The five-day class ended Friday. I did a bit of filing in on Saturday. This is still in pieces pinned to the wall. There are two copies of the pattern; one on the design wall, and one made of freezer paper that is cut up. Those pieces are pressed to the back of carefully selected fabrics (some need to be changed - not so carefully selected) and pinned to the pattern.
It still looks pretty messy, but the tree shows nicely. The second photo is a close up. I will be taking a few pieces off and dividing them so I can add something in the middle to break it up. (Like drooping branches going into the grass in the detail photo below, just to the right of center.)
This one has been a huge amount of work, but also tremendously satisfying. I didn't have a clue Monday how to draw it, Tuesday how to make the drawing into a pattern, Wednesday what it would even look like. But by Thursday the vision crept into the back of my head. Now I'm excited to sew it together... but first some rogue pieces need to be replaced, and I don't like the sky in the upper right. This will be 35" x 48" or thereabouts.
This picture is the progress on the Christmas quilt, my smaller version. The one my group will do for the church is 84" wide. This one is about 35" wide. It is on hold this week while I am in classes.
This next picture might look like a dog's breakfast. It is the progress after four days in the class taught by Margo Fiddes using the Ruth McDowell method for creating a design, a pattern and then the quilt. (See previous post.)
This has been challenging. I am a detail person and this requires thinking big picture first then working toward detail. The process goes something like this:
1. Select a picture and draw it at least 11" x 17"
2. Divide it into logical sections
3. Enlarge it to the desired size. In my case, it is 35" x 48"
4. Trace the drawing to the shiny side of freezer paper.
5. Put registration marks and ID numbers, etc. on the dull side so the pieces can be sewn together.
6. Select fabric for each section and piece.
7. Cut apart the sections, one by one.
8. Press each freezer paper pattern piece to the wrong side of the fabric selected for that piece.
9. Pin the fabric/paper section just created to its place on the enlarged drawing.
10. Repeat 6-9 when you goof up, as often as necessary.
11. When all is done, sew it together, section by section.
As you can see, I've several more sections that need fabric ironed on to the freezer paper patterns. Those are the white parts. Also, look at the bottom: some parts of the foreground grass have fabrics rolled up and pinned there. This is part of the selection process. I've left them there so I don't forget my choices.
Also, when I ironed fabric to some sections, it didn't work. Repeat 6-9. OR, it needed a softer edge, so had to make one piece into two, OR it needed a bit of another color, so had to add another section.
I'm excited today, finally. In the beginning, I had no clue what I was doing and no vision of what this should look like. Today, I can now envision what the final quilt will look like. Stress and many decisions. This is why quilters who do work like this earn the big bucks when they sell their pieces!
