Friday Finds #8

   From Quiltville....Bonnie Hunter shares her tips on selecting fabrics for her scrap blocks.   I thought she gave a good set of guidelines on using multi-color prints in her post.  Be sure to check it out.








 

   Another way to recycle jeans.....make a sewing machine cover.  I ran across this here.    I thought this would be great to make a cover for the Featherweight machine.  No instructions, but it appears that extra fabric was sewn to the waist band to make the top portion.....now to check the old jeans in the closet!









    While I do not do paper piecing, this one was just too cute not to share.  Sonja has an album with several free patterns available.....check it out here. 





  I was inspired to turn this into an applique for a mug rug.










 Cassie sent me this pin.....she knows I love doodles and zentangles.    The Zany Quilter has a good tutorial on creating this "art quilt" that looks like a zentangle.   Thanks, Cassie!

 Wow....that's enough for this week.
  As always, be sure to visit each site thru the links....please pin from the original source, and not from here.  Enjoy and happy stitching.

A new addition

  I love pen and ink style art work.  The one on the left was done by my daughter of the window in the cottage where her Grandfather grew up in Philadelphia.  The top one is of  The Chapel on the Hill at Copper Center, Alaska where my husband's parents were first stationed.  The tree is a winter view of an oak---it is actually a photograph---that we bought on a trip to Virginia.  And the newest addition arrived yesterday.  Here is it's story....
   Last month I read a blog post on The Quilt Rat  about a project Jill was collecting items for, including a thrift store wool coat , threads, and beads.  I was intrigued with her re-cycling idea and offered Jill some antique silk threads that I have had stored away for years.  And that began a series of emails and a trade.
  So what did I want in exchange?  A zentangle from her hand.  Do  click over and see her collection.

    I think it is exquisite!  So perfect for me as the cardinal is my chosen symbol of hope.  I love that she chose to include the swirled branch, as well as the other swirls, which is my favorite motif for free motion quilting.  I just can't stop looking at it and admiring the detail.    Thank you, Jill.  

Happy stitching.

Fiddle-de-dee--journal challenge

Looking at the zentangle doodles in my sketch book, I realized that I had fabric that was full of this type of graphics.  So for this journal quilt challenge project,  I thought I would try zens in fabric. 

Here are the basic steps I used for this journal quilt project that I am calling Fiddle-de-dee.

Design drawn on paper...numbered each section ...then traced to freezer paper and cut out.
To the stash closet for fabrics.  I selected about a dozen black and white graphic style prints.  I cut a hunk and fused  heat and bond lite to the back of each.  Don't remove the paper backing yet. 
To the  front of the fabric I pressed the freezer paper pattern to the fabric.  By working from the front, I was able to pick and choose the placement to get the print of the graphic that I wanted.  Cut out each piece and removed the paper backing from the fused side. 

   I used two fabrics that I had dyed this summer for the background.  Well, actually, these 2 pieces were the "clean up rags", the ones I used to wipe out the containers when I finished dying.  Look close you can see some splotches.   Once I rinsed them out and let them dry, I was delighted with the colors!  I think that is called serendipity.  Anyway, the blue just wasn't big enough, so I added the minty green on 2 sides to get the size I needed. 
   I then fused all the pieces in order  to the background.   I decided to not use a binding on this, rather to finish it off envelope style.  I layered the batting on bottom with the backing face up and then the front, face down.  I stitched around all sides, leaving an opening on one side about 3-4 inches wide.  I trimmed the batting away from the seam line all the way around---very carefully.  Then the whole thing way turned inside out and pressed. 

   Stitch and quilt----I used a narrow zigzag stitch around all the fused pieces.  I wanted a black outline like  a drawing.    This whole thing was fun.  I could get hooked on doing this.
Check out the link to the Journal Quilt Challenge and view the projects on the flickr page.  They are really great.

A big thanks to Jill at the Quilt Rat for her inspiration.
Check out her blog and be inspired.

Unfortunately, I didn't use up stash strips as planned, I only created more!!  But, I did work from my sketchbook on this---one out of three on this one. 

Happy stitching,

Zen Something?

Zen garden, zen mat, zen challenge thing.....whatever I call it, the piecing is completed.  This is so out of my box!   I tried about 6 arrangements on the design wall, and luckily I used a favorite tool--digital camera--to help me visualize it all.  Wouldn't you know I settled on the first arrangement I laid out!   Thank goodness, I had a photo to go by.
I used 3 different blacks for the background, which is hardly noticeable...and a lot of  "creative" piecing.  Actually I worked in sections adding strips and hunks to widen or lengthen  the area to fit to the next section.  Then I added a 3 inch border.   It is about 16 inches by 44 inches before I quilt it.

I had only intended to use one of the fabric circles, and now I think I need to use both and create another one.  I think I will do another zentangle on some hand dyed fabric that I did last summer.   And then the quilting....which is the fun part for me.  

Since I was taking photos, I snapped a quick one of the folded fabric pinwheel.

The pinwheel block is a 6 inch block. 

Now, to clean up the sewing room and get dinner.
Happy stitching.

Challenge and Zentangles

I love it when an inspiration hits! 
The two fabric circles in the photo are the basis of our guild challenge for 2010.  Sarge referred to it as "the circle of creativity" challenge.  After 5 months of un-inspiration, I came up with the zentangle (drawn on paper) on the right in the photo and a plan for my challenge entry.
The creative thought process......
First:  I really don't do circles in my quilting, or rather in my piecing.  So that was my block.  BLOCK--exactly!  I needed to be able to put the circle in a block or rectangle, something with straight edges.
Second:  Next thought that clicked....zentangles.  Zentangles are  really just doodles and suppose to have a calming influence, which I needed.   And I have always liked pen and ink type drawings. 
 Third:   So, why not take a section of the pattern in the circle and use it in a zentangle?  And create movement by using the curve of the circle.   Then fill in the background with "stippling" like quilting free motion.
Thus the example on paper is the first zentangle using elements from the two fabric circles and now the basis of my challenge.   Wait.....the  challenge needs to be quilted item!  Not made of paper. 
Fourth:  How do I get the zentangle design to fabric.  Applique--no way.  Scan and print onto Printed Treasures--possible but costly and difficult to work with.  Paint--messy.  How about ink, that's it.  Use Pigma pen to draw and color in the zentangles directly onto fabric. 

Fifth:  I used freezer paper to stabilize the solid color fabrics I pulled from my stash.  I selected colors that were close to the colors in the challenge squares and ironed them to freezer paper.  Next, I drew different size squares and rectangles on the fabric.  While watching 24 (I just love Chloe and  have to see Jack save the world) last night, I doodled 3 of these zentangles. 

Yes, these are done free hand....didn't even know I could draw!  I did use a round plate to create the first curved  line to begin, but the rest of the doodles are just parts of the design from the fabric.  I really like the bamboo leaves. 

Tonight I plan on doing a couple more on blue fabric.   The design for the layout is not completely formed in my head, only a vague idea so far.  But since I have some focus, I am sure it will come together.

So thank you to Delia for giving me inspiration!

Happy stitching.