Friday, October 17, 2014

FOLK ART FLOWERS PROEJCT COMPLETED

My creative time seems to be disappearing lately due to "life"....but I was able to complete a new piece which I blogged about here.

After the hand applique was done, the background was free-motioned machine quilted.  NOT a task I'm comfortable with nor think is fun to do.  But like so much in life....practice is the key, so who knows I may actually look forward to it in the future.
I'd marbled the cotton background awhile ago and combined it with hand-dyed wool which is not an approach I've used before.  This presented a difficult decision about the appropriate edging treatment. After trying many, many options, a facing turned out to be my choice.

However....once it was completed.....(above) it still didn't feel finished so rather than grabbing beads which is my usual solution, small wool squares were added along the two vertical sides.  Now it felt complete.

FOLK ART FLOWERS 20" X 13.5"  © 2014
Artist marbled cotton, hand-dyed wool, machine quilted,
hand embroidered applique.
(click photo to enlarge)

Visit the following to see what other artists have been up to this week:


14 comments:

Ramona said...

Adorable and so whimsical! Love it.

Julie Bagamary said...

This came out nice Mary...including the quilting!

Muv said...

Mary,

This is a lovely piece of work! The flowers are such subtle shades of colour, and the marbled and quilted background really makes them stand out.

Would you like to join in with the linky Free Motion Mavericks, on my blog? It would be great to see you there.

Love from England, Muv

Nancy said...

This turned out beautifully. The flowers are like little gems! I'm with you- FMQ is not my strong suit, but I try on small projects which are more manageable.

Kaja said...

This has a lovely folk art feel. I think your addition of the little squares was a great idea; it definitely lifts the whole piece.

Teresa Duryea Wong said...

The final addition along the sides is perfect. And your pebbling on the machine looks well done. I love doing FMQ... such a creative outlet for me. This is a great little piece of art. Love it.

Teri Berry said...

This is lovely Mary, on the surface it appears so simple and then you notice all the quilting and little details.The squares down the sides frame it beautifully.

The Idaho Beauty said...

Goodness - isn't that amazing? It went from "eh" to wonderful with that small addition. Somehow brightened it up and made it more happy. Love these colors on that background.

Robbie said...

Once again....you are so clever! It does add to the piece..the squares I mean!!!

Alycia~Quiltygirl said...

It turned out great.

Madalene Axford Murphy said...

The colors of those squares really integrate the whole piece but the adding of the square shapes to all those circles also gives it a little pop of diversity. Great piece!

Lynette said...

Hey, those squares really add so much to the design! Such a little touch, but very effective. I love to feeling of fun in this piece.

Judy Warner said...

You had me by your opening line -- I had to read more. I really love the addition of the small blocks along the sides. Really well done!

Judy Warner said...

You had me by your opening line -- I had to read more. I really love the addition of the small blocks along the sides. Really well done!