This is where it all started ~~~
and from there to here...using a couple of the most coolest thermofax screens from a favorite quilt artist and designer, Ms. Margaret Applin! See my post "Thermofax Play Day" for more details! And those tulips eventually... became the focal point of this piece! Cool. I didn't plan it... it just 'happened' as I waited...
and finally ~ several months later: FINITO! (I have no idea if it's a real word) - and I'm not looking it up - just go with my creative wordlplay, pretty please? LOL!
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| Bloom is 9.5" wide by 8.25" tall |
The beads were sewn on by hand, individually on each little 'flower' at the bottom of this piece. It was not fun. It is very difficult to put a needle and thread through such tough 'paper fabric' with my hands... but it was worth it. Because I LIKE it! But I'll tell ya - it is WAY easier to do this by machine!
and I decided to finish the edges using my ribbon stash. But first, I chose to use the 'pillow-finish' style, where I stitched right sides together, and turned it out, but also ended up fusing another piece of fabric to the back, using steam-a-seam 2 Lite, to cover all the stitching, and to help protect the integrity of the bead work's (the knots on the back). Then I added the ribbon embellishment and stitched it on.
And the bobbin work done in the iridescent white thread represents (to me at least) the tulips we get in a MT spring, oftentimes come with... yup - you guessed it - SNOW! Or at the very least - FROST!
And I deliberately chose to only add beads to the bottom 'snowy-frosty flowers' on this piece. The top ones are more indicative of snow falling, where the bottom is well, just creative in how you want to look at it.
The 'thick' thread that you see on the top upper left, in a 'triangular' quilting motif, (see photo above) is this:
YLI Fusions. It's a size 24/3 ply thread meaning it is THICK, top stitching type of thread. It requires a size 100 needle... and perhaps even 110, depending on the application, machine, fabric. I had a tough time getting to come off the spool smoothly, and needed to use a separate thread stand, as the thread 'stuck' from the wooden roughness on the cone, as you can see here:
But it's beautiful! And to me, it's worth the extra fussin' to get the texture and thickness. I love adding that kind of contrast to my art quilts. The best bobbin thread was polyester, the Isacord brand, which is 40 weight. And of course, I lowered my top tension quite a bit. I used it in the impression of small, little flower shapes at the bottom right of this quilt.
And just a hint on the tulip 'peeking from the binding-right hand side:
Otherwise, on all my other thread applications, I used exclusively, Superior Thread's "Rainbows" in solid and variegated polyester, a 40 weight thread. Masterpiece in white (most often) was in my bobbin, and I used their newer, 3 ply that I recently ordered. Love it! Oh, I used King Tut in white to outline the word, 'bloom.'
Figuring out what to do with the open 'blank space' that was open to the left of the tulips was a bit of a challenge. What to do? And then suddenly, this past Tuesday evening, the idea of the word 'bloom' came. And I wanted to do a different style of what I will call 'word quilting.' This style excited me, and it was also a good practice point for me---attempting such heavy stitchery on a delicate papery-fabric surface, and it's quite easy to pierce it in such a way that it makes a hole & tears away. I was thankful this did not happen! And... the best part of all? IT WAS FUN!
I am considering whether I should enter this piece in the Quilting Arts Reader Challenge? Maybe you should consider one of your pieces, too!
Whether or not you do - I hope you have some fun today!
EnJOY!
Thank you for stoppin' in!
XO
Leslie
