nearly done with January TIF

First, I want to say that Quilting Arts was totally responsive to my complaints about the lost order, which was really nice. It still hasn't made it to me but I'm sure it will be here soon and all will be well.

Last night I put the pieces for the January Take It Further Challenge. Tonight I'm going to go by a friend's and borrow her sewing machine and sew the backing on. It's all pinned and ready to go.

I quilted the bottom layer with Kreinik Gold Cord. I like the subtle added dimension.

I hemmed or buttonhole stitched around each of the top layer panels. This words panel is on the plastic-coated washable printer fabric. I bound it with leftover fabric from my sister's wedding (bride's maid dresses).

The floral printed quilted fabric is a leftover and will be the backing. I'm not sure what I used it for, but I think I made something for my sister with it. In any case, I think it complements the other colors and was handy.

The last bit I have is something I found on my quick visit to Jo-Ann's Fabrics for the printer fabric. I found these acrylic letters and plan to stitch the admire one onto the back of the back panel. I think I will also include a label of some sort but I haven't thought it out yet.

In the meantime, I've joined the Visions of Pink project by Monica (thanks for your kind words, Monica). I'm a Pink Artist (see the button to the left). My friend Jane and I are going to get together and make a few squares. I had some pink gingham handy and got going already.

I've been cleaning and clearing things out, in particular old magazines, and I found this reference to a photo transfer technique using fusible. And in my cleaning I came across my grandmother's button bag (it's an olive drab twill drawstring bag, I'm sure made from some WWII era surplus garment, with buttons and other sewing bits). In it I found a small roll of 1" wide hem bonding web.

So I cut some faces from the magazines I was trashing and gave it a go. I tore the magazine pages to give a rough edge for easier removal of the backing paper. I used a Teflon press sheet and fused the web to the front of my chosen photo. Once cool, I peeled it off and pressed it face down onto some neutral fabric. Pressed it good and let it cool.

Then I soaked the fabric/photo in water and gently rubbed off the excess paper. I was quite happy the image was there and nicely old looking.

Once the fabric was dry, I added more iron on to the back of the image and pressed it to my pink gingham. Then late last night, I colored my images in with fabric pens, sharpies, and a gold gel pen. The faces don't look much like the original but I really like them. Here are the original images.

We're also doing a lot of clearing out at work and I had pulled a couple of law text books from the garbage last year, with intentions of trying an altered book. I scanned through one for some good words and used a glue stick to tack them into position until I get into the basement boxes and find the pva or textile medium. I've pined a bit of lace onto Mona. I need to make a 2" template before proceeding. It was a fun way to end the day.

I spent a few minutes in Michael's last night and found some charms I plan to use on other pink squares and some pink ribbon.