Thursday, June 19, 2014

French Peony ~ an art quilt

French Peonies
"French Peony" detail by Jane LaFazio
French Peonies
"French Peony" 14x14.5 inches by Jane LaFazio (in my JaneVille Etsy shop)
I made this small quilt, inspired by my trip to France in May, 2014.

French Peonies
"French Peony" detail by Jane LaFazio
French Peonies
"French Peony" detail by Jane LaFazio
I got the antique lace at a flea market in Nice, France and the fabric circles and the flowered bias tape at a cute notions store there. I used a piece of coffee dyed cotton from my stash.
French Peonies
"French Peony" detail by Jane LaFazio
I finished the whole background, (by creating it and then cutting it up and reassembling it) and then decided it needed something more. Something symbolic of my recent trip to France. Peonies! I took many photos of the beautiful peonies in the farmers markets while I was in Nice and Menton.

French Peonies ~ in progress
I loosely traced a peony from one of my photos. Scanned it, and sized it and printed it out on paper. I pinned the paper to the back of the quilt and free motion stitched the flower, in a light pink thread. I ripped off most of the paper, and turned the quilt over French Peonies ~ in progress
and free motion stitched again, using a variegated pink thread.
French Peonies ~ in progress
I use this easy technique all the time in my art quilts.

18 comments:

  1. This is a wonderful idea/process for using a lined/contour drawing as the basis of your quilt design. thank you so much.

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  3. fabulous way to do it!! Looks great...

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  4. How beautiful is that! Thanks for showing how you made it, you are so clever.

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  5. This is such a fine memento in fabric of your trip. Thanks for the lesson of how it was constructed. So often I've seen such pieces and did not know how to create it as easily as your tutorial showed.

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  6. Fantastic!!! What a beautiful way to save your memories. I love the way you think, Jane! I'm so enjoying your latest trip photos and sketches.

    And here's a fun tip to consider next time you make a similar project... Did you know you can use a Crayola washable marker to draw right on the fabric before you free motion stitch on it? Eliminates having to pull the tracing paper out. Just hand wash it in the sink after you're done and the lines vanish. (Offered by the lazy artist who hates those fiddley bits like picking the tracing paper out!)

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    1. True, but I like to be able to scan the drawing and, honestly, I don't pull all the paper out anyway! Thanks Sharyn!!

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  7. Great way to remember your trip and the stores that you visited along the way. Some of my favorite memories, are trips to astounding fabric store, simple pleasures, right?:) Laura

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  8. Beautiful momenta of your trip to France

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  9. Jane, I've so enjoyed your trip photo and now this stunning quilt with your beautiful peony stitched on your french fabric! What a lovely momento of your trip. Thanks for the "how to" and the inspiration.

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  10. A wonderful idea to use one of your printed images to free motion stitch. Lovely quilt!!!

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  11. This is beautiful - peonies are one of my favorite flowers, too!!

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  12. I love the tracing laid on the back and then stitched. Gotta try this soon!

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  13. I love how you did your work
    Love your art work and quilts

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  14. Wow! What a great piece. One question- why put the drawing on the back and stitch? I know it could be done on the front, but I am sure you have a reason for your decision .

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    1. Jenny, If I put the drawing on the front of the quilt, I'd have to get off all the paper. And doing it from the back is like a pencil sketch, then I go back in from the front with a darker thread. thanks!!

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  15. Ooooh! I love the combination of lace and those little circles of print fabrics outlined in blanket stitches—SO charming, and so French! The blanket stitches appear to be done by hand with embroidery floss--is that correct? Lovely! —Cynthia

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