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Saturday, May 3, 2014

Pretty, playful and pattern-less

It is said that beautiful skin needs no makeup...

Similarly, a beautiful fabric does not NEED a pattern. Some (a lot of) fabrics are like that - they are just so pretty (cute, adorable, adjective-of-your-choice) that sometimes we quilters do not have the heart to cut them up.



In other words, that skin is so beautiful, you do not want any make-up (or pattern) to distract from it...
As quilters, we do buy a lot of pretty fabric, and if you cannot cut into it to make a quilt, where does that leave us. I know, with a big stash :-D

I have the perfect solution. MINIMALISM... All you do is frame that pretty fabric to highlight its beauty and enjoy the compliments!!!

In 2013 I had just been bitten by the quilting bug, when I noticed the Wee Woodland Charm Packs. I immediately bought four of them. And then I admired them for months. I could not bear to cut them up. Finally, I decided that I will not cut them. I took each little charm square and framed it - some with yellow and some with green. It took me a over a year to come up with a simple solution!!! 



Charming, is it not?



These framed charmed squares make my design wall look good. They actually light up my design wall!!!

What shall I name this quilt? Framed? NO. It has an evil sound to it for a quilt so cute.
Charmed? Perfect.
















And for the very first time, I decided to be adventurous with the binding :-) I used a pieced binding - those yellow and green striped fabrics are my new go to favorites. I stitched the binding to the back of the quilt and used a decorative stitch on the front to secure it in place. Fast and Easy!!!




Here are the pictures of the finished quilt.
Charmed :-)  
Charmed - Detail













                                                                             
You can see that my yard is a mess and I am celebrating the mess - using the yellow flower (weed) to accentuate my quilt :-)





And here you can see the decorative top stitch on the binding. Completely wild...











Quilt Back, no label




I have a feeling that I will be donating this quilt. And that is why I am shying away from putting a label. May be, I will add a label with just the quilt name, and the year 2014. Would you label a quilt (with your name) if it was for charity?
Stitch over the Ditch Quilting











This picture shows my go to "stitch over the ditch" quilting and my "matchless" seams...ha ha ha!!!









So, what are my thoughts on make-up? In my opinion, a smile and a twinkle in your eye is the best make-up. It makes your friends happy and keeps others wondering - what is her secret???

3 comments:

  1. First my thoughts on make-up. In the words of my husband, "If the barn needs paint, paint it!' I like just a touch of eyeshadow, mascara, blush and lip stick or gloss on myself and others. As for your quilt, I love the simplicity of the charms. I made one for my niece and didn't even frame the blocks. Easy peasy. I love your decorative stitching in the border. Might as well use all the technology you've paid for on that machine, right? For the label, I put a label with my name. I think the recipient likes that personal feeling that some real person, not a "made in China" but a real, live person who cares , made this quilt for me.

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  2. Mascara is all I use - because if I didn't, I don't have eyelashes LOL (of course I have eyelashes but they are so light they cannot be seen haha).

    I just love your quilt and I also think the yellow flower (call it a weed if you must) compliments the quilt beautifully! :)

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  3. Clapping gleefully at yet another of your creations. Okay, I can't clap properly AND type, but I am doing so mentally with a big cheshire grin. It is amazing that you've only been quilting the short time that you state. All your quilts that I've seen bring me joy (and that's my middle name). Did you share that your MIL got you started or something to that effect?

    Re. make-up. I'm a make-up wanna-be. I used to think it not necessary until two events in my life. One of which is that my daughter works at Sephora and even before that established herself as the make-up artiste. The things I have seen that girl accomplish via make-up, mmm mmm mmm. I used to think it didn't make a difference, but au contraire.

    Having said that, I have no skill in its application thus don't usually wear it. Plus, living in a sub-tropical environment, going through menOpause, chile, it just ain't worth it. But, yes, I love it but constrain myself to lipsticks/glosses, love me some mascara (can you say Princess Borghese?), and eye shadow. On a real good day I'll add blush/bronzer to make myself think I'm doing something.

    Cheers,

    Lyric
    http://www.sewcroandquilt.wordpress.com

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