FNSI ~ My Projects

I started early and stayed up late for FNSI, and in the end I completed 2 mini wall quilts.

These were fun projects because I tried new techniques on each of them.

I actually had to get a couple of days head start for the first one, which will be my submission for the Quilt a Month Challenge at AAQI. The finished size is 10″ x 7″

The background fabric started out as black cotton fabric. I used my new Shiva Paintstiks to embellish the fabric and had to allow it to dry for 3 days before heat setting it.

One of the challenges for February was to use a bird(s) in the quilt. I digitized this design a couple of years ago and knew right away that I wanted to use it for the challenge.

I used left over embellished fabric for the binding.

On the back side, I added Fast Finish Triangles to allow for easy hanging by cutting a dowel rod to length and inserting into the triangle corners.

*

The second mini quilt is one that I am considering keeping for myself.

It was inspired by a technique I saw here: “Flowers by Mail“

The finished size of this one is 7.5″ x 11″.

This one started out as a leg of a pair of jeans and white muslin.

I designed the flower head on the computer and then printed it out.

I placed the white muslin over the printed outline and traced it with regular Crayola crayon. Freezer paper ironed to the back side keeps the fabric from bunching up while the rest of the coloring was done.

I highlighted the outline and added shading in both the same color and a second color to add depth to the flower.

Once I was happy with the coloring and it had been heat set with an iron (which also softens the colors), I placed some batting behind the flower and stitched around it to add a trapunto effect. Then I cut just outside of the stitch line.

I repeated the coloring process for the stem and leaves once I knew the size I wanted them to be, but instead of using batting this time, I used heat and bond lite to fuse it to the denim background.

After fusing the stem/leaf section, I placed the flower head into position.

I used Free Motion Stitching with a few metallic threads to outline and embellish the flower head and stem. Then I made a quilt sandwich and used Sulky’s new clear polyester monofilament thread to free motion quilt around the flower.

After trimming and adding the binding, I decided that I wanted to add some more color to the outer edge.

I used the clear thread again to stitch down 3 rounds of pastel variegated pearl cotton just inside of the binding.

When it was finished, I decided to add a snowflake button to accent the center of the flower.

• Posted in: AAQI ♦ FNSI ♦ Sew Along ♦ Sewing
• Tagged: AAQI, Alzheimer's, Art Quilt, birds, flower, FNSI, Friday Night Sew In, Mini Quilt, Quilting, Thread, Wall Hanging