what if ?

what if #59: the longest night

after deciding on pillow as a finished form, i asked myself....what if i  just sew it to an existing pillow cover to speed things up? i am done with this one and its dedication will be over at spirit cloth. i would like to embellish the floral corduroy on the right side but i am thinking what if i do it next year?  cont'd from

what if #60: small dot study

dots formed with thread, ombre pattern to soften a woven stripe. 2" x 5". cotton on cotton. small stitched study for FEVER quilt.

what if #63: free mending

i have a lot of old pieced scraps, worn pieces and leftovers from quilts. etc. i used my new found machine free  piecing knowledge and patched some worn scraps back together, doing the best i could to retain the look of the original pattern. some odd little patches resulted, but it added character to the piecing. terrible photo but you get the idea. mended and refashioned patchwork.

what if #64: seam wrapping

mending methods have my interest at the moment. i am still working with the vintage piece i started in the previous post. i should mention i quickly dipped it in in brown dye to disguise some staining. some of  hand stitch seams have pulled apart so i thought what if (?) i wrap the seam in a bar of satin stitch. in this case i am going all the way through and catching the backing fabric. i used one layer of thin cotton batting and gauze so i could really get a feel for the tension created. the stitch forms a gully type line on the back and fits in with regular quilting. the method is decorative and very reinforcing. not to mention the texture. and again, quilting and embroidery become one step.    

what if #65: whipping a machine stitch

.....i created this quilt woven piece a while ago. and i quilted it on the machine. and that was a question that went something like what if i quilt this by machine? will i like it? and i still don't like machine quilting even if it is faster. but then  i asked  myself  (as i recall) ...what if i was to whip that stitch with a contrasting color, to make it look twisted, would it help? and it certainly did. i almost forgot this one...it changes the look and texture, and by golly, maybe i can do some machine quilting after all.... here and there....maybe.

cotton woven strips cut with curves
woven together
machine quilted to poplin
embroidered dots.
clipped and machine washed.
machine stitch whipped with 2 strands black floss.

what if #66: reshaping a pillow

......i need a heart shape, what if i cut an old pillow? mark, cut, remove excess stuffing, resew. ready to cover. and what if i cover it by wrapping? just a thought...

what if #67: working over an existing pattern

reviving some old doodles (even though it is not wednesday) and wondering what if you make your own prints? diluted textile paint and micron pen over an existing dot print. cotton twill. i don't know too much about tossing repeats or motifs, but who cares?

what if #92: wool on wool

....i used to be a weaver and every weaver knows, you can only use so many scarves. anyway, i have a stack of those that didn't excite me much, and i had a  people powered felting needle laying around but not much used. and some old hand dyes roving not much used. i tried applying some designs to the old scarf that was not much used. this will be a makeover to be used. my inspiration came from here.

#169: Recolored patchwork

...so continuing from my here where I covered up a section of patchwork that was not fitting properly... I thought what if  I use a sheer fabric just to tweek the color a bit instead. Kind of how you work a painting.  Recently gifted silk chiffon does the trick.  Coloring over and existing patchwork could be quite interesting.  You can even see the seams or old stitching beneath.  Again I am trying it ragged style because what is underneath shows a bit like a frame or a shadow, adding dimension.  I'll call it watercolor applique. Ragged style.

I have noticed that chiffon works well for a ragged edge because of the nature if the crimp, it keeps its threads in place.