My inspiration was a birthday party given for me by my best friend when I was 15 which meant a lot to me, thus the girly color scheme. I also tried to evoke the feelings I had when I entered the room and everyone unexpectedly and suddenly appeared and shouted surprise, so I wanted to make things pop!!!! I imagined an explosion of color and confetti and sparkles raining down around the word in the air of the room and tried to create that with my piece. I think that I accomplished that goal.
I did not take process pictures this time - so I will explain what I did.
I wanted to print the word surprise on a background piece but I wanted the letters to be scattered. Sooo... I printed the letters on paper and then using a light box, I traced the outline onto the background fabric. I wasn't sure how this would look, but I used setacolor paint to fill in the outline in a stencil like fashion. It came out pretty well so I then backed this fabric with fusible and cut out the letters, then fused to another piece of the background fabric in a scattered pattern. I then picked pinks and purples and applied fusible to them. I cut triangles of different sizes and shapes randomly and worked with them until I had an arrangement that appeared to pop. I fused these and used decorative stitching to embellish the edges. Next I cut confetti and streamers from the leftover fusing backed fabric and added them. When all of the pieces were fused, I sandwiched and machine quilted, finished the edges and squared it up. The finishing touches are metallic pieces and crystals which I glued on to add touches of sparkle. And voila, we have SURPRISE.
I have to admit that I made THREE pieces for this! After seeing them all together, I decided I liked the first one I made the best afterall.
If you scroll back in the blog postings, you may notice that I've posted twice. I wrote my post yesterday and saved it, but I didn't realize when I published it this morning it would still be dated 11/14. So I republished it for today's date. Sorry for the duplicate.
Nedra: a heart-felt welcome to you to our International Art Quilting Internet group! This is a joyous quilt, and it demonstrates what a great addition you are going to make. The occasion you celebrate brought back happy memories to me of a surprise party my parents once pulled off for me, so there is a sentimental attachment to your quilt for me. It beauty, its colors, its precision, and the unique construction techniques you used (and thanks so much for a full explanation of these!)--all contribute to an outstanding first Material Maven quilt for you!
ReplyDeleteAgain, welcome and congratulations!
Well, Nedra, I think you are going to have to show the other two as well, PUHLEEZ! This piece definitely captures surprises of all kinds...the visual language of such a burst. Good job! Oh, and it is nice to have your explanation.
ReplyDeleteNedra, so well done! I love that you chose to commemorate such a meaningful "surprise" from your past.
ReplyDeleteYou really did capture the feeling of surprise & happiness in the air. And the color...what can I say, but perfect! The confetti and sparkling beads give the quilt great "explosive" movement. Looking forward to seeing this "up close & personal" sometime.
I really got the feeling of being surprised when I looked at this piece!! It certainly does pop, and the colors and sentiment behind it only add to the memory it represents!
ReplyDeleteHi Nedra, and welcome to the MM. What a fun and delightful quilt. It makes me feel like I'm at your surprise BD party! Fabulous!
ReplyDeleteNedra, welcome from the only west coast Maven! So glad to have you with us! Your beautiful quilt just shouts "surprise" and reminds me also of my 18th birthday surprise party given by my now husband. What a fun memory for you and thanks for the explanation of your techniques.
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