Dragonflies in the Air

Here are photos of my latest quilt. I started with a very simple variation of Birds in the Air and some scraps I wanted to use up. I wasn't too thrilled with the results until I stenciled some dragonflies in the light spaces. Stenciling is fun and easy! I made the stencils myself using freezer paper. I used each stencil 4 times before there wasn't enough stick to adhere.


I quilted the triangles in the ditch then free-motion quilted flight paths for the dragonflies in the light areas.

Dance of the Dragonflies

I finally finished Dance of the Dragonflies. It was one of the 7 jackets I was working on awhile back. That turned out to be NOT a good idea. Apparently I need to finish things more often than that system was allowing so nothing was getting done. Oh well, live and learn!

This jacket has been through several reincarnations and doesn't look much like the original sketches I made after attending PIQF a couple of years ago. I wanted to have long graceful stems of grass draped across it with a handpainted fabric sunset in the background. About the only thing I kept were the dragonflies, but even those are a new-to-me technique I found in Nancy Eha's new beading book (great book!).

Instead I made a wonky 9-patch background and placed raw-edge appliqued plants on the jacket growing up from the green base. The working title was Swamp Jacket, LOL, but the colors didn't look very swampy to me; too clear and bright so I changed the name.

Here's a closeup of one of the dragonflies. I used a different decorative stitch down the center of each set of wings to make it a more fantasy piece.

I'm quite please with the way it turned out, but it won't be something I get to wear often. The dragonfly wings are a bit delicate. It should be a real hit in my fashion show though!

Oh and before I go I must tell you that the jacket is also known as Pond Scum, LOL! It's an inside joke for those who went on the retreat Wendy and I taught at in Temecula ;-)

Pentacost vest

When I lived in Williamsburg, Virginia, I belonged to a guild that did a fabric challenge and this vest is my entryt. I learned a valuable lesson while making this vest. Some of the 1/4" bias that I made for it was made of tricot backed lame'. By the time the vest was finished some of the shininess of the fabric had already begun to wear off. Tissue lame' seems to work well, but I no longer use tricot backed lame'.