Sometimes when you get a theme as big and open to so many possibilities as a theme like "Change", it can be a tad overwhelming in deciding what to make. I seemed to have had a different problem and got stuck on one idea and kept on following it down the rabbit hole and forgot to come back!
My mum was throwing away some lamp shades and I had an idea of changing them up with some embroidery so hung onto them and ended up making this first test piece. It wasn't smooth sailing! (To read more about how I went about it see it my blog
Charly & Ben's Crafty Corner).
I had a lot of fun sketching different flower outlines and playing with bloom shapes. In the end I settled on one large flower for the lampshade. In the making of it I kept wondering what it would look like with simplified colour and somehow got the idea of trying the flower design in white on blue. Marking on the dark blue was tricky and I ended up using a dressmakers pencil to give me an outline.
I used a very simple chain stitch for all the lines with some french knots for the dots in the drawing.
I quilted a version of the flower bloom and a variation of it with an allover vine design and got lucky in my stash with a flower print from Ikea that matched up perfectly for the back!
I liked the idea of a quilted version and an embroidered version in the
same block and even though this one got turned into a cushion I think
the basic idea has possibilities and is a little bit different from
quilts I've seen with embroidered motifs on Pinterest.
I started a second block but haven't gotten it finished in time. A tree this time with maybe an overlay on top of it quilted in the same vine design? Maybe a gentle green over the white embroidered tree?
I really enjoyed the whole process of this even though the output is just a simple quilted cushion. Drawing my own designs, testing them in fabric and thread and seeing the many ways this could go (birdhouse in the garden maybe?) has been a lot of fun and very satisfying.
I feel like I've cheated a bit as I'm not sure this fulfills the brief of a Change inspired quilted item but sometimes change comes in small movements, each one linked to the one before. Without the theme challenge I might not have had the idea to upcycle mum's lampshade and end up with lots of sketches and ideas!
Your cushion and lampshade look great and I love your embroidered and quilted blocks together in the cushion. I think it demonstrates the concept of change beautifully and the idea has many possibilities for future pieces. I will look out for your tree. I hope your back is better now :)
ReplyDeleteThanks much better. Still working hard on pilates and physio exercises and they help a lot. Getting ready to tackle bigger projects now and walking more just in time for the better weather!
DeleteA recycle idea is a great way to depict change and then changing again to create the cushion. Your embroidery and quilting combination is so very pretty. I love the ideas you came up with.
ReplyDeletexx, Carol
Thanks a million Carol. It is a lot of fun sketching flowers and seeing the design come to life in thread!
DeleteI love your flower motif very much and the way you've mirrored it in your quilting - it's very pretty!
ReplyDeleteThanks Catherine, I liked the simplified version in the quilting better than the full thing and think it might make a nice thing to do in highlight places on a bigger quilt project.
DeleteYou are underselling this as a simple, quilted cushion Ruth there is so much more to it! I like how you have used the notion of change in this project. I am loving how different everyone's take on the themes are :)
ReplyDeleteThanks a million Fiona. It is a lot of fun reading everybody's posts and how different the approaches are!
ReplyDeleteWe were on the same path with using multiple techniques to show "transformation". I felt like I was way down a rabbit hole too.
ReplyDeleteI really like that you used chain stitch and made the embroidery strong and bold.
Isn't it amazing how one idea can lead us to another where we turn right or left and end up in a place we weren't expecting. I like where the lampshade took you. I enjoy seeing the variety of finished projects not being what we think of as the typical "quilt". We might all be inspired to try something a little different with one of our challenges. Thank you for your story and your cushion.
ReplyDelete