Last Pieces in a Random Series

If you look carefully at my last blog entry, and notice the border fabric on my landscape quilt, you will find the inspiration for the two pieces I have just completed.

The first thing I wanted to work on was a little purse.  While at the NJ Quilt Festival I purchased a silver frame for a purse.  I stopped at buying only one because sometimes I get carried away at these events.  Rats!  because it so fun making this bag that I was hoping to make another one soon.  Thankfully, I can go to the store sometime as it is in New Jersey or I can hold off and buy another one next year when I go to the festival.  Either way is fine since there are so many other projects to make.

I only bought the top frame and no chain to go with it, so I added a piece of imitation leather and kept it simple.  If I decide to get a chain, I can do so when I get another purse top.

So I added Wonder Under to the snow dyed fabric from Dippity Dyes and then I cut it into 1 inch squares.  I fused it to black cotton and quilted it by machine in a simple alternating lines pattern.  I tried to use a rayon thread that would blend more than detract from the hand dyed fabric.  I just wanted some texture.

Of course I wanted to add a little bling, so I stitched these metallic beads onto the top using a sturdy beading monofilament thread.  It gives the purse a nice little touch and the frame has convenient little holes at the top so it was relatively simple to do.

Here's a closer view and a view of the back of the bag.  It is one of those things that will go with everything, including a little black dress. (If I had one.)

So with making the purse, I made a little extra of the grid quilted fabric and I didn't want that to go to waste.  Besides it looked pretty cool and was essentially running with this random series of work anyway.  So what the heck, I made it into a small art quilt.

It is 12 X 12 inches and I mounted it on a canvas that I painted on the sides.  It has the leftover piece from the purse, some bent and hammered wire and a charm I picked up in a super cool town called Tubac, Arizona.  I framed it in a Kona cotton and then added a silk dupioni border that is a crossweave of silver and magenta.  It gives the piece a nice sheen and highlights the silver metals in the center.

The charm is a heart with a dove flying across it and little leaves or something in the corners.  I hand stitched the pieces together using some hand dyed fiber that came in an Oliver Twist pack.  I just love those.  I machine quilted it so that the lines on the outside would draw the viewers eye into the center.  The thread was a light silver grey.

Here is a closer look at the center of the piece.  It is 6 1/2 inches on each edge.

Finally, I painted a canvas in a medium magenta and then lightly brushed it with metallic silver paint.  It really was a pretty close match to the border fabric.

So thanks for checking out these projects.  I have already decided that my next piece will be made from two bags of scraps that I bought in Sedona, Arizona (same trip as the charm).  I paid $1.50 for each bag - so I'm going to see what I can do with $3 worth of fabric.  So far it is looking pretty interesting.  It's amazing what limiting yourself can do for your creativity.