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Saturday, February 11, 2023

My creative week... includes a finished quilt, blocks, paintings and book binding

   

Mandala hearts  14" X 18"

Welcome to my creative round up for this week... which includes a finished Valentine quilt, more blocks for my stay at home round robin, some paintings and a hand bound book to in which to draw and paint. 

(remember to click on any image to see it larger)

let's get started with the Valentine quilt for this year, shall we? I have made one for each year DH and I have been married, some are bed sized, some are tiny, some are wall sized. I used to show them all in a lecture I did on working in series, and showed a few of them on Thursday's "I Like" post (HERE)

This will be my table scraps for this month too, M for Mandala and V for Valentine. I used pink scraps as well, and it lives on my bedside table top!  Link here to everyone's quilts: 

https://thejoyfulquilter.blogspot.com/2023/02/february-2023-abc-table-scraps.html

I started this by playing around with the hearts to see possible layouts and backgrounds, like this

but in the end I decided on a layout that would allow me to turn it into another bedside table topper

This year's offering is a calm, mandala of hearts. I had these hearts  with fusible on them in my fusible scrap bin. Of all the years, this year we needed the meditative calmness of a mandala setting... even, orderly, calm...

I fused the hearts, and in the quilting stitched around them with buttonhole stitch, did free motion on the background, and a programmed stitch of spirals on the little border. Then bound it with a soft pink and white stripe, and added in a couched sparkly white thread..

I had always planned lots of hand stitching for the centers but for a month now I've had painful and blistering hands and that made all art work difficult. 

after it was quilted I fell in love with the star formed from joining the hearts! 

I ended up couching the hand dyed (artfabrics) thick thread in sort of pistle like shapes as a start. 

the thread comes in hanks, that I put on old spools. The tiny pink iridescent beads would be added next to French knots. I had to rely on my left hand for pulling the needle, and found the machinger gloves (thank you Cindy for saying I needed these) to be perfect to grab an embroidery needle! 

here are some close ups of the French knots and beads... making me think of a flower

I love how the hand dyed threads look in Knots with the color variations
It was getting more interesting but I still longed for some chain stitch so I added in little yellow daisies to each heart

It may look very simple now, but when you make it up as you go, there are so many decisions to be made. At the end I had one clump of beads I ended up cutting away... it's not over til it's over. It represents calmness, order, strength of repetition that we need in our lives at the moment. 


 Next up is my Stay-At-Home-Round-Robin additions for the week...

Hourglass Quilt Block Printable Post - The Seasoned Homemaker®
Hourglass blocks from seasoned homemaker

out suggested block for this week  is an hourglass block and we decide how to add that into our quilts in progress

 I'm doing a scenic quilt for Spring, and chose to mix some sky blues into my hourglass blocks. I chose 5 fabrics...because more is better

used this pattern to make a couple more bunnies to go somewhere



I will be making a few of these this week, to put somewhere!

(the watering can came from the book I shared last week)

I likely won't use this background fabric for the sparkly lavender bunny but it makes me smile when I come into the studio and see it!
 

 

 

 

 

 

so here it is so far... each addition has been fun to figure out.

 a couple paintings for the week...

I learned to make this sketchbook, and used an old painting cut in half to be the covers...
my little hand made sketchbook

My painting had some motifs drawn on the back, which might give me ideas when I draw in this

and I forced myself to actually draw/paint in this even though I just made the pages out of copier paper


the prompt was to press and lift the brush, in repetition
the prompt was to make watercolor blobs then draw over it


In honor of Valentine's day, I have to make a pitch to reject hate, division, and intolerance and turn to LOVE. (please) This video gave me joy... hope you like it

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5AyGvJcyoU
 

design wall Mondays at smallquiltsanddollquilts
lovelaughquilt.mondays 

https://myblog-lunchbreak.blogspot.com/ 

 






20 comments:

  1. Such an awe inspiring arty week, LeeAnna!! I love the care you took with adding details to your Valentine quilt and the work you did in your new journal/sketchbook. Good thinking on those low-contrast Housrglass blocks for your SAHRR!

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  2. I do love the star in the middle of all the hearts! Sometimes the unplanned details are the best part :)

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  3. aloha Burt B! what the world needs now is love and hope and art !
    LA thanks for sharing your art adventures of the week!!

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  4. Your heart quilt is lovely! I really like the symmetry of the hearts in the circle shape, and the beautiful embroidered details you added. Your SAHRR is going to be so fun - a spring scene!

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  5. Love the Valentine quilt! Love the little stitching inside. LOVE the star in the middle. You don't even notice it... then once you see it, you have to give it some attention!

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  6. Hi LeeAnna,
    Love all the colours you are still enjoying from yor stash !
    Wishing you a great Valentines weekend and the 14 th !
    hugs, take care,
    Joanne

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  7. Your Mandala heart piece is stunning! You have such a good touch with embellishment that just is perfect, without being too much!

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  8. The blue star in the middle of your Mandela is a delightful surprise! Enjoy your stitching!

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  9. I hate the idea of your hands hurting so badly that it's hard to play. Glad you managed to get some fun worked into your week anyway!

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  10. Such pretty fabrics in your Valentine's Heart. The lovely embroidery and quilting is the perfect finishing touch.

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  11. I love the Valentine quilt (table topper). The hand stitching and couching really adds a lot to it. I'm sorry your hands are bothering you and hope that clears up soon.

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  12. Hi Leeanna, I also like that star shape that you got in the middle of your hearts topper. I hope that your hands will get better - it's so difficult when they aren't doing what we want them to! I like your hourglass blocks on your SAHRR - the low volume looks like the sky! Please feel free to link up to Free Motion Mavericks if you get the chance. Take care.

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  13. Such a sweet tradition to make a heart quilt every year! Love that! It is very pretty with all the stitching and beading. The hand-made books are very cool - such a good idea to use a painting for the cover. I like that you make something for every holiday. The bunnies are so cute. This world does need a lot of love. Our little blogging communities have some of the most loving and kindest people. x K

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  14. I love that you make a new Valentine's quilt each year. It's like renewing your vows. I think love needs to be fed or it dies, and you certainly do a wonderful job of feeding yours! Thanks for sharing on Wednesday Wait Loss.

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  15. Awesome quilting.
    Thanks for linking to Art For Fun Friday

    Much❤love

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  16. Oooh, I love these hearts, and the embellishments are so pretty. Cute little bunnies too ;)
    Thank you for sharing, and linking up!

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  17. Love your Valentine Themes quilt!! what a great idea to make one every year - Ibet it is fun to see your skills grow!

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  18. I “heart” your Valentine Mandala! All the details, all the sparkle! It’s pretty special for sure! And your SAHRR is so creative! It’s so you!

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  19. Mandala Heart is gorgeous. Love all the embellishments and the quilting is also beautifully made.
    Oh yes, what the world needs is love. Thanks for sharing this fantastic song.

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