This week's color challenge was yellow…I have to be honest and say that I've had a love/hate relationship with yellow. For most of my life I disliked yellow…intensely! Periodically I start liking it, even start wearing it. I look pretty decent in yellow. And, I find that when I do wear it, I do feel more vibrant, more cheerful, more "sunny" even! I'm not a huge fan of gold, or any "earth" tone for that matter. Brown is not my favorite color, not even my favorite neutral! I feel like a Tootsie Roll when I wear brown…why even mention brown? Because that's this next week's color challenge…and it's a bit…uuummm…challenging…ah, but I digress…
So in keeping with doing what I love, and what I find relaxing, I created five little mini quilts…making one is too easy…I do need to be challenged after all! There have been a couple questions posed as to where I get my ideas, and how do I keep from making the exact same thing over and over (or do I?)…
For this challenge it's relatively easy…I'm still using the Fairy Frost charm pack by Michael Miller…that helps because there are 50 different colors.
I love the scalloped white lace I put over the capped sleeves on this dress…
And, I'm still using batik fabric, and I've been using Fossil Ferns (I can't remember who makes it) and there are 100 different prints in that…so yes…in a way it's easy. I just have to find colors that work well together, even within the same color family.
I also try to choose a few different embroidery floss or perle cotton colors that will work well within the group too. In addition to trying to use at least two different colors of thread, I vary the stitch designs.
I have developed a rather extensive set of templates I use for my dress quilts…I'm currently up to about 30 different dress shapes and about 10 different pinafores…I vary the sleeves or the shape of the dresses and pinafores a bit. Because my little dress quilts are all made with charm packs, and the charms measure 5" square, obviously the templates need to fit within that space…that keeps my designs consistent even though they are different shapes.
And buttons, there has to be buttons. I rarely duplicate the same button style within the same quilt.
And even within the same quilt, I rarely use the same stitching to sew on my buttons.
So, you can see that even if you are designing a series of artwork, even the most simple of variations can extend the variety of pieces you are able to create!
As always, thank you SO much for stopping by today…and be sure to click on the Summer of Color badge to check out even more wonderful and inspiring yellow challenge pieces!
Hugs and toodles!
oh la la …I adore those littles dresses on your cards, they are so cute…
you impress me with your 30 differents dress shapes…have a nice brown week xx
These are just the sweetest little quilts. Love them!
these are absolutely adorable…so sweet…xxx
Your quilts & dresses are so sweet! They are charming as a group and yet each are so unique. I just love the second one with the bubble apron 😉 Good luck with brown – I’m right there with you! xo
These little dresses are so lovely – lovely yellow tones and cute designs.
These are gorgeous, and I love how you get each one different all the time with such little changes.
Oh, I LOVE your little dress quilts 🙂
..and the buttons are a beautiful touch!
Great work. I love all the variations that you achieve with small changes. What fabric do you use for your base and batting? I use a cotton broadcloth for all my fabric right now. I buy it ready to dye and then dye or paint the colors that I want. I love textile art and having the tactile experience while creating. Have a great week.
These are so sweet Anita!
Thank you everyone for your kind comments! Janelle,I use just regular cotton for my base and the backing…actually for these I’m using Moda white charms for the backing, and the front is Moda I think, and is white on white cotton fabric…I use white cotton batting for all my little art quilts…I love how it feels, and it gives such great texture when you quilt it…it doesn’t slide around like polyester batting has a tendency to do…I have done some painting on fabric, and I do paint some of my dolls, but I usually just use muslin, either bleached or unbleached…I too love textile art…I’m very tactile, and I think that’s one reason I derive so much pleasure from hand-stitching…I love the sound as the threads pulls through the fabric…love seeing “blank” pieces of fabric develop into a design…cotton broadcloth is a great choice for textile art because it’s so sturdy…I also like adding bits of hand-dyed or painted scrim and cheesecloth to art quilts…LOVE the texture…I definitely prefer cotton, and most of the threads I use are cotton…I’ve tried rayon and don’t like how slippery it feels…silk is kind of nice, but also pricey!
these are adorable! love your hand stitching!
wow, they are all super cute!
I think these are my favourites of all the ones you’ve done so far. The yellow is so fantastic, bright and cheery, but still soft. I don’t know, I think these are great! Have to say though….you’re on fire with this whole colour challenge, I wasn’t sure how many of these we’d see, but you’re churning them out, and I love it. 🙂 hugs
Sweet dresses and all so different. I love the lace cap sleeves.
Wow, I didn’t even know that there were more than one way to stitch a button!
I guess that’s way I am always fascinated by anything made with stitches.
I love these little squares that you make and I still think that you should put them together as a blanket or something like that. ;0)
Darling!!! As always!