The fourth quarter Black Friday insanity is done, last minute orders have all been filled and now I get a little reprieve to make whatever I want. Don’t get me wrong, I like to make commissions but there is something very special about having a little extra time to let my mind wander. It’s always interesting to see where it goes.
I pulled this gorgeous hand dyed piece by Terri Gavin of Elemental Hues, out of storage and allowed it to tweak my imagination. The color values were more pastel than I usually use so I naturally started dreaming of springtime. (Be sure to get on Terri’s mailing list since her website is not yet completed and she send out updates often.)
A friend had also gifted me some blue hand dyed silk charmeuse so I fussy cut the iris petals and satin stitched them to pieces of tear-away stabilizer. It left a little white edge around the leaves but a gentle coloring with Sharpie Marker around the edges took care of that.
I have Sharpies in every color. (Of course, I wouldn’t recommend using them if you are creating a quilt which will be washed.)
The water lilies were cut from hand dyed Kaufman Radiance fabric, a silk and cotton blend. It just takes the dye beautifully and I love the sheen.
Of course, most of you who have taken my classes know that I nearly always quilt the whole surface of the landscape before adding all the elements. It’s just far easier than going around all the leaves and branches.
I decided to try something new for the tulip magnolias. I had no pink fabric but found a lovely salmon silk organza. I cut the delicate petals and raw edge appliqued them to the surface. I actually was quite pleased with their translucence.
The bottom rock wall and foliage was all created from batiks. The willow leaves and hakone grass on the lower wall were created with painted Evolon cut out with my Cricut machine.
The creation of this piece just flowed. It was pure fun. I hope you are having a creative time during your month of January!
See the Artful Quilting Course to learn many of the techniques used in this quilt.
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