Completed January TIF

I've finally finished my January TIF. As I was making the green fabric base, I kept thinking it looked like a forest clearing.

After the fabric I did some free motion embroidery over the entire piece, I used a variegated yellow, green, blue and red to add some color and movement to the piece.

Thing I added was the skeletonized leaves, I remembered the rule of odds and layed down 3 of them.


I took some odd and ends of things in my stash, different flowers, beads, fabrics, Angelina, ribbons, etc. and started playing. I had some of the thick Ricky Tim's Razzle Dazzle thread and did some bobbin work, in purple. I think I need more practice on the bobbin work and not use fabric that is quite so thick in spots.

I got tired of the bobbin work and took some of the copper Razzle Dazzle and laid it out on the top in a meandering pattern and then couched it with regular sized copper thread. Found some brown and pink velvet and metallic decorative ribbon and meandered a piece along the top left corner and the bottom right corner.


I had a leftover spiral of Angelina that I put in the bottom left corner, but it seemed to need something else, so I put some small fluffy red feathers on it to give it a vague appearance of a bird.

Still looked a little drab, so I found some stray silk flowers, took off all the plastic and filled the centers with glue and mini beads.

Straight borders didn't seem like they would fit an forest clearing so I randomly curved the sides to give the piece a more organic shape. I then took some fringe yard I had, lightly twisted 4 lengths together and couched it along the sides. I use a medium loft poly batting and a cotton backing. I whip stitched a small thin dowel across the back and used the leftover yarn to hand the piece up.

I had a great time doing this piece, I found that I would work for a while, and then have to stop and do something else, and let the piece sit on the design board. I'd stop and look and think and decide what to do, work on more of the piece and start the process all over again. This is just the process I wanted to start working on, all original. I had some mistakes along the way, but I was able to let them sit for a while and then change or delete them. Once I was sure that I had totally ruined the piece, but after a week, I found something else to do, and I think it all worked out well.

Thank you everyone that commented during the process. I would love to hear both positive and negatives and some suggestions, if you wish. I can't believe what wonderful work everyone has done this month. Now I'm going to make some postcards to exchange, I'm getting brave now!

TIF Update 4

I've made my fabric, got it done last weekend, but got that bug that is going around so I never got it posted. I was pretty happy with it but you know how it is, something is just not right.

So I hung it up and started working on another project, staring at it every how and then. I really couldn't figure out what it needed, so I went to bed, thought about the next step and in the morning when I woke up, I went right into the studio......

And turned it upside down. Now it seems better to me, what do you think?

I'm going in to do some threadwork today, maybe some bobbin work, and see how it progresses. As you can see, I used some other scraps besides the green to add a little zing.

Thanks to everyone that has stopped by and left comments.

More later!

TIF Update 3

After I did my blog entry last night, I ran into the studio and sorted through all my batik and hand dyed scraps.

Here is what they looked like - these are the non-green colors I managed to sort.

And.. next are the green scraps I sorted.

Then I had to decide how big I was going to make this green fabric. I decided that I would use plain muslin for the foundation, and if I make it bigger than 20x20 I would have to lay it out on my cutting board, but we all know what happens when you apply heat to that cutting board. So then I thought I'd make it on my ironing board, but that would really limit the size. I realized that I had one of those combination portable cutting boards/ironing board that I use for traveling and it is about 16x20. I've decided to pin the muslin to the portable board over the parchment paper I layed down first and then start my design.

My design is going to be designed as I go along. I find it difficult to work this way, but very exhilarating when it works out. Well, I'm going in to play, and I'll let you see what happens, have a good weekend everyone.

TIF Update 2

Well, it's the 10th and I've decided that one of the qualities in the people I admire is creativity. I think being creative is taking a risk that you might fail in whatever you are attempting. So, I'm going to jump in with both feet.

I've been doing a lot of fusible applique using batiks. When I'm cutting out the shapes I put all the little scraps in a plastic bag, (its not my fault, I'm a Virgo, I have to do things like that). Now I have a very full bag of little scraps that I don't want to just throw away.

I'm going to sort those scraps by color and make a new fabric with the scraps. Then I'm going to embellish them and maybe even make a small landscape, I'll have to see after I sort them. I'll post a picture when I get them sorted, hopefully in the next day or so. I'm thinking I want to work with green first.

Off to sort!

Take it Further - January

We received our challenge for this month right on time. There is a choice of two options for each month.

The first option is a concept. This month the concept is admiration, who and what do you admire. Each participant that chooses the concept develops an idea and a design about admiration and then executes the design in a finished project by end of the month.



The second option is a color selection. This color selection for the month. Anyone that knows me knows that these are probably not colors I would select to use in something I do.

So....I've been mulling over ideas and I have yet to come up with an idea or project for either of these options. I've set myself a deadline of January 10th to come up with an idea and start designing what I want to do. I'm going to go into my stash and see if I can pull some fabrics that will work for the colors above. I think that will probably be the biggest challenge for me. I have decided that I won't be buying new fabric for any of the challenges I am in this year. Don't take that to mean that I won't buy fabric, just that I won't buy fabric for the TIF challenges.

Well back to finishing projects, more later.

New Year - Bigger and Better than last

Happy New Year, I know this will be a better year than the last and I'm envisioning great things.

It has been a productive year already. In order to get anything done in my studio, I need to straighten it up, and in order to do that, I have to finish the projects that are laying around, so I've been busy every day, I have a flannel shirt, shower curtain and a new shirt (christmas present) for my husband, Len, and then a quilt top that has to be put together and sent off to the quilter. Its a queen size BOM that I have worked on, on and off for the last two years. I want to see how this new-to-me long arm quilter does.

I did get my 8 coats made for the KOATS for Kids this year and the pictures are posted at the top of this post.

I would to get more UFO's finished this year, and I will try and post as I get things done.