Winner of Grow Your Blog give away IS..........

Before I announce the winner of the GYB give away I want to show the progress I have made on my dress form.  First I covered the form with a heavy jersey fabric.  Then I located the bust, waist, hip, shoulder, center back and front lines and marked them with twill tape.  The class was supposed to be Friday but due to Mother Nature it was canceled till next week.

The quilt in the background is Psychedelic Circles.

The class entitled Form and Draping is sponsored by the University of Rhode Island.

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 A HUGE thank you to 

Vicki Boster

at

2 Bags Full

 for organizing the Grow Your Blog Party.  I not only have "grown my blog by twenty some new followers but I have found nearly that many great new blogs to follow!!

The winner of the GYB give away is the comment left by  Liniecat @ Large.  I have e-mailed her and am waiting her address.

Feathered Lady  

Psychedelic Circles

Psychedelic circles is finally completed!!  All I need to do is put on the label.  The border took 70 flowers and I just happened to choose 7 different colors to make flowers out of so the colors worked out perfectly.  If I had planned it believe me it never would have happened.

Her coming out party  will be on Oct. 1st when I give a lecture at the Shoreline Quilters Guild.  The meeting is at 7 PM at the Canoe Brook Senior Center, Cherry Hill Road Branford CT.

Still UNDER CONSTRUCTION

Putting a quilt TOGETHER always takes longer then you think!!
The piping inside and outside...

The trim over the raw edge of the inside piping. 
Sewing the glittered sequins in some of the squares.

My job today is to sew on the rest of the flowers I made using the  "Arlene Baker" flower mold along with the leaves.  Then I have to make 2 more leaves as I didn't make enough.

UNDER CONSTRUCTION

The hardest part of this whole process for me is putting the pieces together.  All the circles are sewn on.  The first layer of sash is gold and it is basted on (not shown).  The top in the picture is representative of what the finished sash will look like.  Embroidered green intertwining circles with flowers and leaves over the gold lamé. 


















I have spliced two of my slate frames together to accommodate the length of the sashes.  This is the top and bottom in process.

This is the side pieces.  Here you can get an idea of  the 6 1/2 feet length of the two frames.  I had to put a dowel in the mid section to keep them from sagging. 

In the evenings while watching TV I work on the leaves....  I ironed steam- a-seam lite onto the metal organza, cut out the leaf shape, ironed it onto organza, tacked it down so it doesn't lift and embroidered green sequins around the edges.  I have 30 completed, the 20 or so in the frame started and I have no idea how many more I have to do!!

School starts in a couple weeks and my GDD (grand daughter daughter) is starting High School so lots to do plus the  heat is slowing me down.   Hopefully in the next week I will have the sashes sewn on and the sandwich made. (Back batting and top sewn together and pipping completed.  Then I can concentrate on finishing the leaves and flowers. 

One of my students/friend is going on a cruise and she made herself a linen wrap.  She embroidered some flowers and leaves on white organza cut them out, sewed the applique to the wrap, and added a beautiful lace to the edge.  Great job Jean!! It is really is beautiful.

I have been working on my Psychedelic Circle quilt and have it sewn together. 

I took several pictures as each one looks different because the lamé fabric picks up the light differently each time.  The circles on the right side are not sewn on yet and there are two that are still on a frame.  The small blue one is done but the brown one is still in progress.
I am plugging away at it and in between I am practicing my Lesage skills as I am going back to Ecole Lesage Paris this summer to take Level 4.

P.S. When I went back into my sewing room I discovered my little friend was trying to help out!!

Lame circles

Seven more circles are completed ... almost.... only one to go!!

 The next 4 are connected pink, green, purple, gold

 The pink in both groups is the same circle... the light makes it look
different.
 

The light blue is the almost done one...

I am also auditioning ideas for the sashing around the perimeter of the quilt .... I don't have a lot of the gold organza left so I squeezed in  a small section of an idea for the sashing  in with my last two circles.... 

 Flowers/sequins would... might go in the center of each circle.  butttt I am not liking it too much..

I also have mounted the 2nd of 4 sections of the background so I can pick away at that in my spare time!!

More Psychedelic Cricles

Five more circles are completed.  Four are a group and overlap - pink, green, purple and gold. 

The dark blue is a separate circle.    

The light changes the look of each circle.  Above the light catches the dark blue lame under the circle.  below you see the gold mottled organza.                                   

All of these are still on the frame.      

True colors

I finally got some good pictures of my new quilt!!  A friend took them at a lecture I did on Friday.

 

The colors are truer in these photos.

The purple pink and orange circles are just pinned onto the background.  I was wrong I have 13 more circles to make!!

Lame Quilt Background

My computer has been in the "shop" for exactly one week.  It's amazing how much work one can do when the distraction of  just "one" game of solitary is not an option. 

I was still thinking about what background fabric to use for my new quilt.  Even though I have three different fabrics, I almost bought a fourth last week.  I resisted because of an idea that has been rolling around in my head for the last month or so.  Nothing seemed to go with my psychedelic circles so I decided to try this idea.

I ironed "Lite Steam-A-Seam 2"on  all the colors of my lame and cut them out in 1" squares and ironed them on the geometric (just like my last quilt) taffeta fabric.  I shaded the colors from dark to light and then embroidered the lines with a combination of beads and sequins... also darker to light. 
So 8 hours of laying out the pattern and ironing it on the background "canvas". 

and about 20 hours of beading and I think I have a background I like!

I just laid the circles on to see how it looked.

1 section done and 3 sections plus 10 or 11 circles and I will be done!!!

Layered Lame Quilt

The project I am working on is done differently then my previous quilt .  The circles will be in a pyramid and the center will be lighter than the outside.  The circles are from 6 to 8 inches in diameter and some are single and some are in groups.  I just finished this group making 13 completed  and 19 to go. 

Blogging has given me the opportunity to talk to other people with the same interests.  I recently got and e-mail from a young man, Adrian, who was in Paris taking the level I class at Ecole Lesage.  One of the things we discussed was where to buy sequins.  Since I took my first class at the Ecole Lesage I have been on the hunt for fine sequins.  I have found some on e-bay, antique shops and online at  www.bergerbeads.com .  To find worms (sequins on a string) in a specific color and type is difficult.   I suggested he go to Fried Freres. 

This picture was taken in 2009 by my husband.

Fried has hanks of sequin "worms" in a rainbow of colors, sizes, flat, cupped, metallic, matte, translucent.  Drawers and drawers of them.  The only drawback is that you have to buy them in hanks of 10 worms or 10,000 sequins in each color.  
Adrian purchased a variety of 4mm translucent sequins and I purchased 1/2 from him. 

I am having fun with my new toys!  Thank you Adrian!!!!

Wishing you all a Happy New Year!!!

Blue and Lavender circles

Blue and Lavender circles are completed.



The next circle made me feel like I was baking a cake...

I told you I would show you how I made the flowers so....  I used Japanese mokuba 1/4 inch picot edge ribbon (Shown above the ruler and the gathered piece) to make the flowers.   I usually cut 3 inch pieces but to make a tighter flatter flower I cut a 1 3/4 inch piece for each flower. 

This is probably something you already know how to do but....

1. Cut a 1 3/4 piece of ribbon for each flower you are making.

2. Carefully singe both ends to stop from raveling. (I cut all the pieces and turn on a burner on the electric stove and very very carefully ..  ever so slightly singe each end.

3. Sew the ends together, secure and run the thread through each picot to gather into the flower.

4. I cut a piece of a narrower mokuba lavender with a gold line through it about 1 inch long ... gathered it along one side and attached it in the center of the flower after it was sewn onto the fabric and put a 3mm crystal in the center. 

To make them a little more sparkly!!   

Before they are sewn onto the fabric

1. Add a size 15 czech bead between each picot on the ungathered side. 

2. Make a small circle of sequins to sit under the flower on the fabric you are attaching them to. Experiment

P.S.

On a sad note Mr Lesage passed away quite recently.   For more details see the write up below.

http://glimpsecreations.blogspot.com/2011/12/francois-lesage-1929-2011.html

Taking Stock

 I am taking stock of some of the circles I have already done that might fit into my new scheme.  Unfortunately I sometimes get sidetracked with and idea or subject matter I can not resist.  The following circle falls into this category.  It is a 4th-6th century Near Eastern senmury (dog bird).  I love him but he doesn't fit the scheme of this project.  I will save him for another day.

The next circles will be the repeats / motif of the quilt.

Most of the circles will inspired by early 20th century stamping patterns.

Both of the rose colored circles are the same color.  the light makes them look different.

The circle I am working on now is lavender.  A flower will go in each place there is a  black dot.  When it is completed I will give more details on how the flowers are made.