Saturday, February 25, 2017

INSIGHT IN THE CREATIVE PROCESS

Several months ago a friend emailed me and asked me to do a baby quilt.

She gave me a rough draft of the beach, banana tree, monkey, lion, and wanted me to add a turtle.

The rest was up to me.

Since she lives in Amerika Samoa I felt that you have to have a lot of sun.  If the sun is not shining it is raining.

For me, nothing is better than Island Batik Fabrics for blending and applique so I went to my scrap ben of Island Batik fabrics.

As you can see here I have done a sun with rays.  I used paper piecing for this. 

 Actually I just got a piece of paper about the width I wanted and then started from the middle.

  I worked from the inside out  with the middle strip, then placing right sides together I sewed a 1/4" seam down one side...flipped it over, ironed down....sewed another piece of fabric onto that one and just continued on that way to one side then I repeated the same process on the other side.  I would just cut the strips the way I wanted them.....if it was not slanted enough...I would just cut away.



I auditioned fabrics for the ocean.

Then sand.



If you will noticed the finished product, I cut down the light blue waves, didn't like the look of it so I cut it before I sewed it down.



Here we are auditioning for border fabrics, this is where I let my friend decide on what fabric she wanted for the border (notice the smaller light blue waves).


I went to coloring book pages online...  I would write in monkey coloring book page.  Did the same thing for everything else.

I had two monkeys I was torn between, finally decided on this monkey.
I can draw but there are some things I can not.  If I do take from coloring book pages for a quilt I do not make it a pattern to sell.


Here I am trying to decide on the fabric for the lettering.

Using my Cricut I cut out the letters in cardboard and then drew the letters backwards on the Heat N Bond.  Then ironed onto the backside of the fabric, then cut.



Finally finished.  This process took me about 3 months.  I was stumped for a while and sick.

I wasn't sure about the background so I let it sit hanging from my longarm so I could see it and think.

Lots and Lots of thinking.

My friend wanted a pink turtle for a sibling that was lost before birth.

I hope she likes it.  I do believe thinking is the major part of the process....

14 comments:

QuiltShopGal said...

It really is adorable. So cheerful. You did a great job.

QuiltShopGal
www.quiltshopgal.com

Gene Black said...

I find that the thinking/decision process almost always takes longer than the "doing' part.

Jackie's Stitches said...

It's so very cute Barbara! I love the sun especially. Your friend is going to love it!

Donna said...

Your friend will love this quilt. It is stunning.

Needled Mom said...

OMGosh...that is fabulous. The pink turtle is a treasure.

Jocelyn is Canadian Needle Nana said...

Ditto all the other comments. I think you did a great job of this quilt. I love it.

Dayna said...

AccuQuilt has a cute monkey and lion. I use them all the time. Love how the blanket turned out and the pink turtle in remembrance. I just recently purchased the alphabet from AccuQuilt. I see lots of quilta with words in my future.

KaHolly said...

I enjoyed reading about your creative process! Thank you for taking the time to share! It came out beautifully! You can't rush these things! XO

Annie said...

This quilt turned out terrific, Barb. I imagine your friend must be quite pleased. I can definitely relate to all the thinking part of creativity.

West Michigan Quilter said...

That is adorable. Your friend will love it.

Carol- Beads and Birds said...

The quilt turned out too darned cute!!

beaquilter said...

it looks great, I hope she sends you some samoan fabrics some day to play with, I remember buying some on Ebay years ago from there.

Missy Shay said...

This quilt turned out sew cute!

Jan said...

Your quilt is so cute! Great job!