Weekend Works-in-Progress

I am sometimes asked to contribute art quilts to charity auctions.  Recently I was asked to contribute an item to a silent raffle that would normally retail for about $25.00.  I thought of these WIP's that have been lingering since I took a guild workshop with Larkin Van Horn back in November 2010.  During the workshop, I fused several small tops with Misty Fuse, but nothing was sewn.

I have now quilted four of these- on my long-arm machine, even though none of these measure more than seven inches square!

They all have a word denoting an emotion or character trait, printed on Extravorganza printable fabric sheets.

At the workshop, Larkin gave each of us some of the words printed on organza, and I printed two more pages of them at home yesterday.  She also showed us how to cut the spirals from fabric.

On the first three of these, I zigzagged or used a decorative stitch around the fused elements on the quilt tops.

When I got to this last one, I realized that I did not have to do that if I heavily quilt the fused patchwork.  The only thing I stitched down on Sweet was the Extravorganza text and the piece of white lace that I added to the lower left.

If Hurricane Irene does not knock out our power tomorrow, I will probably finish the edges either with binding or possibly zigzagging some fibers to the edge.  They might also be subject to further embellishment with fabric paint, embroidery or beads.

Another possibility is to sew or glue the finished tops to a gallery-wrapped canvas that has been painted with acrylic ink.

You can see Larkin's examples of this type of quilt, which she calls Shards, on her website gallery.

Here is hoping that all of you in the path of the storm will be safe, your property undamaged, and your power still on!