Artsy Fartsy Bluebirds

As an Island Batik Ambassador we get a new challenge for each month. 

Products are provided by Island Batik and industry partner Aurifil for these projects.
Thanks Aurifil and Island Batik.

The July challenge is called the "Artsy Fartsy" challenge.  We were challenged to create an some type of artistic piece that uses three weights of Aurifil thread.  I had a great time gathering my threads and fabrics and deciding on my project.
I confess that there was not a lot of planning in this quilt. Rather, I put fusible onto some chosen fabrics and cut shapes.  Then I had some play time arranging and re-arranging the pieces. (then I fused and cut some more because I wanted more of some of them.)

Once I had an arrangement that I liked I fused it all into place. Then I started stitching.
I realized that I didn't have enough petals on the red flower, but I had some lovely red Aurifil thread #1103 in a 40 weight.  It went on the machine and I did some thread painting with it to create more petals. The 40 weight does nicely for free motion thread painting. I also used it to stitch down the other petals.

You can see that this was taken mid-process.
 The flower changed a bit more before it was finished. 

Meanwhile, this bluebird wing was cut from the exact same fabric as the background.  OOPS!  So let me fix that, but how?  Again, Aurifil thread to the rescue.  The wing is a rather delicate structure so a lighter weight thread seemed in order.  I had some 50 wt.  Aurifil #2730 that looked perfect for this.

The thread painting changed the look of the wing so that it doesn't blend into the background.

I did thread painting on several of the elements including this little broderie perse appliqué flower.

In a few places I got out of the lines, but I don't worry about that too much.
This is 28 wt Aurifil thread.

All of the broderie perse appliqué pieces were cut from a strip of Island Batik

 fabric that came in a Stash Builder package.  

This strip was all flowers and birds just perfect for this project

This odd little fantasy flower was embellished with some 40 wt thread.

The flower petals and blue birds were cut with a couple of Accuquilt dies that I have had for a long time.   After the green leaves were cut, I used the "waste" fabric, trimmed slightly to create the grass.

The grass was fused in place and later thread painted with both 50 wt and 28 wt Aurifil thread.  The 28 worked great in my machine with a size 90 needle and a 50 wt Aurifil thread in the bobbin.  I adjusted the tension to be sure that the bobbin thread did not come to the top.

The same red used for the flower petal was perfect to sign my quilt with free motion stitching

Finally, I fused the backing fabric over all the stitching and added a binding.   The binding was hand sewn to the back using 28 wt thread.  Surprisingly, it doesn't show at all.

 Two more broderie perse close-ups 

And that red flower....

It has more petals and embellishment on it. 

And now the final reveal

Isn't it delightful?  

Aurifil thread and Island Batik fabrics are a match made in heaven. 

(p.s.  I can hardly wait to show you my August project!  

      It is a new fabric line that I love and I think you will too.) 

Until Next Time,  

Stay Creative 

Comments are welcomed. I will reply when possible. Of course if you are a "No Reply Blogger"- I can not reply. Links in comments will result in the entire comment being deleted.

Flutter by my Butterflies

The most comments on the previous post said to add the butterflies.  So I did some more fusible applique to make the butterflies.  They seemed to get lost in the design more than I liked, so I went multimedia on this piece.  
I took the piece to my painting area and got paint and fabric medium. I used the paint to change the color and tones of the butterflies.  What you can't see in the picture is that I added some paint that shimmers and sparkles in with the colored paint. This will be a fun wall hanging.  

Monet's Garden with flowers and butterflies.

Now, all I need to do is back it, quilt it and add a hanging sleeve. 

Flower Power.

I have not fallen off the face of the earth.  Although a couple of times it felt that way to me. I am starting to heal and have actually been back at work. Yesterday was a long day, and at the end of it I took a nap. After the nap I was completely non-productive. 
If I have the energy this evening, I plan to do some sewing, so maybe soon I will have something else to show you. 


For today, I thought I would show a couple of hibiscus paintings. Hibiscus always remind me of semi-tropical places. Before hurricane Ivan, my nana had a condo in Pensacola, FL.  The picture that was the inspiration for these two paintings was taken in the courtyard there. 

While each was painted from the same flower, they are very different.  
I would like to know - Which is your favorite?  Why? What draws you to the one you like best?  

Flowers and Triangles

Today after work I stopped by Mom and Dad's for a visit.  I like to check on them pretty regularly and be sure they are doing okay.   We were sitting on the front porch after a light rain had cooled down the unseasonably hot  temperature.  For most of my life there have been these two flower bushes in the yard.  They grow side by side and even are intertwined a bit.  They are now about ten feet tall. Dad calls the flowers "hollyhocks" but they aren't. I don't know what they are though, so if you know tell me. One bush has white flowers and the other has purple/lavender ones.

Last night I was watching a movie, but I don't like to veg and watch a movie. So I cut some Half Square triangles with my Go! cutter. These make  a 2.5 inch square. That finishes to 2 inches.  I cut a bunch of them from little scraps. (Oh this is the die that comes with the cutter. It cuts these, plus 2.5 inch squares and a 4.5 inch square.)  So after I made a pile of them -and also sewed some strips together for the rail fence blocks, the movie was over.  I took my pile to the ironing board and pressed them.  Then I could NOT resist playing with layouts.
I got this block which I think is SWEET!

Mind you , it is not sewn together.  I just put the pieces in this orientation and took a picture. The seams SHOULD be straighter and the points SHOULD line up once I sew it.
And to think, I had not considered the Half Square triangle cutter(s) until Pat mentioned that she was salvaging her scraps with it. Yaay!  Thanks Pat!

The Tiger Egret

On our Mexico trip, I saw this interesting egret that I had never seen before. Luckily our tour guide knew exactly what this guy is. He is a Tiger Egret.
I just thought you might like to see him. (well it could be a her, I didn't know how to tell, do you? NO! I am not going to lift the tail feathers and look either!)



In the courtyard there was this lovely pink Hibiscus. I couldn't resist sharing it.