Tuesday's Tiles - "Did You Hear......."

Quilter's Tile - "Did You Hear...."

8" x 8"

©2011 Sharon V. Rotz

For today's Quilter's Tile, I tried an idea I saw on the Pink House Studio blog where paint blobs on paper were folded to get the reverse image.

Of course, I had to try this on fabric using textile paint. Using red paint, I blobbed, folded, opened and let my fabric dry. Then my imagination went to work. How was I going to take my blobs and make something out of them???

Digging through a drawer, I found fabric markers which were set aside and forgotten. The colors seemed a bit bright, but, until you try, you don't know. And, they weren't dried up, the color flowed freely. My Quilter's Tiles are a chance for me to experiment and investigate ideas, aren't they?

I used the orange to draw around and over my textile paint blobs. Little creatures were taking shape. 

I don't know what I was thinking when I picked up the turquoise marker, but suddenly my creatures were surrounded. Were they now in a fish bowl, or pictured in an elaborate frame? And, what were they saying, already gossiping??? Were they telling stories about ME?

Layering and backing my mini quilt, I was off to my sewing machine. Free motion quilting added detail and texture (as it always does). 

Now that I'm ready to finish off the edges, I realize that I was way to close to the edge with my markers and I would be trimming off the design or covering it up with any of my favorite binding techniques.  Now what?

I tried zigzagging the edge with white thread. This didn't cut off any of my design but it seemed to stretch the edge. Guess I'm not done yet!

Another trip to the sewing closet. I dug into my trims and found this narrow rickrack which I stitched onto the edge. Keeping it taut, the rickrack drew up the stretching and the edge is flat and finished.

Lesson of the week: Remember to leave room so you don't get pushed off the quilt.