Garden Lady # 9 - Part Three

This is a continuation of 2 previous posts about the making of Garden Lady #9.

I started on the applique lady by working on the hair.  I found a good picture of a ponytail that I used for the pattern.

Here is the hair that will be used as the base before the detail stitching.  I always try to remember at this stage, that this is an art quilt and not a photograph.  

Then I made the shirt.  I used a cool little blue and white stripe and enhanced it with inking and directional cutting.

Next were the legs, wheelbarrow, skirt, and arms.  Sorry, I forgot to take pictures along the way.  When I get in the zone, I'm totally immersed

The pieces were pinned, then fused to the background, and then sewn down with an invisible zig-zag stitch.

I hope you still like it so far!

Garden Lady # 9 - Part Two

This is a continuation of a post about the making of Garden Lady #9.

I continued to cut out blobs and strips of fabric for the background of this piece.  When the top part was all covered, I added a layer of gray organza.  This was quilted loosely and trimmed.  I wanted the top to blur and fade, and a layer of organza does this perfectly.

The next step was to cover the lower half of the background.  I used some of my hand dyed material, and then did my chop and drop collage method of adding details to the garden areas.  I used some darker wool roving to make a shadow by the feet, and added threads, snippets of organza, yarn, antique trims, and thread.  This was all covered with green tulle and quilted.  Again, I did all of this without a backing.  

I copied the figure of the gardener and pinned it in place.  Here is what it looks like with the paper pattern on the background.  I know that there is something lost with all of the goodness that will get covered up.  But I've tried to only cover the areas that will show and then have discovered that not all areas were covered, and that the foreground figure is stuck in place.  I like to be able to place the garden ladies where they look best.

I hope you like it so far!

Ombre leftovers

I had a lot of the Lipstick Cowgirl turquoise to gray ombre fabric left over after cutting out the pieces for the Modernized New York Beauty.   I just loved the fabric so much that I decided to make another quilt with the ombre as the background.  The pieces left over were mostly the gray to the lighter turquoise, plus some of the darkest turquoise at the edges.  The trick was to design a quilt using what I had left over.   I looked at several ideas, and then just decided to do improv.  I had been looking at some of the elongated or melon shapes that some quilters are now using, and decided that was the direction for this piece.  Here are some of the pieces that I've made and put up on my design wall.

I made all of these pieces as rectangular blocks.  I have no idea how I want to sew them together, or how large I want the piece to be in the end.  But, I like the start of it!

And I hope you like the start of it too!

Blueprint Shop Moved - Crisp Imaging in Portland

I got a little bit of a oh-no moment this morning.  I drove over to Portland to my favorite blueprint shop and the lights were out and the space was empty.  Yes, a huge moment of panic.

Fortunately, there was a map and note taped to the door that said they had moved, but just around the corner.  I found them and was so glad.

A little bit ago, Rose City Blueprint was bought by Crisp Imaging.  So this move to a slightly smaller space wasn't a surprise.  I love going there to have my drawings blown up to size.  They handle my order the same day, sometimes in 10 minutes.  It's super cheap and so much better than going to any of the print and copy stores.  I have recommended them many times and hope that any of you that need to have things done will give them a whirl.

Here's their new address (it hasn't been updated on their web page):

5541 NE 122nd, Portland, OR   Suite 320

It's really close to the intersection of 122nd and airport way, just a few blocks from the I205 intersection with airport way.  So convenient from my SE Vancouver location.

Garden Lady #9 - Part One

I got the inspiration for this garden lady from a photo on Pinterest.  All of my other garden ladies were facing sideways or to the front, and I thought that a view from the back might be fun.  Here is the inspiration photo, converted to black and white.

My favorite print shop in Portland has changed names, but luckily is still in business.  They are now called Crisp Imaging, and it looks like they are now part of a chain of imaging/blueprint service providers.  I think I posted that previously, but I wanted to remind myself and my local readers of this excellent source for enlarging drawings.

For this piece, I decided to collage the background directly onto the batting.  I pinned up the batting, then outlined the basic design lines.  

Then, I pulled out a pile of green fabrics and yarn to get me started.  

I sprayed the batting with a temporary spray adhesive, and started cutting and placing blobs of fabric. I just cut the pieces free hand and place them to get the feel of mixed foliage.  Here are some of the darker blobs place in the upper right hand corner.  

Here is what the background looked like after the first day of blob collaging.  Wait, did I just make up a word for a technique?  

And here is the background all ready to add a layer of organza.

I hope you like the progress so far!

Garden Lady Series to be shown at Second Story Gallery in Camas, WA in February, 2025

My goal right from the start was to make 6-10 Garden Lady art quilts and get them into galleries.

Well, YIPPEE!  They've been accepted into Second Story Gallery in Camas, WA in February 2025.  I'll be showing my quilts along with another artist from Portland who also works with nature themes, but works in other mediums.  It's going to be a great show!

Opening reception will be first Friday, February 7th from 5 to 8 pm.

Hope to see you all there!

Garden Lady #8 - Fall Princess - Part 8 - FINAL

This is a continuation of 7 previous posts about the making of Garden Lady #8.  After I pinned the leaves on the top, I hand sewed them down the middle with beading thread.  It was mentally hard to cover up things that had already been done, especially the dress.  So, I resisted pinning leaves on top of he dress.  But, I wanted it to look like she was wading through a pile of leaves and they had to go on top.  I also added stitching, both hand and machine to the bouquet.

The final embellishment was on the fascinator.  I added a couple of chukar feathers from our collection, ribbons, and hot fix crystals.  

I added a regular binding.  And then blinged it up with more hot fix crystals. 

It's all done!

I hope you like it - my Fall Princess.

(Note:  My husband raised chukars for a couple of years and the feathers were collected from their cage.  They are a small game bird).