Got 2 hours? C R E A T E something....

I just gave myself an exercise. Complete a small project in 2 hours with material you have on hand. It does not have to BE for somebody, or MEAN anything... just CREATE....

I had bought some funky ribbon, bright orange rick-rack and a container of beads at a quilt show on a whim....simply because they made me smile. So what was I waiting for? I manage my stress by creating things with my hands, and I was long overdue for some spontaneous designing. 

Here is what I started with. The white is a chunk of Timtex I used for my "blank canvas." I used the ribbon for inspiration and pulled matching Cherrywood from my stash....

I chose my favorite motif from the ribbon - the leaf - and found the biggest plate I could to trace a circle onto the orange fabric. I drew the leaf to scale on fusible web, cut it out of red, and inserted a strip of brown behind it so I didn't have to cut a thin sliver for the vein or quilt it in later.  

This is about 20 minutes into the project. I already had some pieces of fabric that were cut with a wavy rotary cutter, so I simply lined them up. The green is a piece of Cherrywood corduroy.

Before I could talk myself out of anything, I started sewing down the layers to the Timtex. The position of the ribbons was determined purely by the length I had available. I laid things down on instinct, and let the parts tell my where they wanted to go.

Here we are at almost an hour. At this point I decided to give myself 2 hours... The rick-rack is added, and I used a coaster to make a smaller motif from the ribbon. I ironed the rick-rack to the back of the green circle before fusing it to the background.

So far the design is very simplistic, so I decided to mimic the most detailed motif on the ribbon for some variation. I cut out a Chocolate brown circle and fused strips of other colors on top of it. 

So I had one big circle, 2 medium circles... now it was time for some small circles. Scale is very important in design. This spool of thread just happens to be the same size as the circles on the ribbon. I cut a handful from several colors. Again, working fast enough to avoid talking too much to myself...

These circles were added in places that seemed too "open" and were somewhat lined up with the ribbon to give the design a grid layout.    

I let everything hag off the edges of the Timtex so that I could wrap it around the edges for a simple finish. I ironed down 1/2" fusible tape, then folded all the edges around to the back. I sewed rick-rack along the edge so half of it hung over.

Okay it has bee 2 hours, and I am adding beads. Since I am not the fastest beader in the world, I know this may be an on-going part of the piece -- something I can do while watching TV. So all-in-all, I finished the design in 2 hours.

And here is the finished "quilt." No, it is not perfect. No, it is not my best work. No, it is not technically a quilt with three layers. But MAN did it feel GREAT to get immersed in this project. I will add more beads, then iron a backing onto it to hide my stitches and call it done. 

Will somebody be getting this for Christmas???     

Comments

[sandy]

I love it. I could use it for Christmas. LOL

[Jackie]

Sometimes those improv pieces are just the best. I love it, the colors are fantastic.

[Brenda]

Lucky to be a sister and receive one of these for Christmas!!

[Mary]

What a great design - and a good exercise! Would love to see it in person!

[Stacy in Wyoming]

I am the lucky sister that received this beauty! I have hung it in my office at home against a barn red wall. Looks great!