TOURNESOLS

TOURNESOLS

 19"X35"

An Original Design

Raw Edged Fused Applique

Machine Quilted

Making Sunflowers always is a joy for me.   I love all the movement you can create as well as the mood you can set.  These three a blowing in the wind but glorious in the sun.

It is available for sale in my Etsy shoppe here.

THE JOURNEY

THREE SUNFLOWERS

Still arranging these stems and sunflowers and beginning to quilt some down.   Leaves are being added as well.


Wishing all of my followers and friends a HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!!!! 

SUNFLOWERS

 I love overdyed fabric but have no time to do it myself so always look for pieces when out at Quilt Shows or in fabric shoppes.   Here is one that I have saved for exactly this piece.  I have quilted it so it is ready for the flowers.   

 Sunflowers are one of my favorite flowers and I have planted a few in my yard this year.  I have done them in the past so I do not use a drawing but instead just free cut all of the pieces and construct it on my teflon sheet.

Had to include a partially open one.......which will be even better once quilted.

 I like place them on the quilt knowing in my mind what will still be coming.....you will have to wait to find you. 

Now I add their stems and may add a few of their leaves that are behind their stems before fusing and quilting.

I am happy when working on sundlowers....they have so much personality...joy in the beginning and then sadness at the end.

BEGINNING

 Of course you always begin with your fabric selection.  I chose to keep this sky more neutral but added in some blue just so it reads as a sky.

Once the fabric is selected I cut pieces of it dependent on how much I need to fill the area that is sky and then iron fusible on the back, trim it, tear off the paper on the fusible and stack them to I can cut them in strips all together.

 Now I have a pile of strips to use on my sky.

I add them in one at a time.  Since this landscape will have a hill on the right I make sure to place those strips closer together to make the happen.  I made a good start today.

 Here is my sunflower quilt where I used large chunks for the sky in order to create a stormy windy day.

I also chose to create the field these flowers are near in large furrows of plowed fired.  You can use whatever you feel to convey the message you are attempting to send.

I am happy to start again....spring brings so many new outdoor jobs that it is much more difficult to spend time in the studio until it is all finished and I am close now.   Hope you all follow me on this journey.

HEART TO HEART

"HEART TO HEART"

31" X 17"

An interpretation from a photograph taken by Natalie Rowe of two horses, Sarah and Limerick

Raw edged fused applique, machine quilted

Framed over stretcher bars

by 

Barbara Strobel Lardon

This art quilt was a pleasure for me to work on.  The theme being, horses, sunflowers and trees, who could ask for more.   When I saw this photograph I was immediately moved by the tenderness between these two horses and I just had to make this into an art piece.   

 Sarah and Limerick by Natalie Rowe

THE JOURNEY

QUILTING BEGINS

I have been spending as much time as I can quilting these two horses and their harnesses.  Am starting with the black thread as so much of the harness is black and I like to outline a lot in black.
It is good to have many of those smaller pieces sewn down so they do not begin to come off with all the handling that goes on during the sewing process.   Coming along though....lots to do yet.

PHOTOSHOP MAGIC

I have been bothered by the shadowed area on horse no. 2's face.....but have left it there thinking that maybe it was just that the rest of the harness was not finished....but today after getting more of the harness completed...I can see it is not working....so I took the photo and photoshopped it changing the horseand eliminating the shadow......so much better!  Tomorrow I will change him...almost feel like doing it right now.  Love that photoshop makes seeing whether your instincts are right before going thru the work of doing it. 

HORSE NO. 2

Work continues on my horses.  Horse No. 2 on the left is going to take a while as he has so much more of his harness showing.  It is a challenge making all the hooks, buckles, straps, etc for these but at the same time sort of fun when it all comes together.  Definitely much have a lot of patience for this though and the quilting will also take time.  I am happy with the progress made and hope it continues to move along as well as it has so far.

THE TEAM

 Today is the day to let you all know what the main subject matter is for this quilt.  It is this team of horses in their harnesses.   A friend of mine has a friend who owns these two beauties and she took a photo over a year ago of them and gave me permission to use it if I wanted to.  I have saved it until now when I knew what setting I wanted them in.  So I sketched them on tissue and now will attempt to recreate them in fabric.  This will take some time as you can see there it a lot of detail.  I will take photos as I go to show you the good the bad and the ugly depending on how it goes.

Debbie, you asked to see a closeup of my sunflower center and how I am quilting it.  I chose to allow the fabric to do most of the work and just quilt circles throughout the center.

Hope all of you are warm...we are in a cold spell....tonight -21 degrees.  Yikes!

MORE SUNFLOWERS

Now all the sunflowers are added.    They still need to be quilted but then I will move on to the main subject matter.   You will find out what it is soon....a challenge for sure...but hopefully will be all that I hope for.  Stay tuned.

SUNFLOWERS

I am adding more sunflowers as I move towards the foreground.  I quilt each part as I go....first the stalks, then the leaves, then the petals and last the pods.  Takes time to change the thread colors but well worth it.  Next will com the very closest flowers.

There is a lot of come....as you have probably guessed to fill the left side.  You will have to wait to find out what it is.