Sunday, May 27, 2012

Go Green!

As usual I spent most of the two months time frame given for 'Green', to brainstorm, doodle and sketch out ideas. Then once I made my decision there was no time for turning back or making additional quilts as some members have done! And as usual, no matter how much planning goes into the quilt there is always so much more time needed to make little decisions that crop up unexpectedly. For example, I had made a gradation run of ten greens but only needed five of them ..... how many hours should it take to pick out the five I want to use and the order I want to put them in? Well, finally I made that decision and here is a photo of step one completed.....
 Thankfully I had sketched out umpteen variations of where to place my flowers and had chosen the placement I wanted. So I cut out and stitched on the green tea wrappers.
 Then I added something I hadn't planned for; I decorated my flowers pots. I had planned to make pots from used coffee filters but at the last second I decided to add flower petals and seeds, held in place with tulle and stitching.
 Flower petals came from Tazo's Wild Sweet Orange tea wrappers. I like using Tazo wrappers as they have a waxy backing which irons nicely onto the fabrics, holding it perfectly until I get it stitched.
 Pounding the beer caps flat was not as easy as I thought, but once I ruined a couple I got the hang of it. A few hammer holes made it easy to stitch the caps in place; then some satin stitching around the edge and the addition of fuzzy green yarn (another not planned for addition) to add the feeling of grass or simply some textural interest. I had planned not to do free motion quilting but I missed something in those open areas so played with the idea of writing (Go Green, Live Green, Eat Green) or adding some quilting but finally.....
 I finished my Green quilt with some simple lines of heavy stitching which I felt tied the sections together.
Thanks Lisa for a fun challenge!!!!!! And don't forget, "GO GREEN"!

8 comments:

  1. that's beautiful! and definitely green. so clever. thanks for sharing it and have a great day

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  2. Gina, I love this. I love how you used all kinds of things to green up your quilt!Love those fabrics too!

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  3. Oh Gina what a fun piece! I love the way you made your flowers. Like Lisa said what a great way to "green up" your quilt! Love it!!

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  4. Well, gina, I did not really have to read your name at the bottom, I just knew it was you! I love the recycling theme. I am always collecting 'rubbish' that might 'come in handy' one day. Love it.

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  5. Gina, I love how your incorporated the Green recycling theme into a lovely fabric background. The orange and blue-ish greens work so beautifully together and I love the pieces with text and the beer caps! Your flowerpots are delicious! Great piece!

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  6. Recycling is good especially when the things saved can actually be reused by the one who saved them! Your piece reminds me of a 3D piece just entered in a local show. It is a flower box "planted" with flowers made from recycled cans.
    You and Vicki are vying for the "unique award".

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  7. what a great quilt Gina! I love the flowers, and particularly how fabulous they look with your re-purposed items - so clever - I love how you decorated the flower pots, and so much fun with the beer caps.

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  8. Gina, I love the variety of materials you used in this, and the whimsical, light-hearted feeling it evokes. The orange accent adds just the right amount of zing.

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