Yesterday I mentioned that I took a class from
Laura Wasilowski at MAQF. She is a well known art quilter who does fusible applique with her own hand dyed fabrics. Her quilts are embellished with lots of hand stitching, also using her own hand dyed threads. The colors are bright and cheerful. She is a fun (and entertaining) teacher and one of the founders of the Chicago School of Fusing. (It must be noted here for those who don't know, the Chicago School is not an actual "school" in the brick and mortar sense.) This was a no-stress class, no machine needed; just fuse, plan, cut, fuse. Press on!
In the collage above you see the 2 fabrics provided as part of the kit with the wonder under fusible applied to the back; some free-form cutting practice; leaf doodles in preparation for making our big leaves; and Laura leading us in a song we were required to sing in order to "graduate" from the Chicago School of Fusing!
These are the 2 leaves I completed in class. There is enough fabric to make 2 more, for a 4 block wall hanging. I could also do just one more for a 3 block vertical piece. Or 4 vertical to use as a table runner. Several possibilities. Of course, these are just fused at this point. Hand stitching and machine quilting will be added. The great colors are what really make the designs pop. Check out some of her other work at the link above. I'll share my finished piece at some future date!
If you enlarge the picture above you can see the stitching I've done so far on the bottom right leaf - blanket stitch around the edges. More to come - stay tuned!
