Quilting Charley Harper Style

I have been very attracted to the artistic style of the American illustrator Charley Harper since it was introduced to me awhile ago.  I thought it would be a great idea to make a quilt in a sort of tribute to Charley Harper.  Mia and I discussed the style of his art, which she also liked.  She digitized a panel of birds in a 'Charley Harper' style for the embroidery machine.  I had not had a chance to do anything with the panel yet since it wasn't 'calling' me.  Then I found out that Birch Fabrics were producing a line of fabrics using Charley Harper drawings as the designs.  I knew that I had to acquire some as soon as possible even though they were very expensive organic fabrics.  I was able to snatch a fat quarter of each fabric, plus a couple of 1/2 yard pieces too.

I was struggling with a quilt design that would best 'showcase' the fabrics and the designs.  I decided that the best way to get started was to embroidery the 8 panels first.  I have finished stitching them and here they are.  They are not yet sewn together, but you should get the idea. I decided to choose some of the colors in the fabrics to stitch the leaves and I used some of the fabric for the applique part of the birds.  Hopefully when all of the fabrics are put together, everything will blend and look good.

Now, my next job is to design a 'quilt' around them.  I think I have some good ideas on how to proceed and I am going to get started working on them right away.

Christmas Tree Banner

I have been wanting to make a little Christmas tree banner for a few years.  I finally got around to making one last weekend.  I am sharing a couple of quick pictures with you.  This one was just it laying on the floor.

 

Here is a close up of one of the trees.

And here it is attached to my TV entertainment cabinet.  I just used a couple of the removable clips made by Command.  SEW cute!

Christmas Tree Quilt

Here is the Christmas Tree Quilt that I have been talking about.  I once again used blocks from Chantell's Creations.  These are done in the Stitch and Flip method.  Very similar to paper piecing, but using the embroidery machine instead.

I am trying to find a way to get better photos of my projects.  I have very little wall space, so I do not have a way to hang them to take pictures such as a design wall.  So I usually end up placing them on the floor, and trying to get high enough to get a picture.  I have also used my friends to hold them for me to get pictures.  I am thinking of alternative ways to get photos.  One thought would be to use a room divider, I could open it up when I needed to take a picture, and then close it back up for storage.  Looking for other suggestions.