Living This Creative Life

I have two favorite quotes. The first one is by Emile Zola, "If you asked me what I came into this world to do, I would tell you that I came to live out loud". I don't know who the second one is by, but it goes like this, "If you're not living on the edge then you might as well jump". Both of these sentiments sum up my personal philosophy of this experience we call life on earth. Enjoy!

Thursday, November 25, 2010

More "Quilt & Color" designs

















Good Morning and Happy Thanksgiving to You All,

I'm not much of a holiday girl anymore. The kids are grown, I'm not close to me extended family but my good friends are so it's usually just my small family getting together.

This year it's just me and Tom, my oldest Jaz and a couple of stray friends that she's bringing with her (she mixes with a lot of very different types of people and her friends are always fun and interesting). I'm making a nice but simple dinner so that means I've got the whole morning to spend in my studio!

So, I thought I'd take some time to show the "quilt and color" technique step by step using the new triptych I'm working on. the photos above show the three major steps in the technique.

In the first photo, using a fine mechanical pencil, I have drawn the circles, the dividing line, the word and it's surrounding borders and the sections in the background around the circles. I then stitched them all using 40 wt. black thread.

In the second photo, I have added all of the fine detail stitching, making it up as I go. Turning circles into flowers, adding loads of texture and fun shapes still using the 40 wt. black cotton thread.

The last photo shows the final result, all colored in using Pro Markers, Fabrico markers and Tsukinenko Ink. After the ink has dried, (less than an hour) I go back in and thicken up any lines where any colors may have bled (this not only covers the bleeding, but adds interest too). To do this I use the same black thread and various widths of satin stitch.

This is so fun! I will soon be carrying the Fabrico markers and Tsukinenko inks on my web site for those of you who would like to try out the technique and can't find the products. I'm teaching it early next year at Great American Quilt Factory too and will be publishing a printable CD pattern on the technique filled with loads of designs.

Have a lovely day,

Till next time,
Heather

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Fabulous as always. I can't wait to try this. I just have to get the markers. Happy CALM Turkey Day!
Debbie

Unknown said...

The 2nd photo reminds me of the Zentangle doodles. I enjoy doing those but it wears out my hand. It hadn't occurred to me to try machine stitching instead. How fun! Thanks for sharing this great idea!