My FIRST Landscape Quilt - Stage I

Fine Wind, Clear Morning

Edo Period ( 1600-1868) Japanese woodblock print by

Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849)

Indianapolis Museum of Art

Part of the Thirty-SIx Views of Mt Fuji Series

I saw this illustration and loved it - shame I did not see it myself but Les saw it when he was in Indianapolis last week 

Thought it would be ideal as a trial piece for a landscape quilt - so here is progress so far

The Fields of Mt Fuji - Satge I

So far I ahve pieced on a  foundation scrap - the sky, mountian and fields - in silks and cottons

• The Sky is pinwhale corduroy with cream ribbed silk clouds - cut away and left with ragged edges to give the effect of puffy clouds
• The mountain is in terracotta cotton with a crunkle silk dipdyed top
• The fields are in various tie silks - to give an effect of fields but still echoing the originals shades of blue forests in the foreground

Then added padding and a backing fabric and machine quilted the major sections and clouds

Now shall add embroidery for the snow and detail on the fields and perhaps some beading as well - esp on the snow capped top

I might save machine embroidery for another project

So shall .............see what people think of it ...........

PS It never  ceases to amaze me how differnt things look when photographed!



Catching up with projects ................. cushions

Well been a long time since updated this - as friends keep telling me - so must mend my ways......

Have not been too good with the ME for some months now - had a few setbacks - but odd good days, which have been great and really kept me going!! ONe day I even felt like my old sparkly self - which was wonderful while it lasted!!!!!

Also hands and bones been giving me great pain - but fighting it off and docs say must keep crocheting to keep hands from getting stiff. So with more new painkillers have been soldiering on .......................

Have caught up with some sewing projects, finishing off various things started years and years ago - shameful

Such as the crazy  patchwork cushion above. I had pieced the front last year  ... it is now trimmed to shape, i.e. a neat square and completed the back - so now a new 12" cushion.

 Ditto ................... this floral cushion I padded and quilted 15 years ago ............ so last week I added some beads in some of the flowers to add some texture and sparkle and finally finished it off - now with co-ordinated backing fabric and hey presto another cushion done n dusted.

The close up highlights the quilting and beading of the flowers. As you can see I had just quilted the central bouquet of flowers and selectively beaded the main flowers - just the central bits to give a bit of definition.

The reindeer - I quilted again many years ago - and finally completed into a square ready for Christmas - used a nifty idea - a white shirt as the button back. May be a Chirstmas pressy for friend or relative - we shall see closer to the time.

The airplanes I quilted last year - for my son (as he is into planes etc) - thought he would like these on his bed .sofa - wherever he wants them - lol.

The chair pad I had completed last year - a pieced front (crazy quilted), framed in moire silk and backed with the same and sits on one of the kitchen chairs.

So those are some of the catch up on cushions ................... more to follow tomorrow ............. as lots of ncatching up to do

George Spencer Fabric - hand quilted then beaded wall hanging

Well bit late - sorry but was my birthday this weekend and other such excuses .....
Here is work in progress - a quilted and beaded wall hanging

Here it is unfinished with ragged edges

The work has taken me a month to do - so far
It will go in spare room to act as a headboard. All this work ...just for the spare room!

The fabric is unusual being a print sample of the block from the designer 'George Spencer' - so it is just the one section that would be repeated
I have co-ordinating fabric of the same print in subtley different shades some on cotton,  glazed cotton or on linen so will be challenge - again colour print run samples to make a bedspread or curtains - not sure which yet!

I sadly didnt think to take pics before quilting and after quilting but before beading
But here it is beaded - but not edged yet

I hand quilted each leaf then shadow quilted where the pattern would have been repeated in cream thread, to put it all in context.
Then beaded in co-ordinating colours - green, brown and cream beads - some very kindly given to me by my good friend Diana!!

So many, many thanks Diana ............ certainly added the finishing touches!!

She also pattern tests for me - for my crochet patterns - she a very talented lady who knits, paints, beads, crochets, quilts ..........all brilliantly - a real artist!

More of a close up

Detail - One of the Brown Leaves

Detail - One of the Green leaves

Some the pattern being extended by shadow quilting the leaves with cream beads to put teh printed section in context

I have more fun with odds and ends of fabric than by buying co-ordinated lengths
Just love the challenge of making somehting out of nothing ......................
So give me a bag of scraps and 'hey presto'  something is created

I made a lovely strip quilted pillow out of the trimmings from a pair of curtains - maybe post that tomorrow!

Today it is grey wet and snowing ......... very grismal!

Didnt do anything for my birthday as DH didnt feel v well .......poor chap

Anway at last min he bought me a digital photoframe, as he had no idea what to get me - so now I can upload and look at all the hundreds pics I take! :-)
We did go on Sunday and see the film Avatar - which was v enjoyable but left me exhausted so slept all evening on the sofa ........................ The ME/CFIDS can be the very devil's plague!