As I near my 7th month of Covid stay at home I realize while sometimes it has seemed a real pain in actuality I have made a leap into quilty areas I probably would not have ventured into before.
I decided to try a collage. First step iron fusible on a number of fabrics.
Then cut up into little bitty pieces. Note: tear off paper on fusible before cutting up into little bits. Believe me from experience! One of those mistakes you only do once. Taking the paper off a pile of those little pieces took time.
Lay out little bits all over your background. I did discover it is important to make sure the fusible side is down on the background. It was pretty easy to discover while ironing them down that one or two of them were fusible side up. Scrapping the some of the little bits off the sole of my iron was a bit time consuming and fustrating.
I then fused on my trees. I had a pattern of layout for the trees. I am not sure why, but despite cutting everything the proper size, the trees did not lay out in the same manor as was suggested. So, who cares! I just laid them out as I pleased and I'm happy. Now the idea is to lay net over the piece before quilting it. Frankly I did not see the reasoning for that. I am now quilting down the trees with dark brown thread and will quilt in between them with a gold or orange thread. Then probably bind with a dark brown fabric. 
I just picked up my Bernina 750 from the doctor's last week. I had a rather upsetting mishap with it about a month ago. While quilting my Cold Wind Blows wall hanging it jammed and I was stuck with the piece stuck in it with the needle down. With a good deal of fusing and husband finally taking the wire cutters to the needle to get it out it was off for repairs. Surprisingly it wasn't much of an issue, just a good cleaning and the timing was off. Running over pins was the suggestion for that mishap. I would like to admit I never do that, but that would be a huge lie. I am a regular offender!
I am back to quilting the Cold Wind Blow now. And yes for those that saw my original posts about it. I did tear out the eco quilting and decided on the serpentine quilting instead.
And his highness Fred one of my daughter's peacocks is enjoying the late summer sun on her patio. He rules the roost over the other three males and one peahen. One must admit he is beautiful and very regal.
Amazing way to show fall splendor!! Love it!!
ReplyDeleteI have never tried this collage type of art. I understand what you are saying about patterns - sometimes they make no sense. I guess just wing it! Your tree looks lovely! And so does Miss Peacock!
ReplyDeleteoh my goodness your tree piece is outstanding!!!!
ReplyDeleteglad to hear your machine is home safe and sound!
Hi Donnalee! I'm so glad you got your machine back. I'm wondering if you're going to mend your ways and not run over pins any longer? I admit that I do not do that but I can easily see why you do! That tree canopy project is just gorgeous!! I see you speak from first hand experience on both the papers on the back of those small snippets and ironing on the wrong side. Geez. I just did that myself on Sunday - what a hot mess that is. Literally. Your tree branches look fab to me - I wouldn't change a thing. Thanks for linking up today. ~smile~ Roseanne
ReplyDeleteHi,
ReplyDeleteLove your trees and leaves quilt...so pretty. The peacock is gorgeous
and certainly regal looking. Have a great day!
Your trees are lovely. The trick to removing fusible from the iron is to keep the iron hot and scrape if off on the side of your table. You can lay a piece of scrap fabric or a junk towel on the table. I usual scrape on a scrap piece then take a fluffy towel to iron, the fluffy towel gets up in the indent for the steam holes.
ReplyDeleteSo pretty. I love it and I love the peacock too. Handsome devil and he knows it.
ReplyDeleteThank you for joining the Wordless Wednesday Blog Hop.
Have a fabulous Wordless Wednesday. ♥
I've always been afraid that collage quilting is too fiddly and hard. But your project explains it beautifully. I like the "looking up" effect. The leaves have begun to turn here in northeasternmost Illinois.
ReplyDeleteI love the colors in your leaves! Definitely represents fall in all of its splendor. And what a beautiful peacock!
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I love your fall leaf project. Reminds me of a picture I took many years ago of fall colors.
ReplyDeleteThis is so beautiful! It feels just like fall in a forest. Great finish! (I run over pins all the time. The secret is to get some really thin pins!)
ReplyDeletePretty tree. If you put a piece of parchment paper over your leaves it will not matter if you have a few wrong side up, says she who has so often gotten fusible on her iron.
ReplyDeleteYour Autumn leaves are wonderful, I've never attempted this confetti type design before. We always enjoy seeing peacock photos, and the other birds too of course, thanks so much for sharing.
ReplyDeleteI love, love your Autumn collage quilt. Thanks for showing us how it came together.
ReplyDeleteI am so glad you are stepping out of your comfort zones and learning new techniques for me to see1!! I really like this one - it reminds me of the photographs that people take laying on their backs looking up in to the canopy of trees.... its just beautiful!
ReplyDeleteYour tree design is beautiful, such a lovely fall wallhanging. Happy stitching!
ReplyDeleteSo glad your machine is okay! I sew over pins, too, but I use the skinniest ultra fine pins I can find and I sew so slowly when I'm piecing that, if my needle strikes a pin at all, it will just deflect or bend the pin without harming my machine. EXCELLENT tip about removing the paper from the fusible before cutting up the fabric -- that is something I would not have thought of, either, and I do hope to do some fusible appliqué in the not-too-distant future, once I've wrapped up some of the other WIPs!
ReplyDeleteThe tree collage design you tried is beautiful! I love the way it appears just like you are looking up under a canopy of fall leaves.
ReplyDeleteI'm really enjoying your foray into art quilting. My reaction to the first photo of this piece: Sharp intake of breath. Why? Two reasons. One, I absolutely LOVE it! Two, you managed to create the quilt that I've been dreaming of making for a number of years. Did you say you used a pattern?
ReplyDeleteYour tree design is lovely! Those fall colors are a dream. I, too, have made the mistake of ironing the fusible on the wrong side! LOL! :)
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful thing to come out of this! Love your little art quilt. So Beautiful! Thanks so much for sharing on Wednesday Wait Loss.
ReplyDeleteYour trees really caught my eye, your piece is stunning. I hate those sneaky upside down pieces that stick to the iron. Fred is glorious (and he knows it). Thanks for linking to Colour & Inspiration Tuesday.
ReplyDeleteYour tree quilt is absolutely fantastic! I will be featuring it in this week’s Creative Compulsions.
ReplyDeleteMichelle
https://mybijoulifeonline.com
Your tree collage is beautiful! The timing went off on my machine last month and I didn't run over any pins. But I've had it for years and never had it serviced (shame on me!) so it was time. Beautiful peacock!
ReplyDeleteI love looking up into the canopy of trees on a walk, and you captured the feeling and look perfectly. I always wondered if the net was really necessary for collage quilts, so thanks for sharing your experience without it.
ReplyDeleteWhen ironing fused fabrics I try to remember to put a piece of parchment paper over the fabrics (like a press cloth). If any fabric is fusible side up, it will stick to the parchment paper, not the iron. And you can easily peel it off the parchment paper and fuse it where it belongs.
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