Thursday, January 16, 2014

Grow!

This year I want to grow my business, grow as an artist, grow as an entrepreneur, and why not grow spiritually/emotionally, too?



(Physical growth, on the other hand, I'd like to leave to plants and flowers; that's one area where I'd prefer to shrink a little, thank you.)

This finished at about 15"x23", and awaits a hanging sleeve. I drew the letters with a Sharpie on a piece of freezer paper, then traced onto Steam-a-Seam2 to create the applique shapes. Each letter is a different green batik.

After I'd pieced and spray-basted, I snapped a photo, which revealed one lone patch of very pale citron batik that was much too light to blend in:

Whoops.

Fortunately, I had some small green leaf shapes left over from another project (finished over two years ago), that I'd had the foresight to stash in a little baggie in the green scraps drawer, which had been dumped out onto the sewing table for scrap-piecing the background. So they were right there when I needed them! If I'd had to go looking for them I might still be searching. They cover up the too-light piece very nicely:
I tucked some rick-rack around the center oval, just for fun. It's blue because that's what I had a right-sized length of.

Secret slap-dash piecing tricks: I did not applique the letters to the oval (they were fused, but not yet sewn) or sew the center oval to the background (which is a donut, with a big gap in the middle under the oval) until the quilting stage. The zig-zag stitching around the letters is all the quilting I did in the middle. Then I tucked the rick-rack under the purple purple edge (a folded bias strip) and stitched in the ditch between the purple and yellow and then along the outside edge of the purple to hold everything in place.

Scrap-piecing the background frame and getting it put together to the right size was the trickiest and most time-consuming part of the process. Overall, a fun, almost quick project. It will hang in my office as a daily reminder of how to proceed through the year.

17 comments:

Eileen said...

I love that!

Willa said...

Delightful! Thanks for sharing the process! You are so good at telling the story of your work. Good luck with everything!

Maree said...

Gorgeous -it will make a great addition to your office.

Maree said...

Gorgeous -it will make a great addition to your office.

Farm Gate Creations Incorporating Hummingbird Quilting said...

Beautiful it looks so fresh, have fun growing.

Margaret said...

Love your colors, oval & made-fabric!
Good luck, too!

Helen said...

Your letters look alive! And that found rick-rack adds the perfect touch!

Kathy said...

Love the oval fabric and how it works with the letters!

roccagal said...

fabulous as usual!
I must admit i knew it was yours as soon as i saw it!

Mystic Quilter said...

Beautiful colour and design

Anonymous said...

So beautiful, I love your letters!

ebwhite said...


This is wonderful -- Love the bright colors. I am just learning so thanks for giving the finished size and some of your process.

Paulette said...

Brilliant!

Lisa said...

great quilt! great word!

fiberchick said...

Beautiful- both the sentiments and the visual expression!!!

janequiltsslowly said...

I'm a gardener and this really does it for me! Thank you so much for adding the information about how you made this. I especially liked the bit about fig leafing over the light colored patch.

sophie said...

I especially love the pomegranate O--it's inspired. I love your piece.