Love Those Skills

The wonderful part of learning sewing and quilting skills is that you can use those techniques in so many different ways. Aside from the wall art that I have been making, I can travel off in another direction at a blink of any eye.

I layered a lovely green batik with a piece of batting and a backing 

and set up my machine for quilting.

After quilting the fabric, I cut it into pieces for a small purse. 

I adapted the directions from quilting instructor Wendy Rieves' pattern 

for "Wendy's Essentials Purse". 

I used the batik for the back of the purse.

The front was cut from a hand-dyed fabric. 

There was a soft image on the hand-dyed that I enhanced 

with quilting and then added the beading.

Now I have the perfect little bag to match my wardrobe. 

My walls won't be the only thing with a new spring look.

Inspired by fabric? Then what?

Recently, I was asked the question "Are you ever inspired by a piece of fabric and where do you go from there?"

This led me to think further. Where do I go? How does a drop dead fabric turn into a completed project.

Some fabrics need to "hang" around for a while. I do mean this literally. I hang the fabric on my design wall until ideas start to pop into my head.  There are days when this happens quickly. There are other times when months go by before the inspiration comes.

I loved this hand dyed scarf and added silk yarn and leaves to it. Then what? Would I really wear it as a scarf? So, it waited.

Often, my "diva fabric" starts its journey by gathering all its friends. This, of course, means pulling fabrics out of my stash that coordinate or complement my inspirational fabric.

The pile of fabric friends may start out large or pulled in one direction but not all fabrics may become part of the final trip.

My scarf was not impressed with these so called "friends", 

rejected them, and sought other companions.

Yes, we got off to a rocky start.

 The group of "friendly fabrics" may be small but as I go along new friends are added.

These new fabric friends seems more to her taste.

There have even been cases where the "friendlies" went on the trip without the "diva". The inspirational fabric was just that, an inspiration for a quilt.

In this case, she was not to be left behind and adored herself royally. 

After all, she was the "diva".

The journey from fabric to completed project is always interesting. It may be a straight road or it may be a curving path with hills and valleys along the way.

Social Climbers

Sharon V. Rotz

What direction does your path take?

Linked to Off the Wall Friday

Dancing Trees

Quilter's Tile - Dancing Trees

8" x 8"

Sharon V. Rotz

Some days you don't know where your path may lead.

I had stamped on a printed fabric with both a hand made stamp and some basic texture. The variety  presented by the stamping piqued my interest.
After adding a hand dyed fabric to two sides, I brought out my needle and embroidery floss. The simple lines created by the stamp suggested curving tree trunks and the idea bloomed in my mind.

Maybe it's the long winter but the trees are so happy to not be covered with snow, they seem to be dancing with joy.

Flowers poked up along the winding pathway. (I do love making french knots.) 

Color, color, anything but white.

Quilter's Tile - "Dancing Trees" is available for purchase.

$32.00 includes shipping (US sales only)

Linked to Off the Wall Friday

Autumn Leaves

Capturing the Sun

Sharon V. Rotz

Immersed in color, leaves cry out to be interpreted in fabric.

Start with a line drawing.

Add color in the form of gorgeous hand-dyed silks and cottons.

Cut and fuse. Add machine quilting details.

Captured!

Tuesday's Tile - A Fishy Rescue

Quilter's Tile - A Fishy Rescue

8" x 8"

@2012 Sharon V. Rotz

This past week, I took a workshop with Darcy Lanz-Sage, an expert at fabric dying. We had the chance to try many different dying and printing techniques and I came home with wonderful fabrics to add to my collection.

This piece left a little to be desired. We were discharging color with a bleach gel and I think I got carried away. In my enthusiasm, I may not have been listening to the instructions. (It's been known to happen.)

But I'm always up for a quilt rescue so I didn't throw away this piece. I could see what could be interpreted as a fish skeleton.

With some hand embroidery stitches, my fish came to life.

I added a stitch that I previously tried and thought would work well as underwater vegetation. Just because it is called the "wheatear stitch" doesn't mean it couldn't breath "under the surface".

I added those fun, fun french knots at the top and bottom. And my rescue is complete.

Here's looking at you!

Inspired by Autumn Leaves

Capturing the Sun

13" x 13"

Sharon V. Rotz

Inspired by colorful autumn leaves, these small quilts are fused using hand-dyed cottons and silks.

The background is an over-dyed cotton. Over-dying starts with a commercially printed cotton and then dyed to create a new look.

Machine quilting and hand stitched beads add detail.

You can follow the complete process for making these quilts by clicking here.