Topic: Quilting
In preparation for a quilting cruise I am taking in November I needed to make a block for a challenge.
Each participant was sent a piece of required fabric along with instructions to keep the finished block at 9.5 inches and use the theme "Life's a Beach". We could use any technique we wanted.
At the first look at the blue and yellow batic fabric I knew I wanted to represent a sunset on the ocean. It took me several weeks to finalize a design and settle on 'applique' as my technique.
I sketched out the components on Steam-a-Seam2 and tacked these to yellow, brown, green and cream fabrics. Then I cut out the elements, peeled the backing and arranged them on the backing fabric. These were pressed in place for a permanent bond.
I laid the piece on some tear-away stabilizer and loaded the sewing machine with invisible thread.
I stitched all the elements down on the edges as well as adding details with free-motion sewing. Then I continued on to adding artistic details to the background with stitching.
The final step was to add some shading to the water, sand and tree trunks with alcohol markers.
When we get to the cruise all the blocks that have been created will be judged by the instructors, other students and any passengers on the ship that want to vote. Winners will receive a share of all the blocks to use in creating their own quilt. Since everyone will be using the assigned fabric in some way, all of the blocks will coordinate.
Ddd
