How can one go from confident one day to timid the next? This is what is happening as I look at the prepared padfolio covers and ponder what designs to stitch on them. These hand-dyes have few visual clues to follow. Even the colors are throwing me a bit. I decided the red ones could get the maple leaf treatment like this one, and dug out the freezer paper templates I'd used before. It felt like it needed more, so I pulled my file of pressed leaves and traced some slightly larger ones to fill in. As for the rest, I was drawing a blank as I so often do. I don't want to keep doing the same thing so I pulled my ridiculously fat file of quilting designs started back when I was hand quilting. It holds patterns pulled from magazines as well as pictures from catalogs that could be turned into quilting designs and a few templates I've made. Bear in mind, I also have quilting designs in my many books as well as books that only have quilting designs in them. Somewhere in all that reference material must be an idea I can use or adapt, something that will trigger my foggy brain.
And yes there was. This is called "lovely leaf" - you can see it in the top photo and came from Quilters Newsletter Magazine, April 2003 issue. As I studied it, I noted how it was set up for continuous stitching and couldn't imagine myself being able to do it justice without markings to follow. As you can see, I traced it onto freezer paper and cut it out and have ironed it to the back portion of the padfolio cover. Perfect fit, and I will be using a dark blue variegated thread to stitch it. If all goes to plan, it will also go on the front cover and half of it on the flap such that when the padfolio is closed, the flap will perfectly complete the design.
So I'm moving slowly along, two stitched, two ready to go under the needle, one still undecided although I have picked fabric for its lining and pockets and possibilities for the others. Feels like I'm wasting too much time second guessing and holding back. So much for being warmed up!
5 comments:
Nice motif choices for beautiful fabrics……enjoy the process……your results will be worth it!
and remember Sheila, it's a padfolio, not an entry for a quilt show...lol
Thank you, Mary. I do rather like what I've come up with. Not sure about the enjoying the process bit - I'm letting my old friend stress in as I jump ahead to if this is what the customer had in mind. Just have to keep remembering she may like what I am doing here as much or more than what I did on hers.
Oh Susan, you are making me smirk! I actually had close to that thought - they are not quilts at all, let alone something for exhibit. On the other hand . . . they WILL be held in the owner's hands, constantly under close inspection and as I've probably mentioned before, I've come to realize that choosing designs for these is much different than choosing designs for quilts. Ah me - just get over it, right? ;-)
Lovely Leaf is a nice choice for the blue hand dye. What color thread will you use?
I've chosen a variegated King Tut that has dark blue and lavender in it for the darker one and light lavender to almost white for the other. Pictures to come soon!
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