Owls on Linen- Two New Wall Quilts

Here's two new wall quilts in my shop space. I thought I'd do something seasonal for a change and the one above has sold! Yay! My first sale! It's about dang time too, I was starting to despair.

This owl has got his eye set on a new home. Tonight is a showing of one of the more well-known artists at the shop, so I hope my booth gets some extra exposure.

The Potter's Hands

I just couldn't make myself do another "this ought to sell" project today. It had to come from the heart and be a true creative work. I've opened my sketchbook to a drawing I did a few months ago in church. "Mold me, use me, fill me, walk beside me, I give my life to the potter's hands..." or something similar goes the song. The sketch I did was pretty rough, so my neighbor consented to being my hand model.
She's a beautiful lady with much love and work in those hands, so I think she's a great fill-in for the true Potter. Now let's see if I can render this into a quilt.

Brown and Turquoise Quilted Pillow and Table Runner

Yay! Another finish! This is a pillow and table runner for the shop. Both can also be hung on the wall. These were pretty fun to quilt up, especially the feathers. I love feathers.

Detail of the runner below. The brown is a slightly varigated King Tut by Superior Threads and the interior of the plumes and the quilting in the larger print is a varigated Mettler Polysheen.

The turquiose fabric isn't actually a solid, but has bits of colors in a 'grunge' kind of pattern. I did the main quilting at the shop during one of their publicity events. Nothing sold, but I did get nearly 4 solid hours of quilting done!

Sweet Fabric Dumplings

My first attempt at making Keyka's Dumpling zip pouch was a bit lumpy but made my 5-year-old very happy. She's holding her coin purse below, made in Riley Blake's Quite Contrary fabrics. Which is fitting since my little Miss can be quite contrary; she resembles the little girl with a curl in the middle of her forehead.... You know, the one whom when she was good she was very good, but when she was bad she was horrid? Sunshine and storms this one.

Anyway, Keyka calls for hand basting the zipper and the outer and lining fabrics. Not gonna happen. I also will not use 2 bowls in a recipe if I can get away with using one. And my result was a lumpy dumpling. I also tried to only interface the lining and not the outer fabric also.
I wonder what tutorial and recipe writers think of those who try to shortcut their directions? I can't seem to follow to the letter of either. But I had to try, especially since the generous Keyka is OK with folks selling their own dumplings made from her tutorial and I think these would be great in my shop if I can make them quickly.

So I tried again, this time with fabric that matches my purse. Success! And still I avoided hand basting. Yay!

The big difference? I clipped the zipper better as Keyka instructed and then applied it with a little tension, so that the zipper laid flat against the curve of the fabric. I also used interfacing on both the inner and outer fabric. Then I added a wrist strap and I am loving it! Thank you Keyka!



I didn't bind the short bottom seams as instructed, but zig zagged them instead. The jury is still out as to whether I'll bind the edges on the ones I make to sell. At the shop I'm in now, nothing is moving, so I want to make these quick and at a low price-point for holiday gift giving. The seams are really inconspicuous. If I can get any of my stuff in a higher end shop in the nearest city, I think I would definitely bind them.


Also, before the seams at the bottom of the zipper are stitched, the dumpling is mostly flat, and I think if I use fusible fleece to interface the outer fabric, it would lend itself nicely to a bit of free motion quilty goodness.

Now I'm off to stitch. What have you been stitching on? Have you made these dumplings before? They're yummy!