Thread Painting a Flower Applique

I can't believe it has been two weeks since my last post. Why? Beats me! Anyway, I have been working on some quilting projects. I thought it might be a good idea to finish the Halloween quilt that I started last fall. I'm adding a piano keys border, and hopefully will post a photo of the finished quilt soon.

Last Sunday while watching the Pats, I finished this small piece of wool stitchery. It was a kit from Buttermilk Basin.

I've also been spending some time doing surface design on fabric. This was a piece that I painted for a class that I took on Friday. 

The quilting group that meets monthly in Stoughton had Mary Cannazzaro of Cannazzaro Creations in Rockland come to teach a flower (non-raw edge) applique class which was great fun. There were about twenty of us in the class. Mary was an excellent, organized teacher. We started by first learning her (not raw edge) applique technique. After lunch, we tackled thread painting on the flowers which we had prepared in the morning. I had never tried my hand at thread painting, but let me tell you . . . it's FUN! Mary also shared tips on creating the background sandwich upon which the flower would be appliqued. (You do most of the thread painting on the flower first on a piece of stabilizer and then later attach it to the quilt sandwich with more thread painting. By the time I left on Friday, I had quite a bit of the thread painting done, and I was determined to keep working on it which I did on Saturday.

Yesterday after church I quilted the sandwich of backing fabric, wool felt, batting, and the top fabric. Mary had suggested some lovely quilt designs, but I chose instead to do a simple crosshatch pattern.

I'm afraid that the thread painting may not show up too well but believe me there is an awful lot of stitching on this piece. :-)

 

Next, it was time to deal with the binding. I decided against facing it as all of my walls are light in color and this piece wouldn't stand out. So, I tried using some of the various shades in the background fabric, then I tried the brown as used in the center. I tried auditioning other colors, but finally decided to use the same fabric as I had used for the leaves.  ( I finished sewing the binding during yesterday's New England Patriots game. Again, never count Tom Brady out. He pulled out a win in the final minute of the game . . . Amazing!!!)

If your guild is looking for a trunk show or a workshop, you should contact Mary at Cannazaro Creations.  You might also contact them to see if this class is going to be offered at their shop as I know you would enjoy it.

I can see where thread painting could become addictive. I'm thinking that I'm might even attempt a thread painted portrait of Miss Emma. After all, her eyebrows and beard would be perfect for thread painting!!!