Make Something Beautiful

You may remember at the first of 2021, I promised to post one art quilt a month. If you’ve been paying attention, you have also noticed that I’ve fallen behind on that promise. In an effort toward catching up, I’m posting a unique little quilt that I hope inspires you to have fun making your own. I did not make this quilt, but it was inspired by a class I taught at the BERNINA store in Anaheim, CA. The creator of this beauty is Denise Funk, a student in my Mixed Media Sewing class last month.

This little quilt starts with a background that is quilted with randomly placed lines of straight stitching. This creates texture that you can build on, adding layers of fabric, paper, and trinkets. The colorful embroidery design is an OESD design that is available at embroideryonline.com. It is part of a collection of whimsical designs (Words of Wisdom #80133 by Tamara Kate) related to creating and following your dreams. It can also be purchased as an individual design.

Adding Layers

The embroidery design shows up well on an off-white background and is framed by couching color-coordinated yarn along the fabric edges.  If you look closely, you’ll see several sewing techniques that add texture and interest to the piece. The small piece of fabric to the left of the embroidered fabric has texture added with a free-motion stitch called a scribble stitch. Click here to see how easy and fun it is to sew, plus it’s a great way to begin learning free-motion stitching.

A ruffle is attached to the quilting by couching a small cord down the center to cover the gathering stitches. Click here to see a previous post: 3 Ways to Gather.

In the upper right area of the quilt, Denise stitched horizontal pintucks to add texture and interest to a small piece of linen fabric. Click here to see how to stitch a gridwork of pintucks on a larger piece of fabric.

Across from the pintucks, to the left, the striped linen fabric has added texture using a wing needle. This needle makes decorative holes in the fabric as you stitch. Click here to see a post I wrote for WeAllSew.com about hemstitch applique, also stitched with a wing needle.

Denise finished the quilt by adding a variety of buttons, beads, charms, stickers, and other “crafty” trinkets. I love the colorful binding she used to finish the edge. It brings all the elements together, making the quilt cohesive and balanced. Well done, Denise – thanks for sharing!

If you have mixed media sewing projects, I’d love to share them. Leave a comment below and/or send them to me at: [email protected]. Can’t wait to see what you come up with!