Friday, January 15, 2016

Alice's Pun Quilt: A Pair of Pears, Pared



From the beginning, I debated between two different puns, but eventually I settled on the homonyms “pear, pair, and pare.”  I pared a red and a green pair of pears, arranged the pared pairs on a plate, and shot the photo outside on the back porch against the brick wall.  

I printed the photo, after doctoring it a bit on Photoshop, using Jacquard Inkjet Fabric Sheets. Inktense Pencils in various shades of greens and red and a bit of brown and yellow helped to brighten the colors; I blended them with a brush dipped in water.  This was the most fun part of this quilt for me!  (Thanks, Jane Hartfield!)

I have a brand new machine and was eager to try it out on the quilting.  I lost my nerve, though, as far as free-motion quilting, so stitched a gentle curving vine and leaves using the open-toe embroidery foot, feed dogs engaged.  The quilting can hardly be seen, but it shows up a bit better on the back!

Then I fused the photo onto the background, using Wonder Under.  After fusing it, I appliqued around the photo using the buttonhole stitch to secure it.  Finally, I bound the quilt with another red batik. 

PS:  This is actually a two-sided quilt!  On the back is the other design I considered. This one is based on the pun first mentioned by Carolyn:  “Blessed are the piece-makers,” [a pun on the Bible verse “Blessed are the peace-makers”] and it depicts various ones of us Material Mavens “piecing.”  Well, sewing on machines.  Some of us claim never to piece!  Not me!  Who makes this claim will remain nameless!  I actually put together a composite, but I don't think I'll be taking over Randy's job!


 I identify the "piecers" (sorry, quilt artists) in the caption.  I've also posted the original composite, which of course is sharper and clearer than the photo I printed onto fabric!

Photos taken at either Quilting Adventures in 2013 (I think!) or in Nantucket (this
past spring!)
From the top, left to right:  Jane at QA, Nedra in Nantucket,
Carolyn and Sara at QA.  Middle row:  Andrea watching Lois sew in
Nantucket; Alice at QA; Sara in Nantucket.  Third row,
Tricia in Nantucket; Jane, Gail, and Alice at QA.




11 comments:

  1. This is great, Alice. I've never tried printing my pictures - yet, but it is in the back of my mind. I'm sure nothing anyone else does will Com-Pear!

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    1. Carol, thanks! I LOVE the pun in your comment!

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  2. Very clever, well done! I love that you pared your pears to photograph ( instead of constructing out of fabric ), with the brick background. Looks like you really enjoyed the entire process while creating this quilt.

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  3. Wonderful pun! I love the photograph of pears and the bricks. So fun to use a new technique.

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  4. Very clever Alice! Love that you used your pared pears photograph with your brick background. So artistic!

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  5. This is wonderful Alice!!!! Looks like a painting!! And the pun is the best!

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  6. Great job on your photo! Colors and composition are lovely! I enjoyed your narrative as well!!!!

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  7. Alice, this is really great. I love the photo and colors. You must be a painter as well as a quilter.
    One of these days I will learn more about using the computer to tweak my photographs, make composites, and print onto fabric.

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  8. Alice .... Your quilt is BEAUTIFUL ! I can hardly wait to see it in person ! Your photograph and transition to fabric is gorgeous, and I think you win the prize for using the most puns in a narrative :-D Thanks for giving us such a great challenge !

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  9. Incom-pear-able Alice! I so envy your computer skills. Front and back are adorable. A great reminder of our great times. Only an English teacher would try to double pun us!!!!

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