"Focus on Fusing"

One of the things I know about myself is that a little structure is good for me.  Not too much....but just enough to motivate me....especially when I think I'm too busy....and so far this summer has been busy.  

So I signed up for a free online class with Melody Johnson...a fabric fusing artist that I have admired for a long time.  

"I choose to fuse so I can be expressive with fabric in ways that would be impossible with any other construction method."

Melody is know for her color and patterns. She has a signature style and I can recognize her quilts anywhere. You can check out her website here and I have her pinned all over my quilt Pinterest boards.

These are a couple of my favorites...I love the transitions of color in both....and the little pops of prints in the one below.

I have done a fair amount of fusing....and I often mix it in with machine piecing. Joan and I used it to blend colors in this quilt for the welcome wall at church....and in this banner. But I would like to take it to another level...so here I go.

Wile I was in Maine this weekend I started my prep for the class....ironing Wonder-Under to a bunch of hand dyed fabrics. I think I'm going to need a lot more colors...but this is a start.

Melody recommends hand dyed fabrics because they don't have any chemicals in them...so they fuse really well requiring no quilting or top stitching if you don't want to. She recommends "Wonder Under" which I have used many times....and I just purchased a whole bolt.

Wonder-Under has paper on one side that you iron onto the back of your fabric.   

 

I trimmed it all up and pealed off the paper revealing the other side of the fusible webbing...which now can be cut and fused to other fabrics.  The first lesson was posted yesterday....and we have a week to work on it.  So stay tuned to see what comes next.  This is going to be fun.