Long May They Wave...

This joyful prayer flag emerged from the piles of scraps in my last post. It's the second of three I sent to a quilting friend for her birthday. They've arrived in Pennsylvania, and may even be waving over her garden and yard right now. It is so satisfying to combine the fibers and embellishments that have been just languishing in the sewing room longing for a home. There are handmade fabric beads in this one, along with hand-dyed fabric, and hand embroidery. A little lace and some yarn to accent the charming bird stenciled on linen (part of a prize package I won), and this flag is ready to fly. There are several more just awaiting assembly. They're kind of like potato chips!

I read about rust-dyed fabrics and just had to try it for myself. So one of the muslin-turned-rust pieces became the background for this flag. Then I bought a copy of Dianne Hire's book "Vivacious Curvy Quilts", and I just had to try it for myself. The curvy, improvisational leaf was the result of that. My sewing room is loaded with little experiments and I'm happy to find a use for them. There are many days when I like to play with fabric and just sew something... anything. That's when "just have to try it" things like rust dyeing and curvy leaves happen. And I'm a happy stitcher!