A while back I did a post about one of my current projects making a raffle quilt for EFTA. You can read more about this here.
When I first started thinking about this project I was going to do each bird in a kind of “Pine Needles” style and have a small amount of thread work to finish it off. The more I thought about it the more convinced I became that if there ever was a project that screamed for thread painting it was this. My only problem was that I needed to learn to do this.
After some trial and error I have my first bird done. Isn’t he cute?
The next couple of tutorials are an explanation of what I ended up doing and why. As I said before, I’m not an expert on this by any means so if you have ANY ideas please leave a comment.
First I started off with my pattern. I traced each part onto Lite Steam-a Seam 2 and fused this to the batik fabric used for that part.
I’ve found over the years that if you are doing any kind of fusible work a Teflon sheet is invaluable. You can get these here. I really like these because I can put my pattern down on my light box, place the Teflon sheet over it and pre-assemble my project.
Since it’s hard to “see” through several layers of fabric I first pre-assembled my eyes.
Here are some shots of how the rest of the bird went together.
Here he is all fused and ready to be embroidered. Check back tomorrow for how I did this.
Once I have things a little more figured out I’m planning on offering these patterns for a small donation to EFTA. Each pattern will have directions for a “thread” version and a fabric one as well. The fabric bird will be done mostly by fusing and all the edge finishing can be done with machine quilting. If you are interested in this could you please leave a comment? Thanks.
Love the owl! What a great project and at the same time raise awareness for EFTA. I'm enjoying your blog and tutorials. Certainly would be interested in receiving the patterns for the birds with donation.
thanks for sharing.
Posted by: Cheryl McWilliams | 05/12/2010 at 07:28 AM
Your owl looks amazing! I can't wait to see how you did it, thread painting is new for me. I think the patterns for donations is a great idea too!
Posted by: Jess | 05/12/2010 at 09:25 AM
Wow! The owl looks so real !! Great Job!
Posted by: Claudia Voorhees | 05/12/2010 at 09:58 AM
I am in awe of your raw talent! Amazing...and depressing. lol Thread painting scares me but I really want to see how you did it. Gorgeous!!
Posted by: Chris B | 05/12/2010 at 12:27 PM
Oh my goodness, this bird looks so real! I can't wait to see how you did the thread painting. I don't know if I could do this without seeing it done first, maybe even a utube video.
Posted by: Mandy M | 05/12/2010 at 01:19 PM
You do fabulous work! I am excited to see how you "thread paint"!
Posted by: Karen | 05/12/2010 at 07:40 PM
Wow! You never cease to amaze me.
Posted by: Debbie | 05/12/2010 at 08:25 PM
I love your owl with it’s amazing thread work. I bought a book called Coloring with Thread and love the idea and haven't quite gotten the courage up to do it. I am eager to see how you do it. It might just be the push a need to give it a go. A pattern for a donation seems quite reasonable to me. Thanks again.
Posted by: Suzanne C | 05/13/2010 at 05:45 AM
Fabulous!! You are so talented!
Posted by: Mary on Lake Pulaski | 05/13/2010 at 10:04 AM
CONGRATULATIONS! Very beautiful your work. I have not seen this before. Some I am learning. Thank you.
Yasmin
Posted by: yasmin | 06/28/2010 at 10:39 PM