Monday, August 5, 2013

Finishes - On a Mission

I've had a little time to get back to the studio, and have been on a mission to finish things....
These Easter pillows were never even on an official UFO list, but I received the fabric in a guild raffle, and decided they would be fun for the girls on their Easter sleepover.  I actually did finish them back then, just never posted them.  My intention is that I can use these pillow forms and put different covers on them for various holidays.  We'll see if that happens.  Not sure why the corners are so limp...?
What I did finish last week was the little pink ones.  They came to be because - who could resist a 50-cent remnant of hot pink tiger-stripe fleece?  Not me.  They are the funny tiny shapes because the remnant was only about that wide.  I stuffed them with a lot of left-over too-fluffy batting I had filling up the shelves.



The other finish is an oldie but goodie that has been on the UFO list since 2010 when I took the class.  I actually thought there was a lot more work left, but I was able to finish it up in only a few days of quick sittings.  It was in worse condition than I'd remembered. It was started in 2010, in a class with Alethea Ballard.    Her "maverick" technique of just using a glue stick to slap things down, and then quilt later didn't work well for me.  Leaving it sit three years probably didn't help.   ;)   The pieces didn't lay flat at all, and there are some nasty puckered up areas.  But knowing it was a mess already freed me up to just do something and not worry about ruining it.  

The nasty puckers and bubbles actually gave me a "brilliant" idea  - since it's a soft, upholstered chair, why not give it some three-dimensional quality?  It's hard to capture in a photo.  I snipped slits in the backing and stuffed most of the chair sections (already outlined with zig-zag quilting) with more of that overly-fluffy batting.  It actually made me sort of like the end result!  I think I'll save it for putting up at Halloween.


Anyway, that's what I've been up to.  That and some mending - buttons and pants hems - that has also been cluttering the studio - and hence my mind!  Life is good.   Now, with all this hot weather I'm thinking it would be a crime if I didn't dye some fabric......  ?

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