Fushcia or Fuchsia?

Sometimes the work just works.  I sit down with a purpose and it all flows and every step I get more and more excited when I see what is emerging.  Wednesday was one of those days, I wish they'd happen more often!

There are two special ladies in my life who have a birthday on September 11.  One of them is my Mother in Law (who I am blessed to like and get on with) and the other is my quilting buddy, friend, colleague, mentor and motivator, Sue.  

I know Sue likes Fushcias (but the spell check says Fuchsias - hmmmm), so that's what I set out with in mind.

When I learnt I'd sold another of my RED challenge quilts, I splurged on a Gelli printing plate - you can see it peeking out from underneath the two layers.  I used this to print my background fabric over a freezer paper resist.  Then I ironed the same resist to my organza top layer that I had already printed the day before whilst procrastinating experimenting.

Above you can see the organza layer after stamping with a few stamps and using paint sticks around the flower resist.

I used a hand-carved stamp on the bottom layer as well then layered them up with batting, basted them and began quilting.  I tried to get the warmest, reddest area of the quilt around the flower shape to bring it forward and emphasise it, with cooler green and blue more to the edges.

Here it is with most of the quilting complete.  I decided not to fill the background completely as I didn't want to lose the translucency of the organza.  I used a few coloured pencils to add a little colour here and there and to push some areas back and highlight others.

Detail shots.

I finished it with a satin stitch using a variagated 28 wt (I think - it was heavier but the gauge had worn off to spool) Valdani thread.  

Happy Birthday, Sue!!