An Update on Miss J's Girl--post 2

Headed out for a walk with Miss B

When last we visited Miss J and her stitching project, she was embroidering the hair spikes on her girl. She continued to choose different colors for each area of her girl's hair.

We had a small celebration when we finished stitching the girl.  Miss J likes going for a walk in the neighbored with Bailey, our dog. One of the neighbors that lives across the street decorates a lion lawn decoration in their front yard. It is always fun to see what the lion is wearing!

We also discussed how to fill in the hair. We talked about more hand stitching--this was a NO because it was too hard to do. We talked about paint--this was a NO because it would take too long to dry. We talked about free motion quilting--this was a NO because it was too hard to envision.

Finished girl

We talked about coloring--this was a YES!!! She chose Crayola crayon colors that complimented the thread she used.  As she colored, she decided that her figure's face needed color as did her dress. She also decided she needed a sparkle button on her girl's dress!

She decided that the background was too plain and needed coloring too. She chose black to start and immediately didn't care for the color. We talked about her options. She didn't want to cut her figure out and she definitely wanted to keep going with the project. So we added more colors to the
background and will probably add some more to mute the dark area. She likes the progress we have made.

Girl after colorization

We discussed how to finish the edge. She wanted more fabric and by more fabric she really meant fabrics as in something on the edge. Using fabrics from a variety of colors detracted from her handwork. She opted for orange strings that were leftover from one of my piecing projects.

Girl after painting 

She still wasn't excited about the background so we got out the acrylic paints. She picked the colors. I showed her how to add some white to the orange and to the pink to achieve a lighter color.

She loved blending the colors. She liked experimenting--picking up a dash of the color and adding it to the white all the while watching how she created a different tint.

She employed different brush techniques. Sometimes she plopped the brush and made a dot sort of shape. Sometimes, she drug the brush across the fabric. Sometimes she used a lot of paint. She had fun. Now, she is happier with the results. I think it is ready to be layered, basted and quilted. Let's see if Miss J concurs!

Trio of Sisters--drawing and coloring Post 2

Vignette of the sisters

Supplies used to colorize the figures

This post is the second one regarding the project I'm stitching after reading the book, "Girl Waits With Gun." When Miss J and I completed our initial drawing, I figured that I needed to draw one more figure which I did. When I laid the drawings next to one another, I found that "Norma" was too small; "Fleurette" was too large and "Constance" was too small. I redrew "Norma." My friend, JoJo, reduced the size of the copy for Fleurette and she increased the size for Constance. Then I played with an arrangement of the three together. I was thinking of a vignette that would eventually be enclosed in an oval frame.

Colorizing the figures

I left Norma a bit outside the grouping because she was opinionated and often looked down on the others' decisions. I gave Fleurette a big hat and some emeralds as she loved being ostentatious and bling. I put Constance in the green dress the author described. I left her a little smaller than she was. In the book,  she didn't give herself credit for her skills and passed herself off as less than she really was. In life, she was six feet tall and Fleurette was just over five feet tall. What a pair the two of them must have been!

Once I had the figures arranged, I pulled a piece of muslin from my stash and lightly penciled the figures in place. Then it was time to colorize the figures.

I used color pencils, inktense pencils, acrylic paints and jacquard paints. This was my first experience with adding color. It was scary to start; but, I did! After getting past the fear of making a mistake, I had fun playing with various supplies. I liked the results.

I used a Clover type iron to set the color as I worked. For example, I set the purple lines in Fleurette's hat first. Then, I worked on filling in the color. I used aloe vera gel as a medium with the dye based paints. I found the medium helped me apply the color more evenly. As I completed a section, I heat set it with a small Clover brand iron.

All three figures colorized

It was fun to shade each figure's hair. I really had planned to make Norma's clothing red; but, decided that the orange went better with the clothing on the other figures! The lines on Constance's dress were supposed to represent her sleeping in her clothing at the jail. The lines in Norma's clothing, were drawn to represent what her coat might be like after wearing it day after day doing her outside chores.

I've been thinking about stamping a background around the figures. I've been thinking about adding machine embroidered words which would mean I MUST learn the ins and outs of that process. It isn't as simple as typing the words, selecting the font and pushing stitch!

On a side note, at the end of September when our Thread Tales group met for the reveal of quilts which were inspired by the book, the author, Amy Stewart joined us. Turns out, she moved from California and lives in the Portland area now. She had dinner with us and then we walked over to Powell's Books and listened to her speak about her latest book. It was a fun evening. She was impressed with the quilts that our group had completed.

There will be more posts to come with this project!

Crayon Doodle post 1

Miss J's doodle filled in with coloring

This quarter, our book club read "Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie," by Alan Bradley. In January, I purchased a couple fat quarters that spoke to me for making a project which was inspired by this book. At that point, I was a few chapters into the book.

By the time that I finished the book, I wanted to focus on another element. The character rides a bike as she solves a mystery. She rides that bike, which she has named, "Gladys," all over the countryside. It made me think of a cartoon where the cartoonist has shown the path a kid has traveled to bring his mother something she requested or the path that he traveled to come home. . .in both cases, the path was far from direct!

Our youngest grand had made a drawing for me months ago. It was simple lines. I decided that I wanted to preserve her work in my art. So I asked permission--it is important to ask the artist for permission to use their original work! She said yes!

Drawing with marker applied over crayon

Doodle outlined with black marker

In February, I took it off the refrigerator and we colored it. Then, I had the idea that I would transfer the design to a piece of fabric.  The transfer didn't work well because we hadn't colored with Crayola brand crayons. So, we filled in the spaces with Crayola brand crayons and ironed it again. The color choices and most of the color placement are all Miss J.  I liked it better; but, it wasn't vibrant enough. I had some fabric markers so I colored over the crayons.

The drawing at this point reminded me of looking down at the countryside while flying over it. I liked the drawing better with the marker applied. I think it needs a little machine embroidery and of course, machine quilting! I'll let it set and talk to me for a bit. It will be interesting to see what results from our conversations!