 Today's concept is another one that should be easy, but isn't for me! It's the idea of just experimenting and playing... I usually want to have a complete plan before I start anything, but often it's best to just try things and see what happens. I think I'm afraid I'm going to waste time and materials, as I mentioned in an earlier post. If we can just think of it as being like taking a class, it's a little easier! It's not a waste if we are learning, and sometimes something great will come of it! Sometimes an idea will come from just trying different fabrics next to each other, or trying a new technique. In this photo, I decided to see if I could run some Aquamesh stabilizer through my computer printer, then stitch through it. I taped the stabilizer to a regular piece of paper so it would feed properly, then printed a photo on it. I then stacked it with fabric, batting, and another stabilizer on the back and did some thread sketching and free motion quilting. (That thread matched too well and doesn't show...) Then I washed away the stabilizer. The whole thing took about 20 minutes and very little supplies, I don't know what my problem is:-) The more I learn, the more I realize that being creative is about learning to change our thinking and mental habits! Here is another quote from the book by Nita Leland: " Are you worried about inspiration? Sigmund Freud stated, 'When inspiration does not come to me, I go to meet it.' Don't wait for inspiration, it will come as you work."  On a different note, I finally got to make something other than a card. Ok, so it's a lot like my cards, just bigger, and not too fancy, but it was still fun. I'm trying to make a few quick wall quilts, probably just big cards, for another bazaar in a couple of weeks. This one is about 16 x 22 inches. I made the borders different widths on purpose, but I'm not sure it was enough different to look like it wasn't just an accident... :-) It has lots of quilting, which doesn't show in the picture...
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Beret Nelson's On The Trail Creations Blog Page
Beret NelsonI am a homeschooling mom of three fun kids, who are now old enough that I have a little time to pursue my passion for sewing! After several years of making quilted cards and art quilts, I'm now designing kits and patterns. Some of them have even been in Keepsake Quilting! I teach classes at local quilt shops, and would love to do more traveling and teaching eventually. I also have many tutorials, including some on YouTube. I am blessed to live in Alaska where I am surrounded by the inspiration provided by the beauty of God's creation! 
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This was a fun, quick project that uses kind of a confetti quilt technique for the petals. I also used Inktense for the words. I like that because I could stitch just outside the letters instead of on them, so they pop up more! Here are some process photos:
First, I drew the letters on paper,traced them on the fabric, and colored them with dry Inktense pencils.
Then activated the ink. Aloe vera gel or fabric medium work best on fabric, water tends to ‘bleed’. The letters are much brighter! Also, you can see my fairy frost background fabric better in this photo.
Now for the fun part! To make the fabric the petals are cut from, I started with a piece of lightweight fusible interfacing. I knew my petals would go into the seam on the edges, so I didn’t want it too stiff. With the glue side up, I covered it with some strips of fabric. You can go straight to the confetti pieces, but I think this saves time and thickness. Fuse them to the interfacing.
Then I added some random pieces, placing them mostly over the edges of the first fabrics to break up those long lines.
Ooooops! It looks like I forgot a photo... The next step is to add tulle, but you can see the fabric pieces under it. I didn’t use fusible web on the small pieces. You could, or just dab them with a glue stick. As for the tulle, you can do one layer, more than one, or wrinkle it up, which is what I did. I zapped it with a bit of 505 spray, but mostly used lots of pins!
Then, using a walking foot, I stitched some lines in random directions to hold everything together. You can also use free motion. I recommend a closed hole foot so the toes don’t catch in the tulle. After it was nailed down a bit, I added lots more lines, until I felt like it could be cut up without falling apart.
The back looks cool too! The thread color only changed because my bobbin ran out 😁
Next, I cut out petal shapes and a center and started arranging them. It was hard to picture what it would look like trimmed, so I took a photo and cropped it on my phone. Really helpful for placement!
The cropped photo made it more obvious that my top petal was too short, so I adjusted that by pulling it up a bit. I took a couple more photos and cropped them until I liked it.
Hmm, I see I missed a couple more photos... I stacked my top with batting and muslin (pre-backing), zig zag stitched around the petals, quilted the background and around the letters, and did some decorative stitching on the center. I then trimmed it square, but left a ‘bump’ where I planned to leave the hole for turning. This makes it much easier to fold those edges under! I placed the final backing on, right sides together, stitched all the way around except for the hole for turning, and clipped the corners. Two more tips! One, the backing does not have to be cut precisely, just use the edges of the quilt top as your guide for stitching, then trim the excess. Leave a ‘bump’ by the hole on that too! Two, it helps a lot to press the seam allowances by the hole before turning. (Photo below) A great trick I recently discovered!
After it’s turned and pressed, I usually cheat and close the hole with fusible web.
Let me know if you try it!
After it’s turned and pressed, I usually cheat and close the hole with fusible web.
Let me know if you try it!
