Un-nested

 

I found out about Project Quilting last year, even though it's been going for quite a while. It's inspired by Project Runway with short term challenges, just like the show. But we don't have to all come to NYC, live in an apartment and shop at Mood Fabrics. We get to stay home and create. This is the first time I'm participated and I was inspired by the first challenge: Bird House or Nest. 

I sketched this out in Procreate on my iPad. This deconstructed nest is somewhat loosely based on the mess that the blue jays leave on our patio every year. They don't make an actual nest there, they just store their materials, ie lots and lots of sticks in a big untidy heap.

I printed it out on some Dharma Trading cotton (which they no longer carry, only no-steam silk now) and sandwiched it. I used a pressing sheet just in case of ink transfer.

As you can see my printer is having a bit of a hard time, even though the paper backed fabric worked perfectly. The colors didn't come through (reminder to add more ink), there are black blotches on the leading edge and those allover pink lines, oy! It looks a bit like an instagram filter has been put over the original image.

I made it work though (just like on Project Runway, haha) and used the pink lines as quilting lines.

I like that all of a sudden I'm right back to Journal Quilt size (8.5 x 11"). 

Some closeups of the stitching. I used one of the embroidery stitches that almost looks like a Richter scale reading in a few places on the edge. 

I switched over from walking foot quilting to free motion and tried to go over my awful handwriting. It made it less clear, which is what I wanted, to make it a bit more abstracted and non-communicative.

My signature was clear though, probably because I wasn't trying to stitch over printed out handwriting.

I quite like it, even with the printing issues. Now to go post mine and check out what other people have already come up with.