Finally I quit procrastinating and finished these two pounded-flower projects. To do it, I layered them and quilted both densely and randomly with lots of meanders, leaves, flowers, etc. and used variegated thread in the square one.
Then I trimmed the batting and backing back from the top piece and fringed that top piece. It got lost on the gallery canvas, so I previewed a few prints and picked two, tore them into a couple of strips and left the edges ragged. I put these strips behind the sandwiched and quilted pieces and tacked them with glue. Then I put the quilted pieces over top, with Alene's glue.
The tops are semi-transparent on the edges because of the fringe and the uneven trimming of the batting. These print accents are much more subtle in real life than the photo. My husband (who is not a bead and fringe kind of guy) really likes them. I do too.
The square one is 12" x 12", the other one is 12" x 16" and both are on a canvas that is 1.5" deep.
However, now they are finished, labeled and ready to hang, I'm itching to get to other projects!
Our middle grand-daughter (in her mid-twenties) had her second daughter last week, so now we have three great grand-daughters. I have a really cute pattern/fabric for a boy's quilt and waited to see if I could use it. Sigh.
Instead, I bought a panel and whipped this one up this week. I washed it after taking the picture and want to cuddle up in it myself. We hope to see the new babe this weekend.
This other one is Hammered II, one of my two flower-pounded projects. I plan to attach it to this studio canvas (1.5" thick), but now have a question. What do I put on the canvas? Does it need a coat of something just so it will not hold the dust? Would it look better if it were tinted? The quilt background is creamy and the canvas is really white... which is kind of an elegant look, which I prefer to "cute" but I'm not sure if I should just leave it that way. Any opinions and suggestions?
Hammered I will match it, but I've not fringed and finished it yet. The canvas for it is 12 x 12. This one is 12 x 16.
Now if the weeds would just stop, I could get some more of those UFOs finished!
I was asked if I would post more holiday pictures. Maybe, but most of them will be on Facebook. If you are using it, I think my photos are visible to everyone, or send me a friend invite.
I just put a link on the last post to a YouTube of the Falkirk Wheel and here is the link again. Also, here is another one to part of the Gathering Clan Parade, a segment where I can be seen for about 5 seconds... can you find me? A clue: I am a Leslie!
Tomorrow we get on an airplane to fly back home. This was an interesting day. We drove from Couper Angus to Perth where we attended the church of a friend. She had to work, so wasn't there herself. However, they had an outdoor service and baptized six people in a round, children's inflatable pool. It was about 18" deep, so a bit of a feat! It had rained and the wind was cool enough for jackets, but hearty Scots... they were not even shivering after being dipped into the water!
Then we drove south to Stirling and easily found the 250' or so tall stone monument you see here on a hill that is also about that height. This is the William Wallace monument. Think "Braveheart" -- only the real Wallace used a sword that is over five feet long. It is encased in glass about 1/3 of the way to the top. Experts think he was about 6' 6" to be able to use a sword that large. (Sorry, Mel Gibson. You may have been better looking, but certainly needed camera angles to fill this man's kilt.)
After lunch there, we drove south to the town of Falkirk and had a spin on the Falkirk Wheel. This simple and terribly impressive marvel of engineering takes small boats from one canal to another using a process that is rather unbelievable unless you see it. This is a picture. A boat goes into one of the 'gondolas' cradled in the circles at the bottom at water level, and another enters at the opposite one at the top. Then the whole thing turns round like a wheel and brings the top one down and the bottom one up. Silently. Effortlessly, about 80 feet from one level to the other. It was an amazing ride! YouTube link
Now I'm ready for some sleep, but have to say a word about quilts... I found one quilter in Old Deer, a sweet woman who lamented of her one UFO of about six years. I comforted her with my own sad PhD stories and we had a great visit.
