Hop, Hop, Hop...

Surprise!  Yes, I'm alive...and well.  I can't believe it's been so long posting to my blog.  I've been busy with other things, I guess.  I've enjoyed a new venture into cookie decorating and have also jumped back into quilting.  As many of my friends know, I can't seem to do all things at once- and tend to focus completely on one "project" or adventure at a time.  Anyway, I decided to head into my stamping room to give it some much needed love- and start working on some cards for friends, family and...my students.  Then, it came to me!  The VISION...

Thanks for stopping by!  Please join me and my fellow Heartfelt Creations DT Alumni for this monthly hop.  We hope you enjoy our creations and find they inspire you to get stamping and creating! Please make sure to make a comment on each blog post so you can qualify for the gift certificate drawing.  The winner will be announced on Saturday-after the hop closes on Friday, August 29, midnight EST.  Good Luck!

Now on to my project!

I decided to combine my love of stamping and my love of fiber arts in creating my project this month.  It's been a time consuming project as it is being freehand quilted and hand beaded.  It's not completely done either because I can't seem to make up my mind how I want to finish it.  I'm thinking either a framed piece OR a little pillow...We'll see.  So today, I'm going to show you my process of working on this piece.  It was totally unplanned and just came from a vision...That's how I prefer to work.

For the first step, I selected some white cotton fabric (prewashed) and cut it approximately 12x12. I then pulled out my most favorite posies stamps.  LOVE THEM!  I inked up the stamps using India Ink and began to color the images with Memento inks and a wet paint brush.

Spraying some Glimmer Mist on the fabric helped to create a more vintage look as well as added some shine.  Drying only took a minute or two in front of the fan.

After painting the flowers, I added a bit of blue to create some shading as well as give the fabric more depth and texture.

After that, I added some Stickles because I LOVE sparkle.  Quite interestingly enough, the Stickles added two effects, sparkle, and in some areas- it acted as a bleach and lifted the Glimmer Mist color to create a marble-like effect.

Next it was on to the first stage of embellishing...adding seed beads and sequins.  A LOT of them. Yes, a tedious and time consuming process, but well worth it in the end.
Next, I was on to hand stitching designs with some colored thread and DMC floss.  I also added seed beads and sequins here and there.  After that, I added some batting to the back of the fabric, sewed one edge of the block to the batting (to decrease the likelihood of puckering fabric when stitching) and began the long process of hand quilting the square with some iridescent/silvery variegated thread.

Lotsa beads, lotsa stitches...My eyes are crossed and my fingers ar feeling stiff!  HA HA

I decided that I also needed to stitch the sentiment since I already had stitched the flowers so I used the same black thread.

Swirls and loops help keep this piece organic and freeform...so there was no need to worry about stitching crooked lines!  Love that!

So there you have it!  The process thus far.  I believe it'll take at least another day to complete the quilting and then I hope to have decided how to finish it off.  Please stop back in a few days to see the finished piece!

HC items Used:  

HCPC 3303 Posy Patch Flowers
HCD 701 Posy Patch Dies
HCPC 3377 Sympathy Sentiment PreCut Set 

Other items used:

White cotton fabric
Memento Ink:  Bahama Blue, Danube Blue, Ladybug Red, Grape Jelly, Rhubarb Stalk
India Ink: Black (Stewart Superior)
Dreamsicle Glimmer Mist (Tattered Angels)
Black, Orange thread
Metallic iridescent variegated thread
DMC floss (Pink, blue)

Embellished with:

Crystal Stickles
Iridescent sequins
Iridescent and black seed beads

Here's the blog order:  

Emilia van den Heuvel 

Selma Stevenson

Amarilys Doria

Alissa Wells

Giovana Smith

Candy Slabaugh 

Kerry Urbatch-ME!

Sarah Miller

Glenda Brooks

Lisa Gregory

Mary Faus 

Vicki Dutcher 
Debbie Sayer
Lisa Allen 

I will be back around noon on Sat. August 30th to announce the winner of this hop.  The winner will receive a $25 gift certificate to shop at Heartfelt Creations -Good luck to all!!!