shared some screen prints that I was making into wall art.  As shown before, these are some of the prints I started with.

I have now finished the 4th piece in this group.

The piece at the bottom right is the one I have just completed.  I really like the look of the "stitch print" fabric as background - it really goes well with the simplicity of the prints.  The fabric is stretched over a 9x12 canvas and stapled to the wood frame.  The prints are layered with batting (no backing) and thread sketched around the image, then the edges are satin stitched.  The size of the print fabric was trimmed so it would fit inside the wood frame of the canvas, in order to be able to hand stitch the print to the background/canvas.  The hand stitching is done with #5 perle cotton and a running stitch.  I have a few more covered canvases ready and waiting for prints to be stitched on, as soon as I do the machine work.

More Wall Art

I've worked on a couple more pieces of screen printed wall art.  I've also got a few "secret" projects in progress so I've been going back and forth between projects.  Here are 2 more of the prints.

What do you think? Worth adding to the Etsy shop?

Wall Art

During quilt camp this summer I used a technique for using up the excess paint on a screen before washing it. Using a slightly damp sponge to print not only gives you additional prints but helps clean your screens without washing a lot of paint down the drain. I had a scrap bag of Cherrywood fabrics I used for these prints - pieces that are approximately 6x9 inches.  If you are not familiar with Cherrywood, they make beautiful hand dyed fabric with the look of suede. I ended up with quite a few of these and decided they would make great wall art.

I took a 9x12 artist canvas and covered it with a contemporary piece of fabric that I thought would pair well with the simplicity of the print.  I layered the print with fusible batting and quilted around the print, then finished off the edges with a satin stitch. Originally I intended to attach it to the canvas with an invisible stitch, but then got the idea to do a visible running stitch around the edge - and luckily had the perfect color of perle cotton.  I think it really enhances the piece. I'm happy with how it turned out and excited to make more!