Embellishments Archives – Quilts and Other Stuff from Frances

Yesterday I started on my new Meadow Art project and had SO much fun with it!!

As I started, I decided to stabilize the initial fabric base so that there wouldn’t be too much scrunching up as I added stitching. I used a thin fabric with fusing on one side and ironed the two pieces together …..

The fabric was sized at 14×19 inches, although it looked a LOT bigger than that when I was staring at a blank canvas…..

Following the instructions, I started tearing strips of fabric, making sure that I had lots of strings on the edges. You know, the things that we normally HATE when we tear fabric…..

I also cut/tore burlap, flannel and silk and added those to the mix. When it looked balanced…..

…. I took it to the machine and sewed each piece down, staying close to the torn edge……

Next, I started adding bits of trim and lace…..

….and went back to the machine to secure them to the background. At this point I realized just how much I like my Juki machine……

It is a workhorse!!!

After each step, I ironed the piece from the back, just to make sure that it stayed relatively flat…..

I failed to take a photo of the next step, but I used cotton thread to sew in some flower stems, grass and other linear elements.

At this point the instructions suggested putting a heavier yarn in the bobbin and sewing textural lines but I didn’t really want to mess with my bobbin so decided to switch to my other sewing machine and couch the threads instead. I had this thread/yarn in my stash……

….and thought that the extra texture might be nice.

My trusty Viking machine came to the rescue and I was able to use the couching foot……

…..to attach the yarn.

This is where I stopped on the first day……

….and I am really happy with the texture that has appeared. My only concern is whether the darker threads will be covered by the paint, but I think that I can make it work even if they don’t cover well.

The next step is to apply paint and then to start doing more embellishments.

I CAN’T WAIT!!!!

Last week the monthly meeting of the Cotton Patch Quilters featured a trunk show and booth by Fiber On A Whim. Their ad describes them….. “”FOR ALL YOUR SURFACE DESIGN AND EMBELLISHMENT NEEDS! FABRIC, PAINTS, DYES, THREAD, YARN, BEADS, and BUTTONS. I believe it…..not only did they have tons of embellishments, but had examples of most of them. The online shop is a Mother/Daughter duo, with Jan doing most of the quilts and her daughter, Kristen handling the business side of things.

Jan presented a wonderful trunk show full of gloriously embellished quilts, each with a story of how it was made, why it was made, and/or what else happened to it. Here are a few of the pieces that she showed……

This vine was made by attaching the cut out leaves to a piece of hemp rope and then attaching the vine to the quilt……..

What a fun way to finish up a simple bargello type quilt……

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An exercise in working with a monochrome palette produced this piece…….

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This piece started as a plain black piece of fabric. She first discharged it, then started adding color with paint and embroidery. When she finished it, it was 2 inches too short for the challenge that she was entering. Her solution….add 2 inches of beads to the bottom!!!! There is NOTHING like a quilter’s ingenuity!!