Fabric Bowls/Baskets

Update on this: after the meeting at Penny's last week, I went home and tried adapting Charis's paint methodology to the fabric base.  The base, as we discussed, might be a previously done piece that we no longer wanted to keep.  For the reverse side, I just sewed together some similarly colored blocks that I'd done some time back and now had no use for.  It ended up being a piece about 14 inches square.  I lay the blocks on the back of the finished piece and then just free-motioned it all together, very densely.  (i didn't use any fusible and the original piece had some quilting and batting+front+back).

Then i painted both sides with slightly thinned white acrylic paint.  I didn't have house paint at hand.  After it dried, I put some red metallic shiva stick on it, in no particular manner: just to bring out the stitching here and there with some red shininess.

Next, I cut the square up into the pieces to make the basket (i can tell you how that's shaped if anyone is interested) and sewed the three pieces together and, Voila!  Here's the photo.  (again, it's about 10 inches wide and 5 inches high and 3 inches deep.

The red flower was just something hanging around and it's just pinned to it.  I liked the 'ears' standing up this way, although previously i have fastened them down in a loop with rivets.  If i decide to keep the flower, i'll probably velcro it on.

judy

Progress on Trees

I've finished the second tree quilt and, like Jill, I'm going to think more carefully about what I agree to do in the future.  These quilts were both challenges, but for different reasons, although the size/proportions were strange to work with in both.  However, I am pleased enough with both.  The back of the 'Tree Sprite' has a 'cape' of black voile with radiant green satiny-y stripes.  It shows just slightly, billowing a bit at the edges, but not in the photo because I hadn't attached it at the time I took the photo.  I will deliver this up to Jill tomorrow at Penny's, but for those of you who won't be there, this is what it looks like.

There's a rabbit down at the bottom in the brush, and a bird on each tree limb 'arm.'

also, here's a link to the fabric baskets that I talked about at the meeting today.

judy ross