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Friday, October 30, 2015

Soft Scraps and Hard Surfaces

I really shouldn't wait a whole week between blog posts because then I have almost too much stuff to share!

First up... I'm making another "Modern Hexagon Pillow" along with my students. The English paper-piecing part is finished, and the medallion has been hand-appliquéd to the background fabric which is Essex linen. Monday I'll be teaching how to big-stitch hand quilt.

Second, I finished Scrap Vortex! That was about 16 hours of spiral quilting and six bobbins-full of Aurifil 50-weight white thread. I made binding with a variety of scrap fabrics too, and that turned out nicely.

Here is Scrap Vortex laid across our king-sized bed. 

I absolutely love this quilt! Now I'm sort of wishing I had made it just a little larger than the 88" X 92" that is it. If it was bigger, I could have actually used it on this bed!

I like this picture because you can see the spiral quilting. So glad I did that quilting design.

And last up... Several weeks ago, I bought a white writing desk through Bed, Bath and Beyond, online. The desk isn't the best quality, but it suits my purposes as a place for me to do my daily devotions and Bible study. After seeing the wonderful Christian movie, "War Room," I've dubbed this my "war desk."

Because the desk finish is pretty rough, Dan and I talked about what I might do to make it more attractive. Being the quilter I am with lots of scraps (even after Scrap Vortex), and having already made two of these "Ticker Tape on Canvas," I decided to see how the ticker tape concept might work to fancy-up that desk.

How did I do?

Quite honestly, I love it, and I had a blast actually doing it.  

At first though, since I wasn't completely sure about what I was doing, or how it would look, I started on an end... the side toward a wall. You can see that I mixed the fabric colors. In the end, I mixed the colors on the opposite end too.


After sleeping on what I'd done, I had the idea to make each of the five drawers a different color. Since orange is a favorite color, I began with that one. Happily, I could take each drawer into my sewing room to work, and trim, at my rotary mat. All fabric pieces are applied to the desk with matte finish Mod Podge.


Throughout the project I fussy cut a few pieces, so some element of the fabric design stands out. On the yellow drawer, left of the knob, can you see a small map of Australia? On the aqua drawer, see the five dice in the upper left? And the bird in the lower right corner?

After completing each drawer, and again sleeping on what I'd done, I had the idea to create a color spectrum across the top. This part really tickles my fancy!

It was a little more labor intensive because that wood piece is only two inches high. More messiness with Mod Podge and trimming teeny fabric bits.

But the finish is well worth the couple of fun evenings I spent creating it.
 

Now I'm looking at every thing differently. What else might be fair game for découpage?! Linda

31 comments:

  1. Wow! That desk! You are as clever as you are cute! That Scrap Vortex quilt is really something! So, so much work! Looking forward to seeing your modern hexagon pillow. Wish I lived locally and could take your classes! XO

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    1. P.S. I tried quilting in a spiral....found it difficult to get started and my center was pretty sketchy. How about a tutorial?

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  2. That is wonderful. It's so fun and colorful. I think your DH had better watch himself before he is Modge-Podged too!

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  3. But did you purposely put Australia upside down (under!) ?? I LOVE the desk and the quilt! Surely it's big enough- do you like it to have total coverage! I don't think I have one quilt that covers the bed and the pillows totally! I have a little Ikea stool which could benefit from some decoupage!

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  4. Good idea for the desk to brighten it up and use your design skills. I think you may have opened another can of scraps. Let us know future designs.

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  5. That desk is the best thing ever! I'm already looking around my house to see what I can do a ticker tape project on. Amanda Jean is going to flip out when she sees this. And the Scrap Vortex of course!

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  6. Love your desk!! That is ingenious and so cool looking! Scrap Vortex is awesome too - what a fun finish and good job on the spiral quilting!

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  7. Never an idle moment. The war desk turned out so fabulous.

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  8. Love the idea for the desk. You are so creative. Everything you make is an inspiration to me as a beginner in quilting. Looking forward to Appliqué class on Monday.

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  9. The desk is adorable, and I love the scrap vortex!

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  10. I love your Scrap Vortex all done! I was tempted to join you, but am afraid my scraps are so varied, brights not a lot, and more than a lot of duller more traditional fabrics that it would have ended up looking muddy! Love the colors on the desk, what an amazing idea! You inspire me!

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  11. I love your desk! I could never have imagined it could turn out so well. Taking a pristine, new, white desk and decoupaging it with fabric scraps was taking a huge chance - but it's beautiful!

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  12. Linda, the desk is wonderful. I also get my ideas after a good nights sleep. I always hear Quilter's say, their quilt tells them what it needs. This is a great example of your "quilted" project talking to you. ❤️💛💚💙💜

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  13. My many hearts at the end turned into question marks. Don't know how that happened.

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  14. I can't imagine wrestling that huge quilt on the 440, but yours turned out awesome!

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  15. Love your scrap vortex. Do you find its really heavy with all those seams? I found your lovely quilt at the show in Houston. This is such an amazing show it took me a wee while to find it, but your quilt is superb. Well done on getting it accepted for the show!

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  16. Oh boy I love this desk!!! Super creative idea and you certainly jazzed it up!

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  17. The quilt is really fabulous but the desk.....you outdid yourself with that one.

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  18. Love your desk. I just used one of your tutorial today. The No Tails Binding. It worked great the first time. Thanks for a great idea. Now to see what | can decoupage-

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  19. Do you do your quilting on the Bernina in the photo? or do you have a long arm?

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  20. Hi Jen! I'm unable to reply to you directly because you're a "no-reply comment." So, I hope you see this! Scrap Vortex was quilted on a Bernina Aurora 440. I do all my free motion quilting sitting down at a Pfaff Grand Quilter and give programs and workshops on domestic machine quilting.

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  21. I absolutely love the desk! Even better the purpose you put it too! Love all the color!

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  22. Wowzer on that desk. I hadn't seen the photo of the whole desk. It's fabulous.

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  23. You scrap votex is gorgeous and that desk is A-mazing! What a great idea!

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  24. Such a inspiring post! I have always loved your Scrap Vortex, even more now that it's quilted. Fabulous job on those spirals. And the desk is such a perfect spot for you to think, meditate and journal. Thanks for sharing it all Linda!

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  25. Linda, your war desk is wonderful. You did such a great job on the colors too. Scrap vortex looks plenty big for that bed. Just make a couple of pillow shams and it will fit perfectly. lol

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  26. I first saw this on FaceBook (Aurifil Post), great job! Love it so much!

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  27. LOVE your desk! I am always nervous about decoupage. Let us know how it holds up.

    And thanks for your next post with all the details about spiral quilting. I've always been nervous about trying it....I'm not sure if I am any less nervous about trying :) but at least I know how to do it right. Maybe I will start with a pillow.

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