Wearable Art

 I have a lot to show today! 

I can finally share a commissioned project that I finished. It is not a quilt per se but does involve quilting. My Music teacher/colleague asked if I could make a banjo for the back of her jean jacket. I showed her this quilt I found on Pinterest and she loved the idea! So the design process started! I didn't want to applique the banjo (as the quilt inspiration) but wanted to piece it. She plays a 5 string bluegrass banjo which has a longer, thinner neck. We decided to let the arm just run off the top instead of trying to fit the whole banjo on the back. I also needed the head to be big enough to stitch the chorus of a song she chose.

Once the design was finished, I shopped for 14 different rainbow colors of fabric.

 I stitched the bottom right first.

After I made the bottom left but I didn't want a seam in the larger white piece because I would be FMQ words on it. So I figured out how to keep the white intact while still piecing the rainbow head. I was happy that it worked out! I continued with the top right and then added the rainbow strip to the right of the white for the remainder of the neck. The piecing was a bit tricky but it all worked out!

Next I added the chorus to the white head section. I used a fusible woven interfacing to stabilize the block before FMQing. I wrote the chorus in water erasable ink and I stitched using 40wt navy blue Aurifil thread. On the left side, I stitched the same chorus in larger font twice to fill the space. 

I stitched the piece onto the back section of the jacket and between the colors. I stitched 2 rows with white between the chorus on the left to keep the large sections secure. 

It was fun to create this wearable art piece! My friend was thrilled with it as she stated "Even better than I imagined."

Linking to Off the Wall Fridays @Creations-Quilts, Art, Whatever and TGIFF @Tamarinis

A Finish!

As I have mentioned, I have been working on a commissioned art quilt. A teacher friend ask me to make a wall hanging of the Chicago skyline for her new renovated basement. She sent me this link to give me an idea of what she wanted. This quilt's finished size was much bigger than the wall hanging my friend wanted so I needed to do a bunch of resizing. I also wanted to do it a bit different but was thankful for the starting point. 

Warning: This is a photo heavy post!

           Out came my graph paper, colored pencils and a lot of math!                        Yes, I design the old method as I don't have a design program. 

After drawing the major buildings and the fountain, I divided into sections so it could be stitched together. There were 5 vertical sections and one horizontal section that was divided into 5 sections. 

I figured out each section's cutting information and which sections would need freezer paper piecing. I shopped for specific fabrics for many of the buildings, but also found a few perfect pieces in my stash. 

              I didn't take pictures of each section as I was piecing it but here is the front and back of the section of the Hancock building. 

This is one of the buildings that needed to be pieced using freezer paper. 

You can see the first 4 sections below.

Below are the 5 vertical sections sewn together.

I didn't take any more progress pictures but here is the finished quilt.

Details of the buildings and quilting.

The backing is a Chicago print from JoAnn's. It is perfect!

On the label, I named the major buildings and the fountain.

Finished size 24" x 34"

It was finally ready to be delivered. My friend was very excited and overjoyed with the outcome. She loved everything about it! 

It will soon be hanging in her newly renovated Chicago themed basement!

I'm linking to Can I Get a Whoop, Whoop? @Confessions of a fabric addict. Linking to favorite finish at Meadow Mist Design.