New day, new adventure

Yesterday, I had fun using a small sample of fabric decorated with paint sticks to create my quilter's tile, Silver, Bronze and Gold. I sandwiched it and hand quilted it with silver and bronze metallic threads. As I was stitching, I was thinking of what else I could use to further embellish this small work. I love hand work because it does give you to time to think and envision your next move.

Beads always add interest to quilting and I remembered some beautiful metallic bronze beads that I used on another project. Now, to only find them. Looking through my bead drawer, I did find them and also some earrings that seemed to match.

Recently, I went through my jewelry and picked out pieces I would never wear again. Just as I was about to discard the jewelry, I tucked it in a box in with my beads. This has just proven to be an excellent choice, because already I've found a use for a bit of it. I cut off the earring posts (also, a matching stick pin), glued them unto the quilt and added the bronze beads. A fun experiment using bits and pieces and finishing it up into a small quilt.

This morning, I am headed for a new adventure. I was searching for fabric that would be appropriate for tree trunks. The speckles on this old fabric (or should I say "seasoned fabric") were good but it wasn't quite right. I didn't have the right color fabric paints to change it. (I ONLY have great ideas at 6:00 in the morning and because I can't wait until stores are open to get the proper ingredients, I try to find ways to use what I have on hand.)

What I did have were fabric markers. Perhaps they could be used to alter the fabric (to create the fabric in my mind)? I started coloring the fabric and playing with the limited number of color choices I had. I'm pretty happy with the results, a lot of added character, and I think it will work nicely for tree trunks. Of course, the markers SUGGEST drying for 24 hours to set the color. Can I possibly wait that long?