A Funky Face In Stitch

"I'm so glad I live in world where there are Octobers."  

Anne of Green Gables

Paul and I drove through Evergreen Cemetery today.....it was magical.  

I found a little joy.....and a ginkgo tree I'm going to try and watch.

I've been quietly working on a funky face....and this time actually in stitch. 

I hadn't done free motion quilting in a while....but it went surprisingly well. 

Not all of you are interested in the process....but for those of you who are....here I go. Hopefully it will make some sense.

Because this is a paid class....I can't say too much.....but any into I give is my own version of what was suggested.  

 

I traced one of my drawings onto a piece linen....which in the end wasn't the best choice because of the loose weave and texture.  I stabalied it onto heavyweight interfacing making it easier to sew.  Not bad for a free motion novice!

I mostly colored with acrylic posca pens....

they worked well...and didn't bleed. 

I hand stitched lines on the glasses to make stripes. 

The baubles are my favorite part of the whole piece.

I had already decided that funky backgrounds were going to be my thing....so started with vertical lines stitched with a regular foot.  This was a pain in the neck because I had stop and start the stitch line when I got to the face and pull the stitches to the back. 

I stitched the pattern on the dress with the free motion foot so I was able to knot the threads and cut them short.....which was much easier.  I should have done that with the background as well.

I really wanted to create a plaid with a variety of line widths....but because pulling the threads to the back was so tedious I ended up just doing a simple grid. You can see the loose threads that had to be pulled to the back.

At first I was tying them on the back....but after a while I just left them because I knew they would be secured when I glued the piece to a backing.

I'm not in love with my color choices for the background....but I kept adding layers and outlines until I was satisfied enough.  In the end green was the wrong choice and  I wish I would have developed where I was in the first photo more adding some darker rosey pink with the yellow and leaving every other block empty. Too late now...so I had to just go with the green.

It helped tie it in to outline the green in the same color as the glasses.  The first layer  of green was a regular marker...and it didn't cover as well.  I did add the dark rosey pink around the yellow....and yes...it helped those squares too.  The next one I want to do the background all in stitch...then fuse the face on top.  That way I'll have all kind of freedom to stitch like crazy from one side to the other in all kinds of colors.

But in the end..... not bad for my first funky face in stitch!