Thursday, March 31, 2011

Neocolor Portrait.........Zinnia Quilted


Time to get the
Neocolor II Portraits
Under the Needle...


My Design Wall:


I decided to start with the Orange Zinnia
Why?
Because it looked like an easy one to get
warmed up on...





I chose this orange and yellow hydrangea fabric
for the backing.





Peel the fabric away from the
Freezer Paper Backing





The back side is also beautiful...





The Zinnia is Trimmed
and ready for basting...





I have been using this
Dream Green Batting
the last few months and really like it for wall art.




I pulled a few threads that caught my eye...




I chose these two threads for the quilting on this flower





I am using
Bottom Line Thread
to quilt around each individual petal





I am using
Bottom Line Thread
in the Bobbin





All of the petals have been outlined
with very fine Bottom Line Yellow Thread



Time for a break...


Gunnr needs a treat...





He just loves Granola Bars...





Gunnr's tummy is full
and he is napping under the sewing machine.



Now....Back to Quilting


The red areas on the petals will be quilted with
Madeira SuperTwist Metallic Red Thread
I am using a 90/14 Topstitch Titanium Needle





The fine SuperTwist Metallic Thread
adds just a hint of glitz to the flower.




I chose Yellow Brytes Thread
to quilt in the yellow areas of the petals.
This thread is quite thick and makes a statement.





The Yellow Brytes Thread quilted beautifully...





All of the quilting on the flower is done...





Variations Grass Green Thread
Will be used to echo quilt around the flower petals.





I am pleased with the way the echo quilting in the green background
enhances the petal shapes.




I plan to quilt all of the Neocolor II Portraits first,
then bind all of them at one time.

I will be quilting on the Pink Iris tomorrow...

CLICK HERE:  to see My Quilts

CLICK HERE to view Painting the Zinnia


CLICK HERE to view Neocolor II Portrait Tutorial

CLICK HERE to view my Thread Tips

CLICK HERE to view my Applique Work

CLICK HERE to view Classes


May Your Bobbin Always Be Full,
LuAnn

Thrifting...


It has been awhile since I have shared some of my
Thrift Store
Treasures




Hangers w/Clips
79 Cents
These are great for hanging fabrics to dry




Rubber Stamps
99 Cents




Crayola Crayon Box
99 Cents




This holds 96 crayons neatly and is portable.





Plastic Tablecloths
99 Cents
These are great for covering your work surface
when painting and doing messy jobs.




Shower Curtain
99Cents
This is heavy, sturdy, plastic and will protect my work surface.





I rolled it on a swim noodle to keep it straight so when I lay it on the work surface it won't have any annoying creases.
It stands nicely in the corner, out of the way.





3-D Letters
$1.99




Back Side of the 3-D Letter Container.
I think these will be great to spell out words during photography.





Vintage Tool Box
$5
Needs to be cleaned up...





Scribble Paints Tool Box





I am partial to tool boxes...
They are cool to look at
and are a great way to organize.





Thread Shed Tool Box
Sewing related tools live in this box.
I can clean my machine, draft a block, sharpen a pencil, tighten a screw, etc.
This is my Go-To-Tool Box.





Hotfix Crystals Tool Box





Grommet Tool Box





Tiny Bowls...
I think these will make great pincushion dishes.
When I need to create a quick gift for a sewing friend,
I can stuff these and make cushions for pins!





Dish Pans
Many of the classes I teach are FUN and messy!
These dish pans are great to keep on the student tables
for easy clean up during class.

CLICK HERE:  to see My Quilts

CLICK HERE to view Fabric Paper

CLICK HERE to view Cow Pony Quilt

CLICK HERE to view Binding Tips


May Your Bobbin Always Be Full,
LuAnn

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Neocolor II Portrait.......Hay Hauling


These Neocolor II Portraits
have been a wonderful way to blend my love of
Photography and Quilting


Click Images to Enlarge:


This is an image of my favorite guy...
He delivered hay to our neighbors for their horses
last fall.





After altering the image in Photoshop Elements 4
It is now printed on 13 x 19 Fabric.





It took several different shades of green Neocolor II
to achieve a realistic hay color





I am a bit relieved to have the jeans colored in at this point.
There were lots of wrinkles and shaded areas, and the hay dust down at the bottom of the jeans was a bit of a challenge.





At this point...
All areas have been colored in with Neocolor II Crayons.
I know it appears a bit light and faded out, but wait until it is painted.



After the portrait is painted...
it comes to life:


So far, this is the most challenging portrait I have done...
But, I do love a good challenge!

This piece is now ready to be basted and quilted.
I will post more images when I get this under the needle.

CLICK HERE:  to see My Quilts

For those of you new to this blog:
CLICK HERE to view Neocolor II Tutorial

CLICK HERE to view Photoshop Elements Tutorial


CLICK HERE to view Zinnia Portrait

CLICK HERE to view Quilting Anniversary Slideshow

CLICK HERE to view my Woven Quilts


May Your Bobbin Always Be Full,
LuAnn

Monday, March 28, 2011

Thermofax Screen Printing........Play Day


Today is the day...

Playing with Thermofax Screen Printing


Click Images to Enlarge:

Versatex Screen Printing Inks
They leave the hand of the fabric very soft.




Thermofax Screens, Squeegees & Bondo Scrapers

The table is set for......FUN !




This is an image of a metal tree grate I took in
Lake Tahoe last year...




Here is the tree grate as a Thermofax Screen...



Time to make our first print:

Loading the well with gold Versatex...




Drawing a fabric squeegee across the screen...




Taking a peek at the print...




Very happy with the print...




The gold Versatex is great on dark fabrics.





I took this image of an old wooden box at an antique auction
last year...




Here is the image as a thermofax screen...




I chose brown Versatex for printing...




Here is the wooden box image printed on fabric...




With gold Versatex, I added stars on top of the box print.
Great layered look and texture.





This is a photo of rusty culvert screens piled up in our barn lot





This is the culvert screens printed on rusted fabric.





I took this image of a Ponderosa Pine Tree
in Lake Tahoe last year...





Here is the Ponderosa Bark printed with Pearl Versatex
on dark blue batik...
It looks like lace.




I plan to cut this into strips and border a small quilt with it.





This is a commercial screen I purchased from

Lynn created custom screens from my original photos.
She was a delight to work with and helped me choose which of my images were most suitable for thermofax screens.




The yellow fabric is a commercial print.
I screen printed with 2 of Lynn's screens on top of it.





This was a really ugly clean up cloth.
The red squares printed on top
really brought this back from the dead.





Kathi, my play mate, is printing on a dark batik fabric
with the pearl versatex screen ink.





I took this photo of Poppy Pods two summers ago
during a Quilts in Gardens Tour





Poppy Pods
Printed on Fabric





By the looks of it...
This was an extra fun Play Day !





Now it's time to clean up...

This was our very FIRST time experimenting with
Thermofax Screens.
Yes, we plan on playing some more with them...
I will keep you posted.

CLICK HERE:  to see My Quilts

CLICK HERE to view Thermofax Play Day 2


CLICK HERE to view my Art Quilts

CLICK HERE to view my Tutorials

CLICK HERE to view Textile Painting


May Your Bobbin Always Be Full,
LuAnn