Artsy Fartsy - Patience, The Art

The July Challenge for the Island Batik Ambassadors is

Artsy Fartsy.

Today is my day to show

Patience - The Art

As Island Batik Ambassadors,

we are to get fancy with the Aurifil Artsy Fartsy Challenge!

Fabric is our canvas and Aurifil thread our paint!

The challenge is to

create a one of a kind art quilt or project with 3 different weights of Aurifil thread.

Well that sounded easy enough... NOT.

It's not that using different thread weights is hard, it's coming up with an artsy idea.

I went through magazines, books, and web pages

and still, I had no ideas.

I was even thinking about doing one of my favorite past projects again

only in a new size. But even that was a struggle. I was losing my patience.

Then it hit me, why not take some time, take the camera out in the yard

and see if anything (maybe flowers) inspired me.

I took a lot of pictures and really enjoyed the afternoon in my own back yard.

Mostly the pictures were of flowers and bugs, but as

I sat on the dock at our pond, I noticed there were eyes everywhere watching me.

OK, maybe they weren't interested in me at all.

The frogs just sit and wait so "patiently".

These were the eyes that inspired my

Island Batik

Artsy Fartsy Challenge Quilt.

What a great model, right?  

Just sitting all day with his head out of the water waiting for something to come by.

So patient.

I sketched him out and used HeatnBond Lite Fusible Adhesive to applique the frog.

I used green, brown, and creme Island Batik fabrics I had from the Ambassador box for the frog's body and eyes.

Next, I chose the most perfect Island Batik fabrics for the background,

Forrest and Eucalyptus in the Batik Foundations Basics.

I used my new skill from the June ambassador challenge to add a soft improvised pieced curve to the top and bottom to make it look like the shore of the pond.

I sandwiched Hobbs Heirloom Natural Cotton Batting between the top and backing fabric

with SprayNBond Basting Adhesive.

Now, it was time to play with Aurifil thread.

I painted the frog with Aurifil 50 wt thread in 2 shades of green (#2882 and #2890),

 brown (#4012), cream (#2310), yellow (#2134), and black (#2692).

Once the frog had all its make-up on, I quilted the "water" with 

Aurifil 12 wt (#8730) in wavy lines.  I used 50 wt thread in the bobbin with the 12 wt on top

and I really like the heavier thread for quilting.

When I was out visiting the pond, there were flying bugs of all colors and sizes enjoying the pond, so I took that idea and added flying bugs to the corners of the quilt with Aurifil 28 wt thread in a red/orange color (#2395).  I used the machine to stitch the bugs and used a 50 wt thread in the bobbin.  I like to print my design on StitchnSew EZ Print Quilt Block Sheets and stitch right on the design. Then I just tear away the quilt block sheets.

The 28 wt thread is perfect for embroidery and is strong and shiny.

Patience - The Art

finished at 16" x 17 1/2"

I started this challenge with dread and I ended it with so many more ideas for thread.

I have more inspiration in my own backyard.

I need to spend a little more time there

and

learn to be more patient like a frog.

You can find the full list of Island Batik ambassadors posting for the 

Aurifil Artsy Fartsy Challenge

by clicking HERE.

I had a blast adding make-up to my frog with thread and can't wait to try it again.

Thank you Aurifil Thread!

Ok, one more picture - I'm in love...