First Fused Base!

Got back from the Road Trip late Saturday and spent most of Sunday enjoying  the 'Fall Back' day of the end of daylight savings time by not doing much of anything.  I did make a small (8.5 x 11) fused background Friday night but haven't done anything else to it since.  So far I am liking it.

 

 

Rather than using the release paper from the Wonder Under as a working base, I found a great tip on Melody Johnson's blog archives Fibermania to use an Oven Liner.  I got mine at Wal-Mart for about $10. 

 

 

I did put in some time at the cutting table on a French Braid quilt I am making for the Amish/Mennonite Haiti Relief Auction next Spring.  I've added two new fabrics that I picked up at Lolly's Fabrics in Shipshewana on Saturday, so the fabric run for the braid looks like this. I am working on this quilt as it is just straight forward piecing while two other quilt designs percolate for awhile.  Need to keep moving forward!!

 

 

 I posted a selection of some of my quilts on my Quilt Gallery page, in no particular order - take a peek.  Doing this made me realize that I often have just working pictures of my quilts not shots of the finished project. AACK!!  I'll be dragging them out to the clothesline and updating my files and the gallery as soon as I can get some decent weather without the gusty breezes of late.

Light the Fuse!!

While I've done some fused quilts over the years, I've never been entirely happy with the results.  So imagine how happy I was to discover Melody Johnson's blog Fibermania. As one of the founding member of the Chicago School of Fusing, her blog is packed with information on making successful fused quilts, as well as knitting, gardening, cooking and life in Tennessee.  Check it out - it's AMAZING!!

And how does that affect me - since I have a few pieced quilts incubating in the design stage, I am going to play with some small fused art quilts.  Starting at the very beginning and following Melody's process step by step - not deviating, not thinking I know better (cause I DON'T) and not trying to reinvent the wheel.  It starts with hand dyed fabric. Hmmm, I have Cherrywood FQs and oh yeah, I almost forgot about the 6" squares of HD fabric that I bought back in September at the Northwest Suburban Quilters Guild show.  For the life of me, I can't remember the gal I bought these from but as soon as it comes to me, I'll share. I'll start with these.

 

 

Great bright colors that will go well with the Cherrywoods I have in mind - Blue Lagoon group.

 

 

Fusible on back

 To begin, all the squares are fused to regular Wonder Under 805.  I got mine at Wal-Mart, 3 yards @ $1.66/yd. = $4.98.  I'll do some of the Blue Lagoon fabrics later today. This will be an exercise in letting go of control and playing with color, so stay tuned.

Also on today's agenda is the baking of SCONES!! I'm getting ready for another Road Trip...