Friday, January 13, 2012

Struggle, Struggle, Slash



I just wasn't happy with this quilt until I decided to cut the blocks apart and sew them in a different arrangement. I love that this was so easy done! "Feel the fear and do it anyway!" Now I am happy. I'm sticking a fork in it and calling it done! Time to quilt it and move on to playing more with my indigo fabrics. The windows were pieces left over from demonstrating discharging in Georgia (country not state). It feels so good to be using these long kept treasures.


Many of you have asked how I created the discharged block in my other quilt. I dug around and found the cheap foam stamp that I used! These foam rubberstamps can be found at Michael's, JoAnn's, Hobby Lobby, etc. When I was purchasing them, they sold for $1.00.  I am sure they are more now but still inexpensive. I found that they are great for discharging with bleach. I honestly don't remember the brand of fabric I used.  From the feel and look of it, I would guess it is Kona black, but I always like to pick up black fabrics so I can see what colors are created when the fabric is discharged. That is part of the fun. I have some green fabric from Georgia that discharges to a very nice purple! I really wish I had bought more of it when I was there. I had no idea if I could create this block when I attempted it, I was thrilled with the results and surprised when none of my students in the workshop wanted to try creating designs with the stamps. I can only hope they played when they got home.

I am so excited that the challenge fabrics are making their way to their new homes. Today Irene Armock joined! I can't wait to see what is created!


4 comments:

  1. Amazing what a little rearranging will do, isn't it? Nice.
    Oh, Karen, now I know what you started this challenge: a great way to get rid of this ugly fabric! I washed it, hoping it would fade. Nope. Nor did it get softer. So the challenge is on and I will deal with it over the weekend after a good night's sleep!
    What was I thinking? LOL

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  2. Karen
    My fabric arrived for the challenge! It is on the design wall....and I await the arrival of my Rayna book..Amazon says it is on the way....then the fun begins.
    Kristin

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  3. Rayna, Just remember you asked for it.

    Kristin, Thanks for letting me know you got the fabric.

    Let the whining begin. I have some soaking in coffee. Let's see if that changes anything. Hugs, Karen

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  4. Karen, I posted this and it didn't show up, so I ALSO posted it on Rayna's blog.
    My fabric arrived Thursday (yesterday) and I hate it just as much as I feared I would from the picture. LOL. But this is partly the reason I wanted to do the challenge--trying less-than-favorite fabrics and using Rayna's method of free-form piecing strips and working intuitively rather than having a firm plan.
    So here I go! I got out a box full of leftover strips. Will report later.
    Martha Ginn

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