Saturday 20 August 2016

Photo to Block to Quilt

For several years I have kept a picture of the back of a kimono.  I loved the lines of it and the possibilities of the luxurious fabrics and gorgeous colours at least in my mind.  I often looked at it to figure out how to piece it.

After having been away on a trip and a bit jet lagged, chores could wait as I found a picture that captured the flow I thought of and turned it into a drawing on EQ7.  Forgot to save it though.  Bad!!!!! Instead of turning it into a larger quilt right away I used the drawing on 8.5 x 11 paper to create a pattern.  I then turned to a technique I learned in a class with Katie Pasquini Masopust.  She is a wonderful teacher and inspires a 'can do' attitude.  The advantages of a very small quilt are speed to completion; use of small scraps.  Disadvantage is that with 23 pieces in the piece I was turning in seams on very small pieces.  But it worked.

I had a mess of scraps of bright coloured fabrics from the baby quilt I made before my holiday so it was a perfect combination.  One afternoon; one morning after and here is the finished product.  I quilted it on my Designer with gold embroidery thread; very simple stitching.    There are lots of stitches I have only looked at but not used so.............

It is scraps, some time spent piecing by using an iron on stabilizer which I had and of course creating the pattern pieces on construction paper.  The pieces were really tiny and because I had used a spray on adhesive on the construction paper, the bits cut off the pattern pieces got stuck on doggy feet and hair.  The floors and stairs had bits of orange to brighten them.  I did try to use my new Scan and Cut but the pieces were too small and my experience in using it smaller still.

I added two flanges to give it a more finished look and a dark border set off the bright fabrics.  It was fun and now the next step is to do the bigger product.  Oriental fabrics are so interesting  and somehow my stash seems to contain a fair amount (lots actually) of fat quarters.  Not sure how big the final product will be but there will be a final product.  

Years ago I embroidered by machine all down the back of a kimono I sewed for my self and now I will have a touchable quilt to put on the wall.  Embroidery may be part of the quilt. We shall see.

The class with Katie was a gift and gave me courage to try.  Best class ever with a world class teacher.

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