I made a wallhanging for my cool neighbor Loretta. SHe has lent us her beautiful wrought-iron patio furniture on many occasions, she has let me borrow baking powder or oil, and is always spoiling my kids with hugs and gummy bears!
I go to the Del Mar Craft Festival every year with my mom as a tradition. I saw this pattern for a wall hanging and decided to buy it with Loretta in mind. I will explain: Loretta grew up very near Amish country in Pennsylvania. She has odds and ends in her home that are amish inspired and brings home things made my the Amish women when she visits PA.
The pattern suggested use of calico fabrics in florals, to suggest two young girls or women folding a quilt. It totally reminded me of my Holly Hobby doll from my childhood! ANyhow, I wanted to use traditional Amish colors so went and bought solid cotton fabrics in red, green and purple. This quilted hanging was using a method called paper-piecing. I hadn't done this ever so it was my first experience. And when I sew for someone, I ALWAYS think of the happiness they bring me and my family...I knew that Loretta would like this project. I couldnt wait to finish it.
I wanted each of the two girls to have different apron prints so I bought "etchings" fabric and got the same shade of white but 2 different prints! The aprons are raised off the hanging in that they are sewn at the front and top but not the outter side so it gives a 3-D effect. The sleeves are done in a similiar way to making yo-yos, then tacked on the top to give a 3-dimensional effect. I added the bows at the end. I tacked the smaller quilt down on top of the larger one so it is a little raised too.
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I am not usually up for sewing tiny pieces of fabric. I remember my mom making my Barbie clothes when I was little. I never in a million years thought in my adult life I would sew such tiny pieces together. Although I have sewn tiny pieces in the past, this was a challenge coupled with the fact that I hadn't done paper-piecing before! I quilted and binded it at the end and I am quite proud of how this turned out:.JPG)
The infamous "grass" backdrop:.JPG)
The finished product and me to show the scale of the hanging:
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3 comments:
Aww it look so good! The image is very cute and the detail is so nice. Here is a sill question, the quilt part was prob. done by an machine but on the girls it looks too small or detailed is that part done by hand?
Beautiful! I am sure your neighbor loved it.
Cute! It's Ashley--I met you at Chantal's sewing group. Thank you so much for teaching me how to use a sewing machine and how to make a cute bag (I just have to add the handles)! I feel so lucky to have had such a great first teacher : )
The bows were tacked down by hand. Also the sleeves were done by hand...gathering them as well and then tacking them down where they belong. The aprons I left to be free on the outter sides to give the hanging dimension. Thanks for the compliments!
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