Everything's Coming Up Daisies

Created for PQQ2020 - Q2 Floral challenge.

I saw this challenge and thought, "Great! I did a floral quilt for the last PQQ 2020 challenge. Didn't Trish know that?" Because, of course, it's all about me. However, I do love making quilts with 3D flowers, so time to get my thinking cap on. Something textural and different and fun. Hmmmm......

I dug around in my strange fabric collection and found hand dyed pieces of an old chenille housecoat. (You might think it was a robe, but in my childhood it was a housecoat.) I have no memory of how it came to be in my possession or even when I dyed it. Anyway, these pieces were speaking daisies to me.  I sketched some flowers and cut out the individual petals. Laid 2 layers of chenille right sides together with the paper petal on top and sewed around the edge. Trimmed off excess, cut a slit in the back and turned each one. 

Back to the strange fabric collection for a background. I found home decorating fabric samples that I brought home with me when my daughter-in-law, Kim, was painting brightly colored wooden chairs and I was covering the seats using upholstery samples.

(These 3 don't usually hang out together, but they do all live in my master bedroom and bathroom.)

I found shades of white that I really liked together. A very elegant look. Probably why they didn't end up on a chair seat. Elegant I am not. I pulled out the ones that weren't too fuzzy and sewed them together randomly. They didn't want to lay very flat, since the weights and fabric contents varied so much, but I sandwiched it and quilted vertical lines that were slightly wavy and randomly spaced. I used a walking foot and a longer than usual stitch length. This brought it under control, so I sprayed it with some water and pressed it using a press cloth. I was satisfied.

I laid out the petals and stitched each through the middle to hold them in place while keeping the dimension I was looking for. Heavy upholstery samples were used to created the flower centers, which were stitched on by hand.

Various fibers twisted together made the stems, but I was unsure what to use for leaves. I didn't have any green chenille. No upholstery samples that seemed right. Then I came across pieces of an old hand dyed doily. When I have old linens, I dye them. Some have holes that keep them from being used again, but, of course, I always think I will someday find a use for that. Today was the day.

I cut the pieces I wanted to use and went looking for some fray check to keep the knit from unraveling. Yes, I had 2 bottles, both hard as rocks. Garbage them. Substitute Elmer's school glue. Dries clear. Art quilt will never be washed. Perfect!

I dreamed about facing the edge instead of binding, but remembered all the bulk in that home dec fabric background.  No. What to use for binding? Quilting cotton doesn't cut it here. I ended up using a hand dyed vintage linen tablecloth that had a hole in one corner.

So, in conclusion, other than thread, this was a 100% upcycled project. Even the batting and backing was a double layer of cotton double knit that came into my possession when someone moved. My luck the next PQQ2020 challenge will be something upcycled. 

Created by Diane Lapacek while social distancing in rural Poynette, WI.
24" x 19"

Diane's Flower Garden

Created for Project Quilting Quarantine 2020 Q.1 Big Challenge

I saw this challenge Sunday, and had no idea what to do.  Then I got out of bed on Monday morning to see sunshine! Spring! Hope! Gardening!

My first thought was one giant 3D flower. I started going through my saved ideas, but nothing felt right. I needed a full flower garden.  I've been making 3D flowers for awhile and had some (well, actually, lots) already made because when I start making them I can't stop. And when I want them for a project, I'm never sure how many or which ones until I'm sewing them on. Now, that means I didn't make them all this week. You may think that's cheating, but I look at these as embellishments ready to be sewn on. I did find I had no zinnias and I really wanted some, so I made up a few.

So, first a background. I started digging for one piece of fabric and soon realized that wouldn't work for me. You see, my name is Diane and I'm addicted to scraps. My quilting philosophy is, "Why would anyone use 5 fabrics when 50 will do?" So I made a scrappy background fabric. 

I decided I needed a fence. Here I went with just one fabric, because this is a one week challenge and I'm not totally crazy. And I have alot of hand dyed gray that had a previous life as table runners at my daughter's wedding. Perfect!

I sandwiched it all together and quilted wood grain into the fence and leaves and flowers into the sky.

I sewed on the flowers and added stems made by twisting assorted fibers together.  Now, some leaves. I liked the idea of home decorating fabrics, but it created a bit of a dilemma because I wanted them to have some dimension, but didn't have alot more time. Part of each fabric had heavy paper on the back. This would prevent fraying if I left it in place, but I didn't want white showing on the backs. So I got out my paints and painted the backs green, cut out leaf shapes and sewed them down creating the veins at the same time. This left the edges loose, so they had the dimension I was looking for.

Now, how does this qualify for the BIG challenge. Absolutely it is the most challenging thing I have worked on all year. All of my PQ projects have been quick and easy. And it put a BIG smile on my face during this time of social distancing. That's the most important thing.  Thank you, Kim and Trish and PQQ.

Created by Diane Lapacek while social distancing in rural Poynette, WI.
24" square.