AAQ entry and Pat's magazine

My entry for the Alliance for American Quilts entry is in it's last stage... I just need to stitch down the gimp around the center section and do a label for the back... It will be entitled "It's a Man's World Unless Women Vote" I just HAD to add beads and fringe to the bottom even though it affected the overall size... Allie assured me that they wouldn't send it back because of it... I want Cathy K to see it in person next week and then into the mail it goes... It will tour the rest of the year and then go up for auction on e-bay in the fall..

I am so excited about Pat's magazine and can hardly wait for it to get here.... The cover alone is priceless. I ordered three copies...one for me, one for the granddaughter who loves my buttons, and one for a novice CQer who can use it as a resource..

Want some eye candy....?

I have started putting the birds I do on blocks into one album... I do a LOT of birds.... While I was searching for birds on felt I came across this beaded bird for an "encrusted" RR block... This was in 2007 and it was Cobi's block and I was the first to work on it and this was what I did in the upper left corner...

Leslie was second and she beaded a hummingbird in the top right corner. Maire and Ati finished it off... It was truely gorgeous when it was finished.

Doing the "udder" check.....

I really don't want a lamb in February but if Andy scored right away it's possible.. Bellies are hanging low and did the first check of udders yesterday...still early. But time to separate the ewes just to give them a little peace from Andy bullying them.

Sold some of my sheep last summer so I only have 3 ewes (Topaz, Ruby and Pitiful Pearl) and Andy left.. Need sell the all of them this summer... I will miss them terribly but it's time to let go... we'll see how I keep that resolve when the time comes....

Why Felt...? She asks....

I love it when you ask questions and I received this in an email: Why do you do them on felt? How do you then attach them to the block? I am assuming you think this a good idea since you do it but I would like to know why and how. This might be something I will think about doing if I understand the process.

I use felt for two reasons. First, and mainly:

Felt has no weave to unravel or fray and when it's done I can clip right up to the very edge and there is no pesky bit to turn under.....I use a firm high quality felt in a neutral color or a color that blends.... Then very first step is to outline it in a VERY TIGHT chain stitch (as you see on the left) ...for two reasons.

* Felt has a tendency to stretch and you don't want your robin turning into an eagle....

*The tight chain stitch defines the edge nicely and you can weave all outer stitches into it and it makes cutting it out later very tidy indeed.. When it comes time to applique the motif onto something you can weave your stitching into this same tight chain stitch.... It looks less like something "plopped" on.

Second: Felt is soft and malleable... I can easily stuff it into a shape or change the shape when appliqueing. When I do the same bird (rabbit etc.) on any tight weave cotton it is rather firm and stiff... sort of like the ready-made appliques you buy at the fabric store...

If you are still interested I do have the tutorial page (tutorials listed just under the header) with more information and lots of pictures http://olderrose.blogspot.com/p/bird-on-felt-tutorial.html

As you can see for this bird I actually did the nest on another piece of felt .. which was great because I could give it a very dimensional quality. So I cut out the nest AND the bird separately and both were stuffed slightly and then appliqued on the block.. On this bird I left the wing free.

This was a VERY busy block with many patterns, patches, and textures. I would have found it very difficult to embroider this directly on the block

I CANNOT for the life of me remember when I started doing these on felt... I might have seen it somewhere or I may have just invented it... If you know of anyone else who uses this technique PLEASE tell me as I always love to give credit...

I love the "reactions". Susie W. says they are like a "drive-by comment."

And speaking of bunnies.....

I admit to having a favorite bunny pose and this is it... After I embroider the bunny on felt and cut it out, the felt can be gently stretched and I can stuff his little bunny butt.

I love him in his little Art Nouveau thicket... I'll have to make a mental note of that thicket and use it again... This was a DYB RR so I did the entire 6" block..

The daisies on an incline is a good way to fill an awkward corner.. Even though it doesn't show up in the photo, I used gold metallic thread for the sun and silver metallic thread for the rain drops falling from the clouds...





I used the same bunny pose on this traditional RR block with the theme of spiders... Since I was first to work on this block I snagged this nice little corner and managed to get the bunny and three spider webs in it... I wrote the sign on very firm interfacing and it's semi-detached.....



I thought it would be nice if blogger had something similar to the "thumbs up" of facebook for the folks who didn't want to leave a comment...AND it turns out they do... It's called reactions and you can add it where you edit the blog post on the layout page... You can even put in your own names for the categories... So scroll down below where you would comment and hit a little button so I can see if it works...