Friday Inspiration - Summer Themed Fibers

Here are some summer inspirations!

Around here, July means the Queen Anne's Lace and Fireweed are both in full bloom.  I'm in love with this gorgeous embroidery by Jo Van Kampen that really captures the delicateness of Queen Anne's Lace.  And the beads add great texture!

Hoffman released a beautiful Fireweed fabric a couple of years ago - a quick Google search shows it's still available in a few internet stores.  I really like the depth it has!

And these two summer themed quilts are fun!  The watermelon quilt is on Jane Allen Quevedo's blog - what a good way to use up red and green scraps.  A Day At The Beach, by Cindy Grisdela can be seen here.  It has great free motion quilting!

Happy Creating!  Deborah

Raspberry Days

Mmmm .... I love this part of summer!  Warm days, cool nights - and raspberries!  We picked a flat and a half today, just in time as our last batch of raspberries is gone except for one last piece of spongecake with raspberries and cream cheese frosting.  

Tomorrow will be filled with jam making!

And maybe some raspberries that will last .... I'm thinking of  beaded raspberries (instructions here)

or maybe some embroidered raspberries canes based on the blackberries from a past post.

Happy Creating!  Deborah

Friday Inspiration - The Road Goes Ever On

There's a new virtual exhibit up on the SAQA (Studio Art Quilts Associates) website that's definitely worth the time to look through.  The Road Goes Ever On (taken from a JRR Tolkien quote) was curated by Eileen Doughty and reflects her thoughts and emotions as she transitions from one stage of her life to another.

First Moment - Gay Lasher

I find myself particularly especially drawn to two pieces - First Moment by Gay Lasher and Skating on Thin Ice by Rose Rushbrooke.  While the perspective really could go either way, I find First Moment makes me think of laying on my back and looking upwards - maybe through tall structures that small glimpses of the sky peek through.  

Skating on Thin Ice - Rose Rushbrooke

Skating on Thin Ice reminds me of all the fractal sketches I made years ago, but never worked with.  Hmmm .... time to pull them out!  I love how the reds just jump out of the gray and white background.

If you enjoyed this virtual exhibit, there are others on the SAQA site accessed here.

Happy Creating!  Deborah

Reversible Quilted Sunflower Potholders

 Hmmm .... what do you do with a bunch of leftover batik?  I have quite a bit of leftover fabric from the batik strips I used for the quilted sunflower table runner, so I thought I'd try a sunflower potholder!


Materials:
*scraps of sunflower colored fabric
*small piece of Insul-brite

1.  Using the instructions on the quilted sunflower table runner post, make two Dresden Plate sunflowers using a 3.5 inch template.  Iron flat.

2.  Lay one of the sunflowers on a piece of Insul-brite and trace around the edges, being careful not to get any ink on the flower.

3.  Cut out the flower shape you traced, cutting about 1/4 inch in from the drawn edge.

4.  Place Insul-brite flower on the wrong side of one sunflower.  Trim the Insul-brite as needed to have it be about 1/4 inch in from the edge of the sunflower.

5.  Pin the other sunflower on top (right side out), matching the points of the petals .

6.  Cut a 1.25 x 4 inch piece of fabric.  Make a tube, place the ends together to form a loop as shown below, and pin onto the point of one petal.

7.  Quilt as in Step 10 of the table runner.  Quilt from the side you like best - most likely the back won't be quite as nice as is the front!  Make two centers as in Step 8, pin one to each side, and hand applique on.

 
8.  Free motion quilt the centers as in Step 11.  And you have your pot holder done!

Happy Creating!  Deborah