BLOG 502

Blog 502

And now for something completely different! I have had 3 ready-quilted blank strips on my wall for a while and I thought it was about time that I did something with them. Loads of foxgloves are flowering in and around the garden at the moment so they became the focus of the first one. I started in front of the TV with a lap tray covered with wadding so that the shapes would grip to it. I also had pins, scissors, several inspirational pictures and some ready-fused fabric.

Ready

Cut and Place

More Detail

Greenery

Even More Detail

The next day I placed the flower onto the background and made a second one to go with it.  I also added some foliage and I attached all the shapes with free-motion stitching. This quilted the shapes and added some decorative detail.

In Situ

Quilting 1

Quilting 2

Quilting 3

I also needed to add the spotted detail on the flowers and this involved drawing loads of tiny spots. Sewing them was straight forward enough but cutting the threads in between was a bit of a pain!!

Detail 1

Detail 2

All the sewing had been done into the wadding only so the backing was added with my usual turn-through method which saved having to add a binding. I think this long hanging would look lovely against a blank wall, perhaps beside a door or a fireplace.  I am willing to sell this piece on a first come first served basis so if anyone would like to buy it for £75 plus postage, get in touch on dilys.fronks@btinternet.com 

Turning Through

Finishing

Foxgloves 11" x 35"

Signature

Detail

And finally, cast your eyes over this picture done by my 7 year old granddaughter Katie. It’s lovely! One of her ‘HWB’ on-line projects was to find out about a quilt artist. She chose me (thankfully!) and she drew her own picture of my latest quilt (finally renamed as ‘Turning Turtle’) and she included them together in her project. I have waited all my quilting life of 36 years for this moment of coming into my own so I am going to thoroughly enjoy it!!!!

Katie's Turtle Art

BLOG 501

Blog 501

Firstly I’d just like to thank all you who got in touch via my blog or via email. It was good for me to know that you enjoy seeing my work and it encourages me to continue posting. Thank you.

This week I pressed on and finished my turtle wall hanging because most days were stormy and wet and not conducive to outdoor activity. It is my intention to enter it into the Festival of Quilts ‘virtual’ competition. Here are some pictures of the applique, plastics and general progress.

In Progress

Added Base Line

Prepared Plastics

Plastic Sun

Bin Liner Trees in Preparation

In-Situ

Preparing Coral

Constructing the Reef

Detail of Stitching 1

Detail of Stitching 2

Completed Coral

Quilting Detail 1

Quilting Detail 2

Finished and Bound

The turtle is completely surrounded by plastic so to add drama to the image, and to represent the encroaching and all-enveloping environmental disaster, I used grey voile along the right and left sides to create shadow.

And finally, I always find that settling on a title is the hardest part of the quilt making process and I have mulled over all sorts of suggestions. In the end I decided upon ‘Falling to Pieces’ as a nod to the fragmentation of my design and as an acknowledgement of the fragility of the environment.