Thursday, October 23, 2014

Dia De Los Muertos Dance! Finished!

"Dia de los Muertos dance!"    24" X 22"

This quilt is made for the QuiltArt Day of the Dead challenge. It needed to be approx. 22" square. I have collected a few fabrics over the years to make one of these, and sure enough when it came time to make it, I could only find one. It's a good one though, with dancers.
 Please click on images to enlarge and see all the yummy goodness!


I started right away with the beads, then thought, hmmm how am I going to quilt this? Better build the quilt top before adding any more!
I decided on partial seamed borders, to add some wonkiness to the layout.  I quilted it with metallic threads in different colors, allowing the skull to puff up with the trapunto.The hand stitching is still there, but not noticeable like the little white bugle beads around the skull. This is a quilt where the details are easier to see in person.

In this shot above, please notice the fused crystals over hand, 3-D lettering, hearts around the bowing appliqued guy at the top, and my favorite detail, the BOO sequin on top of the fimo clay-lady eyes.

Details to notice here are:
These little plastic spirals
 aqua metallic thread couched around
rose border, spooky and cool
quilting details
little crystal beads given to me by my friend Bunny, who showed up to bee one day saying "I knew you'd find a way to use these!"




Details:
The little skulls are sequins
My friend Steph gave me the purple hearts
Dancing couple, I LOVE them, with heart sequin
(these are iron on sequins unlike all the others)

The Live Strong beads were in the kids section of Michaels.
Details:
I found the skeleton key chains on sale for next to nothing after Halloween one year. I got 10 of them, and my husband didn't even ask what I thought I'd use them for. He knows me.
They have found their way into several quilts including the Frida Kahlo quilt (IN THIS POST)

More dancing skeletons... wonder what attracted me to this fabric?? Could it be we met dancing?
I took pictures yesterday but went in today and added the flowers, the little skulls, and the star sequins all sewn on by hand. Sometimes more is better. I don't know if this is one of those times... it's not exactly tasteful but it was fun to make and I hope fun to look at. Have you made one? Leave me a link to yours! LeeAnna

15 comments:

Joanne said...

Hi LeeAnna,
This would make a great Day of the Dead poster if ever there was one needed!
Super! Really captures the spirit of the day!
Take care,
Joanne

Siouxzq64@gmail.com said...

Fabulous! Love it and love the fabrics you used. I have that fabric in my stash to use too.

The Inside Stori said...

It's everything that a Day of The Dead quilt should be! Simply GREAT!

ann said...

Looking forward to seeing you at Houston. Since April, I have been over loaded with work + guests. Summer is the most popular time to come to Maine. LOL. Never had a visitor in the winter.

I did finish one quilt for the show in Portland, Oregon. Haven't put it on my blog yet. Houston will be my break between necessary projects on the 3 apartments I manage. Really tired of that taking up my time. Hope it will not be for much longer.

Maria said...

So creative! I love your beadwork on this amazing skeleton. I love me a skeleton.. Especially this time of the year.
Well done:-)

Mari said...

Looks like that skull is waving hello. Hello back! (waving!) Really very nice. And I don't think Day of the Dead art is necessarily supposed to be traditionally "tasteful." It's great as wild as it is!

Sylvia said...

Well done, it suits the theme perfectly!

Kaja said...

Love it!

Norma Schlager said...

Fun, fun, fun! Thanks for showing all the details. I'll see you in Houston.

Unknown said...

It is absolutely stunning! All of the beadwork and details make it truly special. You are so creative! I love it!!

Jasmine said...

It is so much fun to look at. I love the details, but especially the skeleton stepping out of the border.

Regina B Dunn said...

Fantastic details! I especially like the characters you put in the eye sockets.

AlidaP said...

Wow, so amazing, so many details to look at! And I absolutely love the fabric with the dancing couple, so fun!!
Thanks for linking up at MOP Monday!

Unknown said...

Fantastic! There is so much to see, I love all the funny details. Fabulous!!!

Susan at TheBoredZombie.com said...

He is awesome! I think my favorite feature is those eyes! I totally dig the polymer cane look to those buttons. Super cool and a perfect use for them!