A Walk Through My Garden

"A Walk Through My Garden" is the official name of the challenge.  And mine is done!  The last bead was sewn on this morning.  The official unveiling will come on Saturday, when the Artrageous Fiber Art group meets.  Each member was challenged to create a garden quilt 12" x 30", the only other requirement was that each should contain some of the same green batik.  Last year, 14 finished challenge pieces were returned, so we hope to see that many or more this time around.    

I enjoyed each part of the process.  With the embellishments, I was able to add a lot of details that can only be seen with a close-up look.  I found a perfect little bee bead that I added near the top, along with just a sprinkling of gold sparkly seed beads.

A wide piece of a novelty yarn was remodeled to become a caterpillar.

Some very dainty bead flowers grow along the side of the path.

 The edges of the "cement" border were softened by adding a little bit of yarn "moss" spilling over.

What does the back look like?  (I often wonder when I see other quilts online.)

So, what comes next?  All that is left to do on the "Phone Book Quilt" is the binding.  I have a new pattern that I want to write up, also.  AND, Sally Ruth and I got together again to play with crayons.....

ALL Day Long

I've been working on the challenge quilt ALL DAY LONG!  I like what's happening, but it is taking forever.  Lots and lots of beading and embellishment.  I don't want to give it all away, but I'll show updates for the details I shared last night.

Last Night:

Tonight:

Last Night:

Tonight:

Now, BACK TO WORK!!!  Maybe I'll be ready for the facing tomorrow.  I have a meeting with one of my quilting groups on Monday night and would sure like to have this ready to take along.

Walk in the Garden Up Close

I may make it to the deadline after all!  I have finished all of the machine work on the challenge quilt.  I love how flat the piece lays with all of the dense quilting.  All that is left is the embellishment.


Some yarn will add a mossy look.

The rolled felted centers didn't work out for the flowers after all.  Either they were too big or the flowers weren't big enough.  I cut plain wool centers instead.  Some beads and hand stitching will add detail.

LIBERATED QUILTMAKING!  Making design decisions as you go along.  It's OK to change your mind. 

THANK YOU GWEN MARSTON!

Miles to Go ...

With about ten days to go, I was back at work on my challenge quilt tonight.  Maybe I'll make it!  I'm just showing a closeup of the area surrounding the turtle.  I stippled the edging in the foreground and quilted pebbles in the ground surrounding the turtle.  I also finished quilting the shrubbery.  It took longer than you would think ... and at one point I found myself holding my breath while I made all of those little pebbles.  Guess that meant it was time for a break!


What's next is quilting the blossoms, dealing with the yellow background behind them and adding a little bit in the way of embellishments.


Now I'm off to work on the phone book quilt (almost done) for a little while.

Found Objects

The little crayon batik is finished!  After hand quilting with big stitch and pearl cotton, I applied a facing to finish the edges, rather than a regular quilt binding.  The final touch was beading around the blossoms.

After completing the beading, I made a attempt to re-organize my beads (not entirely successful) and that is when I found a little necklace, beads on a ribbon ... I tried it on my bird and it fit!  So, I snipped off the ends and sewed it on.

I never would have found that little treasure if I hadn't been digging through all of the beads.  I don't even know where it came from, but I suspect that it came from my sister.  She and Mom occasionally give me beaded necklaces that they come across so that I can use the beads.

Here is a picture of the entire finished quilt.  It is very small, only 11" x 15", but I had a lot of fun making it.

 

Four-Patch Kaleidoscope

Doesn't this look like SPRING?  So sweet and pastel.  I am glad that I chose the yellow over the pink;  I think that more pink might have made it TOO sweet.

In the end, I wimped out and didn't do anything too special with the borders.  The outer border HAD TO be the floral print that the 4-patches were created from.  I did take the time to put corner blocks in each border, but mainly I wanted to get the quilt top done.  It is bad enough to have as many unfinished projects as I do, but it is worse if they are in bits and pieces.  I will make sure that I have enough fabric for the binding set aside, then it is safe to leave this project for a while.

*** Oh, in case I forgot to mention it before, this pretty floral print is a product of Kona Bay Fabrics. 

The crayon batik will be finished and ready to show off tomorrow.  

In the Garden

Wow, I'm really enjoying the crayon batik ... big stitch quilting with #12 black pearl cotton.

I've finished stitching around most of the shapes.  I need to do something in the background and may switch to yellow thread so it doesn't overwhelm the rest.  I wish the detail was easier to see.  Here is a close-up taken right after I started.

The March 3 deadline for the "Walk in My Garden" challenge is coming SOON.  I've made progress tonight and may be ready to start quilting soon.

The garden quilt will be machine quilted, then I will add various embellishments like the felted flower centers, beads and yarn.