Monday, May 27, 2013

Fourpatch 1

Fourpatch #1
Hand dyed cottons, fused, machine quilted. 12.5 x 14.5"
$150 Email me SOLD


Yes, it's been a while, but now that the garden is all in, and growing nicely, I have returned to the studio, (for the mornings at least) and have fused my fabrics to prepare for new work. What brought me back to fusing was seeing someone's Pinterest page of my (old) work that she has been pinning. I had to look at it with new eyes, and examine what made it distinctive, to me. It boiled down to the fabric, line and shape. The fabric looks like it could be a watercolor, and I had lots of it sitting on my shelf, being saved for 'someday' and I guess now is that someday.



Some of this fabric is nearing ten years old! But at last I know I can use it and make it into artquilts.
To make the new work, I had to come up with a new motif, something very simple and repeatable and one that I have never used before. After doing lots of Pinterest research, I returned to my scrapbooks of images, and found an idea. This loose fourpatch within a square is it. I'll be working with this for a few more compositions.
Another new thing I wanted to try is to make the top larger than the batting and backing and fuse-fold it over for a clean finish. The batting has a few squares of Wonder-Under fused to the corners and then I added the backing fabric to match the size of the batting. I quilted the whole thing, cut out squares from each corner of the top layer (to avoid a lumpy corner) and folded the front sides to the back and fused it all in place. It worked perfectly and gave a nice sharp edge to the quilt. I wish I had tried this idea before, as it is a simple and easy finish.


The boat is back.
Dave didn't like the deal that was offered by the boat store, so he will try to sell it and the car, as a package, down at the end of our driveway. He has done this before, so fingers crossed.
++++
Here's where I am spending my afternoons. My goal this Spring was to make the back garden as attractive as the front garden, so we would want to spend more time there. Lots of transplanting,  eliminating of bad plants plus bringing in the flower pots and providing suitable shade, was the fix.
We already had everything to accomplish this, with the exception of a second umbrella. Now that the hot tub works perfectly again, we have no reason to remove it and won't have to build a pergola over this deck for shade, which was plan B, by the way. A second umbrella was a much more economical solution. It looks like I have my own outdoor café.



I have a good book, a cool drink and my faithful companion, Chester. What could be sweeter?

Posted by Picasa

6 comments:

  1. Love the four patch! Fun design, and luscious fabrics! And I love how you finished it... looks great, and lots easier than binding or pillow-case method. You ROCK!

    ReplyDelete
  2. This post makes me so happy! I love the new quilt and the fact that you're finding time to get back to fabric!!!!! And cutie-pie Chester always makes me smile!
    Also love that a fan studying your work on Pinterest inspired you!!! Full circle!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous10:51 AM

    Love your new quilt. Could you please provide more pictures & description of how you finished the backing? Sounds like a great approach but not sure what you did when you turned the front over to the back. I've learned so much from you - technical & artistic. Thanks for the wonderful blog!
    Mary Ann

    ReplyDelete
  4. Mary Ann, I didn't take anymore pics in progress, but will on the next one that I do. It is so simple, don't overthink it!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I love your new work...and am thrilled that even the mighty cruise pinterest for inspiration! The garden is just beautiful and a testament to all your hard work...and as for those dogs...they are adorable. We have two cats and are just as faithful. One of them even comes to the paddock with me every day to give the donkeys their hay! She loves all the animals and smooches the donkeys and horse from the safe heights of the fence!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Gen Frazer3:38 PM

    How do you get that hand dyed fabric so beautiful? Do you squirt it on in bottles while it's folded or how and how do you know what colour combinations to use so it doesn't all end up brown?

    ReplyDelete

Hello,
So nice of you to drop by. I love your comments, and if you would really like a reply, please email me at fibermania at g mail dot com