Design Workshop

I recently attended a workshop on Free Form Symmetry with my quilt guild friends.  The workshop included planning and executing original art quilt designs. 

We drew sketches on a folded sheet of paper and then cut our designs to expose the symmetrical design.

 

My first project at the workshop was a little 15" square quilt.  The little design in the lower left corner is the template.  The other six are designs cut from white fabric and stitched to black.

I also drew and cut out a butterfly.

A template was made and multiple copies were traced onto fusible web.  (I used Pellon 805 Wonder-Under.)


When I got home, I used my acquired skills to make a larger wall hanging with a new butterfly I designed.

I started with the outline of a butterfly that I found --

--and then added lots of squiggles inside the wings. I made multiple copies to check on size and determine if this arrangement would work for me.  So far, so good!

 I tried something new.  I made a copy of the butterfly design in my printer directly onto a piece of fusible web which was cut 8.5"x11". The first printer didn't do well at all.  The second printer did better.  I made two copies.

 

I pressed the fusible web copy onto pink fabric. 

I pressed another plain piece of fusible web onto a second piece of fabric.

I pinned the two pieces together using lots of tiny applique pins and started cutting out all the designs.

 I cut around the outside of the butterfly first.

Then very carefully, I started cutting around the designs on the inside of the butterfly.

After about 30 minutes, I finished cutting the first two butterflies.
I repeated the process with two more pieces of fabric and the other fusible web butterfly copy.

Very carefully I removed the paper backing from the fusible web.

 

I cut my fabric 24" square and then marked where I'm going to place the butterflies by pressing the fabric into fourths and then again in fourths diagonally.

I placed the butterflies where their centers lined up on the first folds and the side of the wings lined up with the diagonal fold lines.

I wanted the wings to touch each other.

My final arrangement.

I carefully pressed everything in place

To get ready for appliqueing, I cut pieces of freezer paper to stabilize the back of my fabric.

I love freezer paper!  Pressing it makes it stay in place beautifully!

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Now to the machine.  I chose matching pink rayon embroidery thread because it looks very well with my pink batik butterflies.

 

I slowly stitched around every cut edge using a narrow zig-zag stitch.

I appliqued one butterfly.

 

A close up of the stitching.

Hope to finish the quilt very soon.