Thursday, October 16, 2014

A Low Volume Canvas : :

I've been feeling an extra creative push with these Quilt Market projects, making sure to highlight my collection in each one without having much fabric to work with has really forced me to think outside the box. I'm down to just the itty bitty scraps now and my sewing time is running out fast! A few weeks ago when I pulled from my stash my entire collection of low volume Art Gallery fabrics I had a new quilt project in mind, but this idea was quickly pushed to the side along with all the other plans I have waiting for when my yardage arrives. Then yesterday, even though I have two quilts yet to bind & a bench still to reupholster, I decided to cut this low volume quilt idea of mine down to an achievable Euro pillow size and I got to work!

AGF low volumes!

In no time at all I had my low volume canvas!

A low volume canvas!

To make it quick, I used my quilt as you go method of sewing the fabrics right to the batting in narrow panels, just as I do for my Herringbone QAYG quilt pattern, but stacked as I did for my Endless Summer quilt. Scrap friendly and super fast!

My plan for this was always to sketch stitch out a dream catcher, with Wild & Free feathers, and layers of decorative stitches! Since my canvas is pillow size, rather than the dramatic quilt size I originally hoped for, I simply began by tracing a large dinner plate with a Hera marker for my starting point.

Dreamcatcher beginnings!

From there I sketched out a simple dream catcher shape for me to build upon with lots of sketchy stitching, hand cut feathers, and colorful Aurifil!

Wild & Free feathers!

This is the last photo I took right as the kids were getting home from school!

Dreamcatcher quilting!

I was able to finish it up once they were in their beds for the night, and I'm so happy I took the time for it. I'll be sure to share photos of it finished soon and I can't wait to try this one again -- quilt size!

  Maureen

40 comments:

  1. Oh my goodness that is fabulous!! I could mix low volume fabrics all day and you added the perfect punch to it. Make sure you take lots of QM pics for us!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I love the low volume and the feathers are perfect!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Lovely! I would love to see more about the techniques used here!

    ReplyDelete
  4. This is really beautiful! I love the idea of creating a canvas using low volume fabrics as a background for your dream catcher sketch. Can't wait to see more!

    ReplyDelete
  5. a work of art. You're doing amazing things Maureen!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Oh my goodness, so truly beautiful. You have such an artist's eye! :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. So, so beautiful Maureen! Good luck at market! I can't wait to see photos of your booth!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Love your creativity! Looks amazing!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Lovely and so creative - love your designs and ingenuity.

    ReplyDelete
  10. I love, love, love this! And I also like that you are using some other collections mixed up in that low volume background for something that will be in your booth. Your fabrics are still the focus but now everyone at market will be able to see that your collection works great with others, without having to imagine it themselves.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Beautiful!! Is this a mixture of your collections of fabrics, or just one line?? I love them all!!

    ReplyDelete
  12. This is just beautiful. I love the feather work you are doing. I hope you have a wonderful market. Looking forward to pictures from there.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Absolutely Gorgeous M. :)

    Good Luck with the show :)

    Have a lovely Thursday, cheers, T. :)

    ReplyDelete
  14. Your feathers are amazing - well worth all the extra effort you put into making them - can't wait to see the end result :)

    ReplyDelete
  15. Beautiful!! I love the colors and the dreamcatcher just makes it all come together!!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Goodness this is awesome!

    ReplyDelete
  17. This looks amazing Maureen, wonderfully creative.

    ReplyDelete
  18. I love it and the quilting is just stunning!!

    ReplyDelete
  19. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Clever and perfect way to use bits of your fabric!

    ReplyDelete
  21. It is absolutely awesome, Maureen!!

    ReplyDelete
  22. Thanks so much for sharing your talent with us. You are a remarkable artist and I would never had thought to do this. Wonderful work!

    ReplyDelete
  23. How is it possible each post is more amazing than the last!!! When I saw low volume in the post heading I was thinking of not looking. I am so glad I did!!! Beautiful

    ReplyDelete
  24. This is fabulously gorgeous! I would have never thought such light toned fabrics could look so stunning! WOW!

    ReplyDelete
  25. LOVE, love, love, how do you do it, you are so amazingly creative, thank you for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  26. Normally I wouldn't look twice at the low volume stuff (love my brights!) but this is just lovely. I can't wait to see the finished project.

    ReplyDelete
  27. It's gorgeous, I wish I could see it in person!

    ReplyDelete
  28. WOW!!! I agree with Anita Gambrell.

    ReplyDelete
  29. This is so amazing!!! Love every bit of it!!

    ReplyDelete
  30. I love this!! I am new to quilt making and would love to get some pointers on how you made the dream catcher. My daughter is 11 and wants a bohemian bedroom. She ask for a quilt with a dream catcher she showed me one but yours is much prettier.

    ReplyDelete
  31. Maureen,
    I am trying to stitch something similar on a baby quilt I am making. It's my first go 'round at quilt making so I'm using a lot of online resources ;-)
    I stumbled upon this post and thought maybe you could help with an issue I am having. I drew a design on the back of my fabric and stitched out the first part only to realize that its all puckered inside my circle. When you stitched your dream catcher out did you use a stabilizer? I have played around with the stitch length and tension but can't seem to figure out why I'm having this problem.

    ReplyDelete

Thank you so much for taking the time to comment!

If you are a no reply or an anonymous commenter, I will be sure to respond to your comment right here - so please do check back!