Back To The Button Quilt

First, I would like to say thank you to those of you who took the time to comment on my April Take It Further Challenge block. I'm quite pleased with how it came out despite my struggles with it in the beginning.

I was asked what I plan to do with my Take It Further blocks. At the end of year, when all 12 are complete, I will be sewing them into a quilt. All of my blocks are 9 inches square so I thought I would do 3 blocks across and 4 blocks down. That of course, adds to my challenge. I have to make these work with each other and so far, I think I've done that. If you would like to see all 4 of the blocks that I've completed so far, you can find them here.

I was also asked what thread I used for the spiderweb on the April block. That thread is Kreinik #8 braid in a light orange color. When it comes to metallic threads, Kreinik is my personal preference.

Now that my April challenge piece is complete, I'm back to my button quilt. I finished up on this block yesterday:



All of the buttons on this block are vintage glass buttons. If you would like to see all of the Button Blocks that I've done so far, you can find them all together here.

Once the red & gold block was completed, I started on this one:



I'm seeing a bit of SRE on this!

I'm going to need another sewing day here soon. I received a lovely gift from a dear friend and fellow crazyquilter and it needs to be on this quilt. I'm going to sew up a special block specifically for showcasing it. It will definitely work with the other blocks, but I want to make sure that it stands out. It's a beautiful handpainted peacock. Ya'll know I love peococks! Stay tuned as you will know it when you see it!

April Take It Further Block Completed

After a little more beading and a few little do-dads, I have now completed my April Take It Further Challenge block:



Just to rehash this project, Sharon's concept for April is, "how do you see change?". Although I used to avoid it at all costs, I like to think now that I welcome it.

I've chosen for each month to work with both Sharon's concept and her color palette. The palette for April had a very Autumn/Winter feel to me. You can see it in the foundation fabrics of my block. Winter is one season I can live without! Since I completely welcome the change of Winter Into Spring, my personal challenge was to turn this block from that Autumn/Winter look, into a Spring/Summer look. My focal point is a butterfly which in my opinion, is the epitome of change. I strayed from the color palette with my threads intentionally.

Although I struggled with this block in the beginning, I do feel that I accomplished my mission and I am quite pleased with it.

In other news, I'm back to my Button Quilt for now:



I expect to finish this one up later today. First, I have a few chores to take care of.

April Take It Further Challenge - Day 3

As you can see, I found a butterfly that works on this block:



And I didn't even have to go beyond my own stash! I bought this pin at the last Flea Market we went to and completely forgot about it because I intended to use it on a purse. It's so perfect for this block, so I decided to just use it.

I expect to finish this one up later today. It needs a spider web, a little more beading and a few little "fill-in" do-dads.

This will be my next button block:



I'm not sure if I'll get to starting on this today or not but if not, it's ready for tomorrow.

A few years back for Christmas, a friend of mine sent me this card of beautiful vintage Lacy Glass Buttons:



I could never bring myself to use these, although that was his intention. I pulled them out yesterday and they're so beautiful, it seems ashame to keep them wrapped up in quilt batting and sitting in the drawer. They aren't doing me or anyone else any good being hidden away. So, I've decided to use them on my Button Quilt. One of those red/gold buttons should work quite nicely on this cream colored block.

Take It Further April - Day 2

Yesterday morning, I looked at this block and almost decided to scrap it and start from scratch. I just wasn't happy with how it was turning out although I do love how it pieced up:



When I came home from visiting with my sister, I looked at it again and a famous quote by Henry Ford popped into my head. He said, "Whether you think you can, or you think you can't, either way, you're right."

Then, one of my father-in-law's 'words of wisdom' came to me. "Can't never did nothin'!"

I decided to go with the flow and see what happened.

I grabbed my tin of Dyna-flo Dyes by Jacquard and painted those lace pieces. As you can see, that seemed to do the trick. It brought everything together and now I feel as if my mission to turn Autumn/Winter into Spring/Summer has been accomplished.

Judy asked me how to go about painting lace. It's actually quite simple. First, I use the Dyna-flo dyes (which are available at Michaels) because they come in small bottles and I only paint what I need each time. I never do a whole bunch at once.

Step 1 is to wet your lace. Lay it out on paper towels so the excess water is absorbed. After a minute or so, move the lace to dry paper towels. I like to mix several variations of colors. If you look closely at the Iris, you can see that there is some warm purple in there and some soft blue-purple. I just think this adds a more interesting look.

You'll want to water the dye down with a drop or 2 of water. Remember, you can add more color later if it comes out too light.

Because the lace is wet, it will pull the color in from the brush. Keep in mind too, that it will dry lighter than it looks when it's wet. Practice on a piece of cotton fabric first so you can see how the wet fabric absorbs the color from the brush.

Once the piece is done, you can let it air dry and then heat set it with your iron or you can iron it dry. Since I have nothing in the way of patience, I put my pieces in the microwave to dry. I start with 1 minute at 50% power. Then another minute at 50% power. Then I do 30 seconds at 50% power until it's dry. Textiles will burn, even in the microwave so it has be done a little at a time. And trust me, there is nothing that smells worse than burning lace!

Keep in mind too that natural fibers take the dye much better than synthetic fibers. Polyester is not a good choice for hand-painting with dye.

If you're wanting an old, antique look, you can add a bit of yellow and/or brown to your color. It's a matter of experimenting to get the look you want. Like I said, you can practice on a piece of plain cotton fabric to get a feel for it before you try it on your appliques.

Today, my goal is to find a butterfly that will show up on this block. I don't care if it's new or vintage but that's our quest for after breakfast.

April Take It Further Block - Day 1

I started stitching on this yesterday:



I'm not any too thrilled with it so far. I'm sure some more stitching will help and I'll be painting the lace pieces as well. I didn't want to do that until I had some stitching on it. I just wasn't sure what colors to go with. I actually just pulled some Perle cottons in warm pastel colors thinking that those are the colors of Spring flowers. Stayed tuned to see where this goes.

I also have a bit of show & tell for you today. I made this little cellphone pouch for Kim who's birthday was Wednesday:



I bought the little hummingbird pin at a flea market last Summer. I've been saving it for a pouch for Kim.

I also made a few cards the other day. Commercial greeting cards are just too mushy and wordy for my tastes. I really prefer to just add a little hand-written note:



I tinted the images myself on my computer and then used some of these on CQ's awhile back.

I also made these:



As you can see, I got a little "artsy" on this set!

If you want to see closeups of anything, just click on the image to go to my Flickr site.