Bryce Canyon Shadow Quilt Part 5 - FINAL

This is a continuation of 4 previous posts about the making of the Bryce Canyon Shadow quilt.

The next thing that I tackled was the picture of my husband.  I decided to add him in black and tones of gray so that it would stand out against the colored background. I used a similar technique that I used on a tree against a colored background a few years ago. The figure was put together using fusible web and a non-stick sheet. And of course, I forgot to take progress pictures!

After all the pieces were in place, I ironed them to fuse them together and let them cool.  Then I transferred the figure to the quilted background and fused it down.  The final step was to sew around all of the edges.

Sometimes, I straighten the edges on my art quilts, and sometimes I square it all up and add binding.  Since the paper fabric was pretty stiff, I knew that it would be hard to turn the edges to the back.  So, binding seemed to be the logical choice.  Black also seemed a natural choice.  Here it is all done!  It measures 31" W x 45" H.

I hope you like it.

Bryce Canyon Shadow Quilt - part 4

 This is a continuation of 3 previous posts about the making of the Bryce Canyon Shadow Quilt.

After the pieces of "paper" fabric dried, I added more paint and tinted each section darker than the first one, until I achieved 4 tones of each colors.  Then I took pictures of the pieces in monotone to make sure that I had enough difference for the pieces to show.  

Now that I had all the base materials, it was time to put them together on the design wall.

I cut out sections of the pattern, pinned that to the right shade of each color, cut around the sections and spray basted them directly to the batting, which was placed underneath the full sized pattern.

After all the main pieces were placed, I cut out all of the little pieces and pasted them to the background.  I don't know if I would do this again; you can barely see the little spots of color against the background, which already had plenty of variation.

I placed a piece of gray tulle on top of the background.  Then I placed 3 layers of black tulle underneath the section of the shadow.  I sewed around this a couple of times, then cut away the excess.  

I hope that you like the progress so far.

Bryce Canyon shadow quilt - Part Three

This is a continuation of a couple of previous posts about the making of the Bryce Canyon shadow quilt.

I decided that I would make my own "paper" fabric for this quilt and paint all of the pieces.  I started with muslin that I already had on my shelf.  Then I tore up a bunch of tissue paper, which I also had on hand.  

I traced the sections of the design onto freezer paper from the wrong side of my pattern so that I would know what shape I was heading for. A light box is invaluable when you're tracing from the wrong side. 

These were ironed the muslin.

The tissue paper was pasted to the muslin with a mixture of half water and half Elmer's school glue.   The tissue tears pretty easily, so you have to dab it on instead of painting it on.  More of an up and down motion.  I knew that I wanted to make 3 colors:  orange, blue, and purple.  And that all of those colors needed to be in 4 shades from light to dark.  So, I added the paint to the glue solution to get the base first color onto the muslin.   Here are the orange sections.

Here are pictures of the painted "paper" fabric that would form the background for this quilt.

All of those pieces were dried overnight, then pressed.

Bryce Canyon Shadow Quilt - Part Two

 This is the second post about the making of the shadow quilt of my husband hiking in Bryce Canyon.

I scanned the photo into Photoshop and changed it to black and white and blurred the photo.  

Then I traced it.  

I remembered a couple of techniques that I liked from some previous art quilts and lessons from teachers.  So, I took out my water colors and water color paper and painted a few background colors.  Then I took out some fabric and had fun making other types of colored background.  Here are the pictures of those things:

It was a ton of fun to just play around with my art supplies while it rained and stayed gloomy outside.  I asked for input from my husband and small quilt group and the consensus was that they liked the diagonal painting with orange, blue and purple.  So I drew the diagonal lines on the tracing and that will be where the colors will change. I also liked some of the splotchy areas on the painted fabric.  I plant to make paper fabric and paint that with the splotchy effect and use that for the background along with black, and dark blue and dark purple.  Here's hoping that it all comes together.

I hope you have ways to entertain yourself when you can't go and see friends or go outside because of the weather.  And especially when you don't watch the election returns on TV!

Shadow Quilt from Bryce Canyon National Park

Several years ago, my husband and I went camping and hiking in Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah.  It was really different and fun to hike DOWN into the canyon, around all the hoodoos, and back up to the canyon rim.  The hoodoos are the tall spires of rock, which are so prominent in the park.

I snapped this interesting picture of my husband with his backpack, coming through one of the arches.  The sun was just right to cast a shadow of him on the wall of the canyon, and it reminded SO MUCH of the Don Quixote by Pablo Picasso.  Look at the pictures and tell me if you think so too!

This is just the type of picture that begs for it to be memorialized in a quilt.  My hesitation over the years has been how to actually make this one.  Should it be painted?  Should it be pieced or appliqued?  Could it be simplified and done another way?  I am terrible at portraits and am terrified of doing this one and having it end up looking nothing my husband.  Best to just dive in and see what happens.

Stay tuned to see what I did.

Knitted Slippers

I may have already told you about the knitted slippers that our family has been making for over 50 years.  Just in case I haven't, my grandmother must have started making them, then my mother, then me and my sisters.  I wear them every day in the house and usually wear out a pair over the year.  I noticed that the pair I was wearing had just about worn out, so I knitted myself another pair in lime green.  My favorite color!

When I pulled out the knitting bag, I found out that I had made a pair of extra soles for the old pair.  So, I was able to repair them too.  Now I have a new pair, and an old pair!  I think it was a great idea to have the spare set of soles.  Before I put the bag away, I'll knit a spare set of soles for my new pair too!  

I hope you have a pattern for something that was passed down in your family too.  Maybe it's not a sewing or knitting pattern... perhaps it's a family recipe.  Anyway, working on the slippers makes me think of Mom, and that's a good thing.

Drink coasters/wine glass coasters

I have a set of 4 drink coasters/wine glass coasters that somebody made and gave to me as a thank you gift from serving on a board of directors.  I wish I could remember who that was!  Anyway, I bring them out in the fall since they were made with fall fabrics.  This year, I decided that I would make some more for different seasons. 

Here are the pattern directions:

WINE COASTERS

Fabric:
6 each 5” squares of  fabric (2 for the bottom and 4 for the top in two shades)
1 each 5” square of lightweight batting.
 
Fold 4 squares of fabric in half and press. They should be rectangles, 5” L x 2-1/2” W.

Layer as follows:
 Bottom fabric for the inside, right side facing down
 Batting
 Bottom fabric that will show on the outside, right side facing up

All 4 fabrics that have been folded in half, overlapping like a closed cardboard box, with the raw edges on the outside.

 

Sew around the outside edge in ¼” seam, and sew diagonally at each corner a few times, then trim corners
 

Turn right sides out and press.

To make a coordinating set of 4, increase the amounts of fabric and batting 

by four.

I hope you find the time to make this quick set of coasters, and perhaps give them to someone that you know1