Create an easy bird-themed Art Quiltfiles.ctctcdn.com/15fd796f001/9fa64d0a-19b6-4026-9d32-0e...Page...

Create an easy bird-themed Art Quilt

No sewing machine required A great little project to begin creating your own, unique art quilts.

By Jane LaFazio

Bird-themed Art Quilt Tutorial JaneLaFazio.com

Materials needed: • Tracing paper • Bird image (from your sketchbook, a magazine or book) • A selection of fabrics (A couple of fat quarters ~18 x2 0inch pieces of cloth) • Scissors • Straight pins • Fusible webbing with a paper backing

(A heat activated sheet of glue, like Wonder-under or Steam-a-Seam 2) • Batting (I prefer low-loft batting) • Embroidery needle • Embroidery threads that contrast with your fabric • Iron • Optional: Teflon ironing sheet (or parchment paper)

1. Find an image of a bird and trace it onto tracing paper.

2. Outline the simple shapes, onto the tracing paper, like the wing, beak and legs.

3. Transfer your drawing (by tracing) to the PAPER side of fusible webbing. (The image will be reversed, so keep this in mind.) Trace the wing, beak, and leg shapes separately, to the PAPER side of fusible webbing.


4. Iron the fusible webbing, PAPER side UP (fusible side down) to the BACK your fabric. (To protect your iron, lay Teflon ironing sheet or parchment paper over the surface before you iron. It’s all too easy to get the glue on your iron or ironing board!)

5. Cut out the image (the fusible, paper, and fabric) with the paper still attached. Audition your bird on your different fabrics, to select the main background.

6. Using the same process, cut out the different shapes of the bird, using different fabrics. Shown: bird wing


7. Gather your fabrics for the rest of the composition.

8. Using the same technique as step 3, draw a circle to represent the sun on the paper side of the fusible webbing.

9. Place a piece of low-loft batting behind the larger piece of background fabric. To create the composition, tear your different fabrics and place them into an appealing composition. Once you’re happy with the arrangement, pin the pieces in place, through all the layers (including the batting).


10. Audition the best placement for the bird.

11. Fuse the bird body in place, by removing the paper backing and iron in place. Do the same with the beak, wing and feet.


Here’s the nearly finished quilt. It’s completely hand stitched, with a simple running stitch done with contrasting thread for interest.


Finishing the quilt: Trim the edges of the quilt, to a neat rectangle or square. Select a backing fabric, slightly larger than your quilt top. Finish the edges using the pillow case or the knife edge method. Pillow case method. Place backing fabric and your quilt top, face to face. Machine or hand stitch 3 sides. Turn inside out and hand sew the remaining side. Press. Another method is to stitch all 4 sides, cut a small slit in the backing fabric (not into the batting) and turn inside out. Cover the slit with a fused label. Knife edge binding Turn quilt top facedown. Cut batting ½” shorter that the quilt on all four sides. Iron the sides to fold over the batting. Cut a backing piece ¼ inch larger that the quilt top. Iron to fold all four edges of the backing folded under and pin in place, completely covering the batting. Hands sew blind/hem stitch in place. More bird themed quilts, by Jane LaFazio.


Jane LaFazio, a full-time artist since 1998, truly believes she is living the life she was meant to live! Jane has a wide range of skills as a painter, mixed media, quilt artist, art teacher and blogger. She’s known for her fun-loving, creative teaching style, and providing a relaxed supportive environment in the classroom. She teaches workshops online and at art retreats internationally. Jane’s artwork has been featured in Cloth, Paper, Scissors and Quilting Arts magazines many times, and in Danny Gregory’s An Illustrated Life, and in numerous books. She stars in the instructional videos “From Art Journaling to Art,” “Layered & Fused Applique Quilts: From Fabric Scraps to Recycled Circles” and “The Small Art Quilt” available on Amazon. Jane lives in San Diego, California with her wonderful husband and 2 cats.

Jane’s teaching schedule: JaneLaFazio.com/teaching-schedule

Jane’s artwork and blog: JaneLaFazio.com


http://janelafazio.com/teaching-schedule/

http://janelafazio.com/

Create an easy bird-themed Art Quiltfiles.ctctcdn.com/15fd796f001/9fa64d0a-19b6-4026-9d32-0e...Page...

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