Flower Power

Tulip Quilt II is finished this evening! Photo tomorrow -- It's new name is Flower Power

Tulip Quilting in Progress

This photo is a small section of the quilt and looks like a composition unto itself. It is the section where I have accomplished the most quilting. I am in the middle of machine quilting and so far all is going well. This is such a scary part of the process. So much can go wrong at this point. The wonderful thing about working with fabric, needle and thread is that "stitches gone wrong" can be removed. It takes a while but usually all is not lost.

Back to the Tulip Quilt

I am back to working on the Tulip Quilt as seen in earlier posts (Feb. 22 09) . I am covering the raw edges with bias* strips. This stage is so satisfying because it begins to look finished and refined. When this is done, the machine quilting will be the next step. After that it is home free to the finish!
* "Bias" means the fabric is cut at approximately a 45 degree angle rather on on the straight of grain. This gives maximum stretch to the fabric and allows it to bend around the curves easily.
When sewing there is a time to cut on the bias and a time to cut on the straight of grain depending on the outcome you are trying to achieve.

"Inchies" Turning Into Necklace

Above Photo:

Detail of beaded one inch square that started out as an experiment

in making "inchies" out of scraps ~ and evolved into a necklace.

Tuesday, Sept. 22nd - Here is it after adding beads. Now to figure out necklace cording, beads or ribbon so it can be worn. The round discs are lime green fresh water pearls. The turquoise color flowers are antique glass beads from Santa Fe. The size is about 6 inches wide. It is 5.5 inches from the top to the bottom of the dangled pearls.

This weekend I was experimenting with making "inchies". Inchies are those approximately one inch square quilts that are popular right now to make with scraps and trade with other quilters like trading cards. I was working with some scraps I had left over from making fabric bowls a year or two ago. I had a larger triangular piece that I had saved from the bowls with the idea of making it into a necklace some day. With several squares and the triangle scattered on the table, I began to see how the squares could be extensions added to the triangle for the necklace. Inspiration always comes to me when I start working with my hands. Do I always remember that? No!! I do my share of waiting around to be inspired instead of just doing it.

Fabric Bead Necklace

Where did the end of summer go? I obviously took a break from my blog for a month or so. It wasn't planned -- it just happened that way. I am back now and motivated by the cooler weather -- plus projects are due for upcoming exhibits.

The annual Dia de los Muertos exhibit piece is due in about a month. So I am pulling out things I've done in the past to get the ideas flowing. The following photos are of a necklace I made a while back from fabric beads. I am thinking I would like to make more of these beads and incorporate them into my work for this year. They are made basically the same way you may have made paper beads in grade school using magazine pages. They are long triangles rolled up around a tooth pick. In this case I used fabric and then embellished with threads, seed beads and sequins. Since the necklace was made using milagros and charms that I gathered in Santa Fe, I decided to make it a prayer necklace. Each bead has a paper glued to the back side of the fabric. I wrote a prayer on each paper before rolling it up and gluing the bead. This close up photo of the beads looks like eye candy for sure.