Think Ruffles! – All Ruffled Up

I have to confess, I have not been mad about ruffles, but hey, should I always work in my comfort zone? Why not challenge myself?

This is the first time I have joined one of  Mdm Samm's  blog hops. Thanks to  Amy for being our cheerleader!

I have done a little bit of ruffles approx. one hundred years ago (!), but after my two sons were born we have had a completely ruffle-free house. Now they are off to University, so maybe this is the time to play with some ruffles!?

The first question is: What to make for this blog hop? I could always put ruffles on pillow covers or pouches, but I felt like my main part of work had to be something different and a little more spectacular. The first thing that came into my mind was the class I took with Mrs Moen . She taught improvisation and work with ‘layer upon layer’ techniques. Ruffles could be incorporated in a wall hanging using some of the techniques I learned in her class.

My first entry in this blog hop is called ‘HST Cow All Squared Up’. It is a miniature wall hanging, only 7” x 8”. The half square triangles are made from bonus triangles after making chevrons for Celtic Solstice. (I knew those small triangles would come in handy some time!) The finished HSTs measure ¾”; that’s small! The cow is happily grazing in a pasture of ruffles.

The inspiration came from the following piece of art hanging on the wall at work:

After the ruffled cow was made I wanted to make something more spectacular. This is my main piece; an artistic impression of a peacock:

The gorgeous tail feathers are displayed with multicolored ruffles. The background is made using Mrs Moen’s technique where a green semi see-through curtain fabric is laid on top of a neutral fabric with lots of tiny leaves. With backing and batting all the layers were quilted with vertical straight lines using different colored threads. I did FMQ on the tree to make the wooden structure.

The body of my 'Peacock in Borrowed Feathers'  is fabric from an old dark red glitter top, and the neck and head is leftover from a dress I made when I was a student (!). (You can always find use for old fabric!).

The main eye-catcher in this quilt is the multitude of the batik feathers. I made ruffles of 2.5”x WOF strips for 8 different colors of batiks.

The close-up shows more details of the body and the head. Ric Rac with attached glass beads is like a belt covering up the seams on top of the feathers. Fabric of different textures tones down part of the main body. Large beads acts as the “crown” of the bird, and the eye is a small glass bead.

Of course my peacock had to take a trip out in the woods for a photo shoot. The branch was barely strong enough to hold the quilt.

I found the perfect binding for the wall hanging, it is a multicolored fabric with roses and butterflies, and it really brightens up the edge. The ending dimensions of the wall hanging is approx. 20” x 25”, and it is equipped with a hanging sleeve on the back.

Visit the other blog hop participants today:

March 6^th

Lily Patch Quilts

Hill Valley Quilter

Missy's Homemaking Adventure

Quilt in a not-Shell  <--That's me!

Debby Kratovil Quilts

Quilt Doodle Designs

 QuiltnQueen

The full blog hop schedule is posted HERE .

Sew what about the giveaway?

I have made two more “traditional” ruffled items for the giveaway; a zippered pouch and a pincushion.

 

Two lucky winners will receive one each. Leave a comment to be entered in the giveaway, deadline is March 16, 2014. The winner will be announced on March 17, 2014. Make sure I can contact you via e-mail.

Thanks for stopping by and entering the giveaway! Good luck!

Have a ruffled kind of day!

EDIT March 17: Winners of the Giveaway!

The winners of my giveaway are Elizabeth  and Malini, who both have been contacted by e-mail.