Cow Pony Rust Quilt.....continues

I am working on the rusted quilt entry again...

Click Images to Enlarge:

Cow Pony Quilt

The weaving is done and I am auditioning background rust fabrics

Background 1

Background 2

Background 3

None of these really gets me excited...

How about using ALL of the background rust fabrics!

I folded them up into borders and pinned them to the design wall.

Now this excites me...

The "Square-ness" of this looks rather boring.

Time to Un-Square it a bit...

I free-hand cut with the rotary cutter and gave the edges a smooth scallop curve.

This adds quite a bit of interest to the center photo transfer image and also the boxy, square appearance is gone...

Horse Shoes on top???

Horse Shoes on the bottom???

I agonized over this for a full day...

I finally took a break and got away from it for awhile.

When I walked back in the Thread Shed, I knew just what to do.

I will post more photos tomorrow...

You can see my previous work on this project by CLICKING HERE

May Your Bobbin Always Be Full,

LuAnn

To see my New Work CLICK HERE

To see the Thread Shed CLICK HERE

To see my Exhibit Quilts CLICK HERE

Quilted Sunflower Pincusion...

Another fun & fast project:

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Quilted Sunflower Pincushions

5 x 6 inches

Layer a gorgeous fat quarter of fabric with batting and backing fabric into a quilt sandwich. I spray basted it together.

Choose a thread to quilt it.

Audition several colors until one appeals to you.

Drop the feed dogs, put on a darning foot and free motion til the cows come home!

You could also put on the walking foot and stitch straight lines in a grid pattern.

If you choose a fabric with a large motif, like the sunflowers, it gives you a design to quilt around.......and it's lots of fun!

This is a very manageable size and very good practice for machine quilting!

Cut up the fat quarter quilted sandwich into 9 sections, like a 9 patch block.

These measure approx. 5 x 6 inches each.

Choose a backing fabric for the back side of your pincushion.

Layer it with batting and spray baste the two layers together.

You are ready to sew your pincushion together.

Pretty sides together, top and bottom of pincushion.

I sewed a quarter inch all the way around.....leaving a space for turning it right sides out.

Here is my first pincushion sewn and ready to stuff.

I like these polyester pebbles, the size of rice.

Fill the bags nice and full, then whip stitch the opening closed.

Quilted Sunflower Pincushions

May Your Bobbin Always Be Full,

LuAnn

To see my New Work CLICK HERE

To see the Thread Shed CLICK HERE

To see my Exhibit Quilts CLICK HERE

Do I Make You Proud........Video

Quilted Zipper Bag......Tutorial

This was so much fun........I thought you might like to make one too!

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Quilted Zipper Bag

My inspiration came from this green zipper bag my friend Celia made for me two summers ago...

Strips cut randomly from 1 to 3 inches wide x 45 inches

1/4 inch piece all strips together into a strip unit 
measuring 18 x 45 inches

Spray Baste the strip unit to batting and backing fabric

I like all of these adhesive sprays

Audition quilting thread

Be sure to spool out enough thread to see how it looks

I chose to free motion quilt a feather type design all over.

You could also straight stitch or cross-hatch 
with a walking foot.

Cut the quilted piece into 5 sections 8.5 inches each

This will make 5 zipper bags

Trim off the batting edges.

Find zippers 9 inches or longer.

If they are too long, you just cut off the extra...later.

Place the zipper face down on the pretty side of the fabric.

Stitch in place using a zipper foot.

I line the foot up with the right edge of the zipper.

Unzip the zipper and sew the left side of the zipper
 to the left side of the bag.

Press the seams over toward the inside of the bag.

From the back side, top stitch the zipper in place.

I line the left side of my zipper foot with the left side of the zipper.

It will give you a nice, even straight stitched line on the front side.

Zipper installed and top stitched.

Zip up the zipper and turn the bag inside out.

Be sure to leave at least an inch of fabric folded over above the zipper...see image above.

Stitch down the right side of the bag through all layers.

I sew over the zipper twice for extra strength in the seam.

Trim off the excess zipper end.

Make a handle from a 1.5 inch strip of coordinating fabric.

Fold the raw edges toward the middle, then fold in half.

Top stitch together on the left side of the strap.

Cut off a 8 inch length of strap for each bag

Tuck the folded strap inside the bag, with raw edges facing outward, and pin in place.

Stitch down the left side of the bag through the handle and zipper.

I double stitch over the handle and zipper area.

p.s. Did you un-zip the zipper before you sewed this last side?

I want the bag to have a flat bottom so it will stand up.

I fold down the bottom corners into a triangle and sewed in about an inch.

Trim off the excess triangle.

The square bottom is a nice addition to the bag.

This quilted bag tutorial makes 5 zipper bags!

Have fun!

CLICK HERE:  to see My Quilts

CLICK HERE to see the Juicy Orange Bags I made...

CLICK HERE to see the bags Linda made using this tutorial...

May Your Bags Always have Zippers,

LuAnn

To see my New Work CLICK HERE

To see the Thread Shed CLICK HERE

To see my Exhibit Quilts CLICK HERE

To see Tutorials CLICK HERE

Challenge Project......Transfer Technique

Challenge Projects Revealed

Click Images to Enlarge:

Sneak Peek....Challenge Quilt

Last week I gave you this sneak peek at my challenge project.

This is the 4th year my local quilt group has had a challenge.

The challenge theme this year is......HOME.

"Those Who Nurtured and Loved Me"

My challenge quilt

You are looking through 4 and 5 layers of transferred images

I spent the summer experimenting with a dozen different transfer techniques.

I joined an online transfer group with Leslie Riley.

For this piece I used TAP....Transfer Artist Paper

I found it created a very clear image, which could be layered several times.

It was also very easy to use.

My strongest memories of HOME are when I was a child at the home of my grandparents. My fondest memory is sitting under the grape arbor with my grandfather eating grapes warmed by the sun.

These grape images are from the grape arbor that is now growing in my backyard.

Quilt Label

Those Who Nurtured and Loved Me

2009

Techniques: TAP Transfer Technique, cotton fabrics, layered with batting and backing, free motion quilted with YLI Variations Thread & Superior Bottom Line Thread, Fast Fused Binding and Fused Label.

CLICK HERE to see more of my photo transfer work

May Your Bobbin Always Be Full,

LuAnn

To see my New Work CLICK HERE

To see the Thread Shed CLICK HERE

To see my Exhibit Quilts CLICK HERE

To see Tutorials CLICK HERE