Sunday, January 29, 2012

Progress on the Queen

Slow but sure is the the name of this game. Every day I am working on the Queen.  Though I am a little further along than these photos depict, I thought I'd share this much.  More will come later. I still have tons to do, but I love seeing this quilt come alive with the stitching! Pretty much what you are seeing in the main motifs is the outlining...the details are yet to come.  All of the outlining is being done in black thread...Bottom Line to be specific.  It's nice and thin, but still adds that finite line.

I am quilting the background in it's entirety as I go.















And the Queen as the outlining begins... though this is not the true color...I think the overhead lights washed it out a bit



Never fear, the thread tails have since been tied,buried and clipped.

Work continues...more pictures later this week.

Sunday, January 22, 2012

Slow But Steady Progress

I had a productive weekend working on the "Queen"  The smaller of the two rock formations is complete



And I got a good start on the large one



a little more detail





And this is what my helper was doing while I worked...



Hope you had a good weekend too!

 

Friday, January 20, 2012

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Quilting the "Queen"

Yesterday she got loaded onto the frame



and the quilting began



This is what I'll be doing for the next few weeks :) !

Monday, January 16, 2012

Painting of the "Queen" is Complete!

Yippee!  After finishing the painting with the dyes and acrylic paints, dry pigments and inks, I gathered my paintstiks, stencils and rubbing plates to add the final painted textures and details. I like doing this as the final step because it not only adds visual detail and texture, but also adds quilting guidelines that I don't have to remove later :) !  An added plus is the shimmer from the iridescent paint... it makes the best bubbles!  The rest of the details will be added with the quilting.

So, now the whole quilt top has cured, been heat set, washed(to remove the chemical residue from heat setting the oil paint) and laid out to dry on the studio floor.

I also squared up the top and marked that, but did not cut it yet...I'll trim it  along my marked lines after quilting.  She measures 92 1/8 " x 94 6/8"  before quilting.  I'll lose a few inches due the dense quilting,but she'll still be quite large.

Now to the pictures...click to enlarge them. I know the angle is weird from taking the picture on the floor...



some of the detail from the rubbing plate on the rock formation



I used this plate



and in the water from this plate



and I made some"wave" stencils



and used them randomly in the background



and commercial circle stencils for bubbles



here



and here and all over



for texture in the sand this rubbing plate



and this piece of torn card stock and some shell stencils



Tomorrow, she gets loaded onto the frame and the real fun begins!

 

Sunday, January 15, 2012

A Color Wheel for Kitteh!

Like most people, there are colors I'm drawn to over and over. For me, it's bright, clear colors and I have a particular fondness for the blues and greens.

But for this challenge I decided to resurrect an old UFO and do a color wheel. The markings on the lizards depict their complimentary colors, with black and white as my neutrals.  I had drawn the lizards on white PFD fabric and colored them with Crayola crayons. After heating to remove the excess wax, I fused them to the black background.

Finished size is 38" x 34".


I had fun with the quilting...marking only the  "frame" and cutting line for the scallop border.


Just enjoying the time...


Superior's King Tut thread "Cleopatra", and Quilters Dream "Puff" batting.


Be sure to head over to Fiberactions to see what the others did with this challenge.

Monday, January 9, 2012

Help?...NOT!!!

I finished my color wheel challenge piece today, with some dubious "help". No photos of the quilt until the reveal on the 15th, but here are some of the "help"

You want me to move??? No!



Are you hard of hearing? I said NOOOOOOOOOO!!!



I think I'll take a nap right here...



Or maybe, chew on your favorite rulers...



or use your side clamps as a tightrope...



Or walk on the belly bar..





oh no.......I think I'm gonna fall!



What a klutz that boy is!



Come over here and lay down before you hurt yourself!



That's better!