Dryer sheet stitching & giveaway winner

Over the last little while I have been playing with a single feather motif. In this case, a dryer sheet that I prepared with paper backed, fusible web, was cut in the feather shape and simply fused onto cotton. I love the transparency of this.

Stitching finishes it nicely

I hope you were able to come by earlier this week and check out the blog-hop, wasn't it interesting to to see how we all did the same design in such different ways?

Thank you to all who left a comment, the winner of her choice of the two featured Terri Stegmiller patterns is Penny who said:  "great patterns and a lovely give away, Love them both, they made me smile. Especially the butterfly one"

But don't forget each participating blog is naming a winner so check them all.

If you would like to make your own version of these whimsical designs, Terri's patterns are available in her Etsy shop.

Linking to Nina-Marie's Off the Wall Fridays

Blog Hop & Giveaway

You may recall, that a short time ago, I "tested" a pattern for Terri Stegmiller.

In addition to myself, there were several other "testers" who took Terri's patterns and created fabulous pieces in their own unique and creative way.  Mine looked like this, you can see the process here

Terri has generously organized a blog hop and giveaway that we could all participate in,....the prize? a copy of one of Terri's patterns.  You get to choose which pattern you'd like, either Paws in the Garden or Butterfly Moments. 

Please leave a comment in this post for your chance to win....but...wait...you have have even more chances , read on to learn how.

The pattern will be provided to you in PDF document format, which you download and print yourself.  It will be delivered to your email address.  Please be sure you provide contact information when you comment.

A winner will be randomly drawn the morning of Friday, December 13.

Please visit all of the following blogs for more chances to win (each blog will have a winner) 

Good luck everyone!

Terri Stegmiller

SewCalGal

Jill Buckley - The Quilt Rat

Teresa Raleigh - A Quilt and a Prayer

Marsha Leith - Cool Quilting

Snoodles - Lily Pad Quilting

Judy Applegarth - ScampAlot

Margie Kraft - Margie Quilts

Joy Manoleros - Bjoyful Studio

Pattern Testing for Terri Stegmiller

Paws in the Garden by Terri Stegmiller

I have long been a fan of Terri Stegmiller's work, Terri is a fabulous artist, author, designer, and quilter with a very distinctive style. Recently she put out a call looking for several quilters willing to "test" one of her new patterns. I waved my hand in the air yelling pick me...pick ME!!! and she did.
By having several different people make up her design/pattern, Terri is hoping that quilters will be able to see just how varied these designs can look depending upon the technique(s) used.
The quilt pictured on the right is Terri's version of her design.

I think this is wonderful, you can purchase the file from her Etsy shop, download and print it. There are registration marks on each page so that you know where to trim and how it all fits. Tape the trimmed, printed pages together and you have a full size pattern ready to work with.

Now, this is the fun part....YOU decide how you want to create your quilt. There are no "instructions"....you are not being told what to do step by step...it is your quilt and you are making all the decisions from this point on.
You can do the marvelous stitch and paint technique that Terri is known for, or anything else you prefer.....you work in the style, method and colours you want. I decided to use a fast fusible applique method in a very graphic combination of blacks, whites, and greys with lime green for a little punch

Most of you are likely aware that I do not generally work with patterns, I don't tend to do another artists designs, but I was thrilled to be a part of this exercise and it was such a fun challenge for myself.  I hope you enjoy seeing these photos of this quilt from start to completion.

The PDF file fresh from my printer  (I did number each page to be sure I wouldn't get mixed up)

here it is all taped together

Since, I planned to use a fused, raw edge applique technique, I needed to work from the reverse side, I simply flipped the pattern over and traced the lines onto the back of the paper

I identified, numbered, and traced each piece onto paperbacked fusible web, selected my fabrics, fused the shapes and cut them out, here, all of the design elements are assembled

Next I laid the background fabric on top of the pattern and began fusing the pieces in place, starting with the pieces that would appear farthest back and moving to the foreground    (recognize that green polka dot fabric?)

everything is fused and I am ready to move on to the next step. I batted and backed this piece and then had fun with the quilting

...oh....and I DID have fun with the quilting.......a kitty with feathers?

Ta da! the finished quilt....Paws in the Garden.....a Terri Stegmiller design,...the "Quilt Rat" version.

what about you? how would you use this design? What technique would you use? what colours?

I am so looking forward to seeing what the others will do with this whimsical design. Be sure to pop over to Terri's blog and see all the amazing things that oh so talented and clever girl has on the go.

Linking up to Nina-Marie's  Off the Wall Fridays......grab a cuppa and join the fun...wonderful things are happening all over  blog-land

Stitch and Inktense Pencils

Have you picked up the current Quilting Arts Magazine? This issue contains an article by Terri Stegmiller that just looked like so much fun, I HAD to give it a go.

If you like the little piece that I am working on, then believe me, you will WANT to check out this article and see exactly what Terri reveals about making her whimsical "story" quilts. She talks about her article in a blog post here.........I don't want to give too much away....plus, I was just so incredibly eager to get playing that I have to admit I did skip a few steps.
I created a drawing that I thought would work....(in hindsight, maybe something simpler for my first effort would have been a wiser choice)
I basically grabbed an interesting batik, taped my drawing onto the light table and began transferring the image onto the fabric using a black Micron permanent pen.

Next I batted and backed this piece and got it ready for stitching.

This is a tremendous exercise for working on your free motion stitching control.  You see, Those lines drawn with black pen are now being stitched over with black thread.

Once I had all my lines covered with thread, I couldn't wait to begin adding colour.

While Terri's demonstration used transparent paints in her article, my Inktense pencils have been languishing in a drawer so I decided to see what sort of result I could achieve using them.

This is as far as I got last night.....it is work "in progress"   :-)

This is just a tiny start to the possibilities that Terri shares in her article.....I am looking forward to exploring this more.....much, MUCH more! Thanks for the inspiration Terri!!!!


Linking up to Nina Marie's Off the Wall Fridays