Here I Go Again!

I've got all the big chunks of color done on the stamp puzzle and I'm working on the neutrals....looking for tiny bits of color and detail. This part will move along slowly but I'm still loving every minute of it!

Over the past several weeks I've been quietly putting together a simple art piece for Alyson. It's been a bit of a "figure it out" kind of journey and I've been documenting it in a draft post as I've gone along. It's gotten a little long....surprise surprise.....but here I go again if you're interested!

Of course....it starts with a story...this time about a piece of free fabric.

Back in November when I was in Colorado helping Paul's sisters in their new homes we spent some time shopping at a couple amazing thrift stores. There was a guy at the checkout line ahead of us who was buying a framed piece of fabric....and Alyson commented on it.  He said he just wanted the frame...not the fabric...and Alyson being Alyson...asked if she could have it.  He took the frame apart on the spot and gave her the fabric.  

It was a shimmery textured orange piece....and Alyson loved it. Here's a little peek.

She really wanted to use it somewhere in her new place...and we talked about several options while I was there including hanging it on the wall and covering a lampshade.  But there was so much to do and it just got set aside.  

About a month ago Alyson texted me this photo with a cry for help!

Alyson is creative....but not a crafter....and has virtually no supplies. She glued the fabric onto a piece of dowel and tacked it to the wall.  She loved it with her new lamp....and it was a good effort...but she knew it could be improved.

I talked her into sending me the fabric...and I would figure something out.....and all it would cost her was the postage to mail it back.

I needed to keep it simple letting the fabric be the star...but just wrapping it around a piece of canvas wasn't going to do it justice. And it wasn't big enough to lose all that fabric in the wrapping.  So I decided to use the binding around canvas technique that I've grown to love.  I've written about it a couple times.... and highly recommend if for turning art quilts or simple pieces of fabric into works of art. So I decided to walk through the process again here.

I happened to have a long narrow piece of canvas art I bought at the Goodwill store that was the perfect size. 

I'm always on the lookout for canvas on the cheap.

I began by fusing the fabric onto a stiff piece of interfacing....but I quickly learned that this shiny fabric didn't fuse well. Fusible webbing bonds really well to natural fibers like cotton and wool....but not so much to polyester...or whatever this shimmery slippery fabric was. 

But I kept at it...using a hot iron and always a pressing cloth.  I finally got it smoothed out and bonded.  

But just to be sure I topstitched along some of the lines in the design to make sure it would stay nice and flat.  This step made me nervous because I didn't want it to look like a quilt....but I was worried the fabric would lift off the backing and bubble or bulge. It was a good decision....you can't even see the stitching.

I auditioned several fabrics I had on hand for the binding. After consulting with Alyson we chose this ombre hand dyed fabric from Colorways by Vicki Welsh because it complimented her lampshade so well. 

I love Vicki's hand dyed fabric....and it fuses like a dream!

After I finished the top stitching I needed to cut it exactly the size of my canvas.  And because this is a stripe....it needed to be perfectly level.  I used the lines on my cutting mat and two rulers to get to the 10 inch width. I checked and rechecked before I cut....there's no going back.

Perfect fit! At this point I realized I needed to prime the edges of the canvas just in case the black would show through.

I added about an inch of fusible webbing to one edge of the binding....

...and stitched it onto the quilt mitering all the corners.

Once I stitched it on I pulled it around to the back and fused it to the back of the canvas. The mitered corners wrap the corners perfectly...it works like a dream!

It's a neat and tidy way to mount a quilt....or a free piece of fabric.

I had to build my own box....and between that and packing it so it wouldn't get crushed took me almost as long as making it.  

Phew! It was finally on its way.....

....and it arrived today....and the journey is over.  Alyson will get it hung tomorrow....but I am breathing a sign of relief that it made it without damage. And it does look good with the lamp!

It's a good thing when you can repurpose a free piece of beautiful fabric.