what if

what if#86: discharge with soft scrub

kim made a comment over at spirit cloth and i thought what if i try that?
....and to quote her:
I am going to be playing with a stencil and puffy paint and then also I wanted to suggest for one of your what if's- using Soft Scrub with bleach on a stencil. ( like a stencil with a smaller design- more intricate
Iron some freezer paper to wrong side of fabric you want to stencil.
Spray stencil with adhesive.
fix to fabric.
then take soft scrub and squirt some blobs on to stencil edge.
Use something stiff like a credit card or a Spackle knife to drag a thin layer of soft scrub over stencil.
Put in sun for 15 minutes
scrap off soft scrub and then rinse in warm water.
a friend who does the same technique with puffy paints on stencils (that she makes) suggested using the soft scrub (cause its thick) when I told her about my bleach experiment.

the results were fantastic. the shape came out hard-edgeed and clear. i think the credit card squeegee worked great.  i didn't leave it in the sun i just let it dry. and the snowflake stencil was just cut from freezer paper and ironed on indigo yarn dyed cotton. (yes, there are some moons there too.)
maybe this what-if blog should be a challenge ? challenge me. PLEASE. thank you kim!

what if #85: free pieced frames

....i have been focused on edges lately and i just wondered if (?) the frame could be an interesting theme for a quilt block. each block here is 5" square. i am turning all seams into the frame , figuring that if (?) i quilt only the background, the framing will raise up a bit with the extra padding.

what if#84: chained applique

remember those great folded paper chains we used to make when we were kids? i wondered if (?) that could be applied to fabric.
indigo on indigo star, ragged edge, tacked with indigo thread. 2 1/2" star motif
excuse me while i perfect this idea and do a tutorial....later...

what if #83: quilting with fringe

...i have started using fringe as an edge treatment in my new quilt.  the fringe is recycled from old silk scarves.  some of it is rather sparse so i was wondering what if(?) i double it up before inserting it under the applique. folding it so that is offset gives it more fullness. and if you have two, it can be multi-colored... hmmm... what if (?) you use 3 or 4?

what if# 82: patchwork as applique

well, if (?) you have a few stray blocks around and don't have the time to make a bunch more, you could always apply them to a base cloth or an existing project. that can work and give some added variation and dimension, not to mention use up some things that are laying around...

4" wonky log cabin blocks made by the talented dijanne cevaal from her beautiful hand dyed fabrics... appliquéd to a quilt in progress as a border treatment.