Speaking of Faces…

This “Flower Girl” wall quilt came about after I became interested in drawing faces and trying them out in fabric renditions. A quilting friend was working on two face quilts she’d begun in a class with Mary Diamond, and I was fascinated by her projects. I could hardly wait to give it a try on my own. Hopefully my resulting whimsy girl is pretty and not scary! I sketched the face on the background fabric and then emphasized the features with single-strand embroidery stitches to shade and define it. Her hair made from floral motifs is covered with tulle and accented with bright beads. You can see those a bit better in the detail shot that follows.




I learned a lot about making faces, and clearly have much more to learn. But the good news for me is that I never knew I wanted to, or could, create faces. It was so much fun and I’m happy with her.




While I was at it, I decided to try a variety of quilting techniques in the piece which I’ll enter in our guild quilt show next month. I couched knotted yarn lines on the background and then stitched with a feather stitch between the lines. And I added another blossom to one corner of the asymmetrical border just to balance things out a bit.


And now that we are done traveling up and down the eastern seaboard helping our daughter move here from NY, I’m off to a week of quilt retreat and hopefully recharging my very depleted batteries! I’ve always heard that a move is among the top three stressful events. I had no idea somebody else’s move would count, too! Phew. My sewing machine has been neglected, but will spring into action over the next few days. I’m ready.