The answer? Because they have to be!!
Today is the deadline for mailing the byhandartists' 4x4 Quilties. Well, I made the deadline. A month late.
Do you ever get those cravings to make something really cool and when it comes to the crunch, something with higher priorities rears its head and there you are, listening to the sound of a deadline whooshing by? That was what happened. Add in a little creative constipation and there you have it.
So what does this have to do with Lizards? The person I have sent my Quiltie to is my long time friend Lizardbeth (sometimes called Lizardbreath). So the creative constipation was strengthened by the fact that Lizard is extremely creative and whatever she sets her mind to turns out beautifully. The pressure was on.
But the great thing about Lizard is that she understands procrastination! I think she would say she has it mastered.
It is with great relief that her less-than-traditional Quiltie left in the mail today!
I think my problem was that I had too many choices. I have plenty of fabric... ahem, too much, some might say.
Ultimately the base I chose was cut from a piece of painted fabric from the stash I created at the late (and wonderful)
Lisa Englebrecht's class taken years ago. I loved the bit on the edge, so I lettered "edgy" there. I though Lizard would get a good eye roll out of that. The lettering was done with a
6mm Parallel Pen and acrylic ink (which was cleaned out immediately afterwards).
I must say when I learned of Lisa's passing last week, it was a strange feeling to think that I had chosen this fabric and was lettering on it at that time. It's heartwarming to know she will live on and be remembered through her many dedicated students.
So realizing that my piece was pretty boring, I thought I'd outline the letters with stitching. Now this fabric is canvas and I was not enthusiastic about hand stitching it. Does it surprise you to know that the last time I used my sewing machine, I didn't need to wear glasses? What a nasty surprise! And my poor sewing machine did not want to go. I coddled it. It went. But it needs a doctor. I outlined the stitching with hot pink thread and then stitched a couple of flourishes in yellow, which substituted for gold. I added some "cross stitches" with
Jones Tones Plexi Glue and
gold foil. The top-stitching around the edge was done with a bright blue.
I couldn't have done this without the help of the good people at
Coats & Clark/Red Heart who filled my swag bag at CHA with this wonderful stash of thread in 18 vibrant colours. Perfect for this project!
I also had the assistance of a fabulous pair of
Fiskars' scissors, also acquired at the Prime Publishing
Blogger Event at CHA. They're called the
Amplify Mixed Media Shears. These shears are designed to force the blades back together when you're cutting thick material. I watched them cut through a big stack of denim at the demo (pretty impressive!), so they had no problem with my double layer of canvas and batting. I'm really happy I have them.
So that's the long-winded story of my Quiltie. I hope Lizard likes it. She's certainly been patient enough! Thanks Lizard!
Thanks for dropping by and reading!
Suzanne
