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Tuesday, September 13, 2011

"Look At Me"

I promised when I was finished with my Power Suit Challenge Piece I would show everyone a photo.  Here it is, "Look At Me"

The Theme for the Power Suit Challenge is:
What does “Power Suit” mean to you? Does it conjure images of smoke-filled rooms where deals are made? Is a Power Suit a garment or a person? Do you plug in a Power Suit? What if a Power Suit gave you Super Powers? Using Power Suits as your inspiration, create an art quilt that expresses your point of view.
Here is my "artist statement"...I say that lightly...very lightly!
This is a picture of the entire back.  This is the first time I ever sewed a facing on a quilt...I was so proud of myself.  I used Susan Brubaker Knapp's tutorial....click here if you want a great tutorial on facing a quilt.

Remember when I said I would NEVER enter another challenge as long as I live?  Well, my lesson is "never say never." 

"Look At Me" is my very first finished art quilt.  It took me longer than I would have ever expected.  If something could go wrong....it did and I'm not kidding.

Before you scroll down and see some of the "process" pieces I thought I'd tell about the process.   I got a great idea from Ricky Tim's Grand Finale DVD.  He suggests making a mock up so you are not attempting something on the final piece.  EXCELLENT advise!!! I did many mini mock ups of different steps to see what I liked and what looked good to me. 

Yes, this is a bold of Mistyfuse.  I went through two packages of Mistyfuse and decided at the rate I use this amazing fusible....I better just have a bolt.  I'm in love with Mistyfuse....I was able to get many layers of fabric fused and it remained soft....oh yeah!!!

An entire bolt....pinch me....I think I've died and gone to heaven :)
This is Mr. Peacock's third head....he had two others....but for various reasons....this was the almost final version.  I added Swarovski crystals to his eye and stitched his beak....well...you saw all that in the pix above.
I think I may have 8-10 feather mock ups....where I tried all sorts of threads, stitches and even paints.
I'm only showing a few here.

 
 
Thread?  I'm telling you if you want to make art quilts....you better have lots of thread....and embellishments.  I'm telling you I used some of every brand I own....not all ended up in the final piece....but I sure did try lots of different threads with several fabric colors to see how they stitched out.  Save all those strange little items you find....you just may need them for an art quilt one day.
Yes....you need to have lots of space for a huge mess....if you are anything like me anyway.  I can make an enormous mess when I create....I pull everything I think might even remotely work, out of the drawers, off shelves and out of closets.

  
Believe me, I'm sparing you tons of other mess that I made....however it is all put away now.
I learned that it took a lot of determination to keep going every time something didn't work out.  I tore out and tore out and tore out.  I had a puckered piece and had to block the piece no less than 4 times to get it to lay flat.  People say, drink a glass of wine before you do free motion quilting.  My advise is wait until 12:30 am when your defenses are low and go like a bat out of H E double hockey sticks...LOL.  I tore out lots of free motion quilting that didn't look good....went back and re-stitched it.  I have a very personal relationship with all four of my Famore seam rippers....yes I have four (because I misplace them and get frustrated so I have one on each surface).

I used my new Portable Handi Iron and I'm still in love with it.  I noticed another feature that I missed when I reviewed it a week or so ago.
Check out the groove on the back of the handle....guess what goes in there?
The cord.....I didn't notice that before....how cool is that?  The cord stays out of the way and its perfect for right and left handed folks!

I put it on my ironing surface upside down....no I didn't use it for a elbow rest!  YIKES

I put my hot fix Swarovski crystals on it and heated them....used my tweezers to transfer them to my piece and they were ready lickity split.
I encourage everyone if they haven't entered a challenge....jump in....it can be very difficult but I think going through the process is well worth the lessons learned.

Smiles,
Kelly

20 comments:

  1. Hurray for you to accept the challenge and to see it through to finish! That is one flashy power suit. Very cool interpretation for the term and likeness to a powerful businessman.

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  2. WOW that is one gorgeous piece of ART. Well done. You are so talented.

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  3. Your quilt is soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo amazing...I am so embarassed for mine....

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  4. Your peacock turned out great. A little beyond me at this point.

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  5. Excellent job Kelly! I love your Power Suit. I had no clue where you were going with it. This is a total surprise. Brilliance!

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  6. I really love your art quilt! What a great concept, because it's so true! lol the quilt is gorgeous, and I appreciate the tip from Ricky Tim's DVD, too.

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  7. I am very impressed! It looks like it has a lot of texture. Your picture makes me want to touch the feathers, and I really like the bright colors with the dark background.

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  8. Wonderful piece and love how you embellished it, just gorgeous work.

    Debbie

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  9. OMG!!! That is beautiful!! I can't begin to imagine the hours and hours that went into that. did good kid!!

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  10. What a great job! Your peacock metaphor is quite the clever interpretation of the theme. This quilt has real pizzazz. Love that peacock head and the way you extended the feathers with machine quilting. Another art quilter is born!

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  11. I love your Challenge quilt. What a very cute peacock, beautiful feathers and excellent quilting. Just a spectacular quilt. Great job Kelly.

    Nice iron & vacumm too!

    SewCalGal
    www.sewcalgal.blogspot.com

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  12. Mr. Peacock is gorgeous! What a fabulous job!

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  13. Kelly, your peacock is beautiful! I love your interpretation of the theme! I love all the embellishments!
    Diane

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  14. Kelly, it is amazing. I love your piece!!!!! It rocks socks... I know the pain and pleasure that went into it. And I can see it in the final piece.

    Awesome. Just awesome!

    See ya tomorrow. I'll check out of the hotel after I get up and come by so we can go together.

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  15. Congrats, Kelly! Your peacock looks fabulous!!!

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  16. That art quilt is amazing......thanks for sharing some of the steps with us. Hope you win.

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  17. Wow Kelly, it's fabulous. So incredibly beautiful.

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  18. Hip Hip Hooray! You made a fantastic creation! It is you ! All dressed in your fancy feathers and ready for take off. Bold colors and fancy embellishments suit you to a "T"!

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  19. Wow! What a challenge! I love your interpretation of 'Power Suit.' Thanks for sharing.

    Love the iron...ingenious groove for the cord.

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  20. FAAAAABulous, just FAAAABulous! He's soooo proud, and you should be too!!!! I'm glad you stuck with it through all the troubles - he's sooooo worth it and totally deserves a spot of honor in your home! I'd love to know how you did the feathers...hint hint....

    Congratulations, and here's wishing you top honors!

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Thank you for reading the IHAN Blog. I love getting and reading every comment that is left here; however I may not be able to respond to all comments left during giveaways. There are times when I am juggling many tasks at one time and may not reply to all comments. Please e-mail me at quiltnotions@gmail.com if you need a reply quickly. I thank you for your understanding and-
More Later-Beth

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