Working Small

What could these two unrelated fabrics possibly have in common?

It turns out that they both contributed to my latest project. 

As my hands were busy fringing the edges of the circles for one project, my mind was also busy. Look at the growing pile of silk threads. Should they simply be discarded, the logical choice, or could I find a use for them?

A piece of scenic printed fabric (similar to the first photo) provided a resting place for the threads.

I trapped them under a netting and added a bit of machine quilting and a good amount of hand stitching.

I also trapped wool roving on the mountain tops to give them a misty look and added more embroidery stitches.

My favorite french knots were added to the bottom for a bit of extra detail.

My completed mountain mini measures 7" x 9".

Linked to Off the Wall Friday

Friday's Tile - Blue and Wooly

Quilters' Tile - Blue and Wooly

8" x 8"

©2013 Sharon V. Rotz

After working on a larger quilt, it was fun to get back to a small project.  This tile had been started a few weeks ago and you can see its beginnings at this earlier post.

Beads were added.

And more beads created a new shape.

Hand stitching emphasized the shape.

It was a delight to see where the stitching took me.

After adding the binding, I rotated the piece in my hands. Which way was up?  Would it matter? Could abstract art be viewed from multiple angles? 

Which way would you choose?

Linked to Off the Wall Fridays

Working on Enlarging My Shrunken World

Many years ago, I made a lovely pair of black wool pants that I wore with pride. Then one day, they accidentally got mixed in with other laundry and were put into the washing machine. Opps! It was a sad day. My pants came out 6" shorter and were never worn again.

Since that time, I have moved on from tailoring into quilting, and now found new possibilities for wool that has been agitated and spun into a much smaller, felted life.  Recently, my sister gave me an old wool sweater to "play" with. Into the washer it went. It came out reduced from extra-large to mini and had a wonderful, soft hand.

Because there was small holes right in the center of the front, I cut a piece out and added subtle color. Now where would I go next?

Instead of trying to mend the holes, I emphasized them by adding stitching around the edges.

The wool really played off the blue of this piece of batik. And the path continues..........

Inspired by the beaded work of Mary Stori and others, I am now in the process of adding beads and stitching to my wool piece.

So this week, I have two hand projects going. When I am tired of hand-quilting my star quilt, I can take a creative break and add more stitching and beading to my small wool piece.

By the way, does anyone have an idea for a sweater with a large hole in the tummy?  Maybe a giant quilt block appliqued on the front???

Linked to Off the Wall Fridays

Tuesday's Tiles - Punch Patch Posies

Quilter's Tile - Punch Patch Posies

8" x 8"

©2012 - Sharon V. Rotz

 

Since I had all of the tools close at hand, I thought  I should try another method of needle felting. It is also possible to needle punch patches of wool cut from wool fabrics.

Here I made a simple quilt using patches cut from scraps of wool clothing fabrics (clothes that I had made, not that I was wearing, altho...)

I dug into a long lost bag of yarn and found wool yarn left from a crewel embroidery project, a beautiful piece that my mother-in-law had made. I remember it hanging in her house at the top of the staircase. (Now, lucky me,  I have it hanging in my studio.)

I cut yarn strands about a half inch longer than my background and punched them in. Oops. They shrunk up quite a bit, I wasn't counting on that happening.  I now know they should be much longer.

Here you can see the back of my background fabric with all of the punches coming through. This side also presents possibilities. Oh good, another quilt will soon be dancing in my head.

What do you see?

Tuesday's Tile - Flower, I Felt

Quilter's Tile - Flower, I Felt

8" x 8"

©2012 Sharon V. Rotz

A cold day in January and a wish to stay warm led me to trying a new technique (for me). It was time to pull out the 'warm' wool roving (strands) I had stashed and find a bit of wool to place them on.  I had gotten the wool from Peggy Yates of Peaceable Acres Farm Fiber Arts after visiting her and her adorable  sheep one warm summer day.

It was then time to open that Clover Felting Needle Tool and have some fun punching the roving into the background wool. It is amazing how easy it is, love those barbed little wool fibers that hook together so nicely.

Now that my wool was hooked, it was easy to machine quilt over it creating my flower. The thread was 30 wt Sulky Blendables variegated cotton thread which showed up beautifully on the roving. I then added size 8 Miyuki seed beads and Kreinik Metallic 1/8"ribbon on the edge.

Aren't you impressed that I made notes of all of these things? 

I am. 

(You see, I am trying to keep that 2012 resolution to make better notes.)