New Projects and a New Winner

Something new on the design wall, made from something old

There are a few new things going on in the studio.  Driven by the rekindling of my love for piecing, I took out the pile of vintage blocks I'd received a few years ago.  You may remember seeing them here. I decided that, instead of being the background for a new piece, they'd be the star.  Since all the blocks are musty and many were dirty, I tossed a pile of them into the washing machine.  I figured if they were strong enough to handle the machine agitation, they were fit for use.

Luckily, most were.  I've cut them up and am starting to re-piece them in a new configuration.  At the moment, I'm planning on a white background for this quilt.  Some of the blocks will have a white center, while others will have a pieced center.

I love the wonkiness of the little bits.  It seems to me that these were originally someone's practice blocks because there are uneven seam allowances, mismatched corners, and irregular sizes.  But I think that's what makes these blocks so much more interesting, don't you?  Well, that and the mishmash of colors and patterns.  I'm looking forward to continuing with project.

I also have a new watercolor on the walls.  I thought that one of my rose eco-dyed cloths might be the perfect backdrop to a quilt with a rose.... and so that's what I've done.  I stitched the rose with Aurifil Mako thread, my new favorite.  I think the delicate line is perfect for a rose.  I used fusible interfacing to keep the fabric from bunching up as I stitched.  The fusible interfacing might have been a bad choice because it has little bumps that showed through as I colored, giving the rose petals an unattractive dotty appearance.   I resolved this by coloring harder and then using lots of water to try to "wash away" the bumps.  It worked, but I lost a bit of the control of the color I'd had.  I'm not sure that's a failure, just something to keep in mind if I'm trying to have more delicate and/or lighter color.    

I think I want to mount this on canvas but there are two decision to make: 1) I feel like it needs more stitching, but where and 2) should I paint the canvas?  

What to do, what to do....?

And finally, I haven't heard back from the original blog hop drawing winner and so I've drawn another name from the bowl.  Margaret from Arkansas, You're the New Winner!  I'll get in touch with you as soon as I finish this post.  Congratulations and happy stitching!