longhorn quilts

Bluebonnet the art collage longhorn – collage lesson #3

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When last we met, I demonstrated how to fill Bluebonnet with fused/cut out fabric motifs onto the pattern ease longhorn pattern. I also took you through one way of tracing a larger collaged area (longhorn’s horns and legs) onto your fused fabric. Now onto your next collage quilt lesson.

Removing the Paper Backing on Flower Motifs and Placement – Now that your collaged image is filled you might ask … what do I do with all these straight pins sticking out of my longhorn? Working in sections, you now need to take off each flower motif, score the back of the motif with the tip of the pin, discard the pin, peel off the paper backing and discard. Now place the motif back onto the pattern ease area where you originally had it pinned. Overlap or underlap the motif so no pattern ease shows through on the longhorn. The motif back is tacky and will easily stick to the pattern ease until you have every piece placed. You can also easily move these tacky-backed motifs if you don’t like their placement. Looking closely at the photograph with the sea turtle, notice the paper backing removed from the backing. You just now need to repeat this step until all motifs completely cover the longhorn image. Warning … I have noticed that just because I have pinned down my motifs, it doesn’t mean when I pull the backing off and place it, there won’t be a few areas with pattern ease showing through. These small areas need to be filled with a motif. This happened to me on the top of Bluebonnet’s head and I just added an astronaut.

Fusing the Collaged Top – Clearly this is the easiest part! All your motifs are temporarily attached to the pattern ease. You’ve checked to see that the entire longhorn is covered with no pattern ease showing through. Now you need to have all those motifs stay put. Set your iron on cotton. Place the iron for a few seconds on an area and then lift the iron and reposition until all the areas on the longhorn are permanently fused.

Cutting the Excess Pattern Ease – Now you are ready to cut away the excess pattern ease. Your Karen Kay Buckley scissors work great for this process. You will notice on the back of your longhorn the pattern lines. Use these lines as a guide to cut away the pattern ease. But also know that you can cut around flower motifs that spill over the pattern lines. I did this on the top of Bluebonnet’s head where the flowers are located and on the lower legs covered with flowers. It can make for a more interesting look!

Next week’s collage lesson – I will move onto my favorite part … auditioning the background. Also, talk about gluing down Bluebonnet to the background, quilting options, binding and hanging!

As always, if you would like to purchase one of my collage art quilt patterns head over to my Etsy shop for full-size pattern, supply list and detailed instructions. Domestic shipping is free.

Bluebonnet the art collage longhorn – collage lesson #2

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Last week I wrote about having a general plan when selecting fabrics for your collage quilt. Decisions like will I be using themed fabric, batiks, or my personal favorite, Kaffe Fassett fabrics? Also, do not hesitate to pick through your fabric stash, especially if something isn’t working while building your collage.

COLLAGE LESSON #2

Filling up Bluebonnet with fabric motifs – Your collage pattern has been traced onto the pattern ease and taped on a foam core board. You have cut out your fused fabric motifs and laid them out. Grab a bunch of fine point pins and let’s get started.
I like to lean my foam board on an easel. It makes it easier to work. For the longhorn, I started on the top of her head and overlapped slightly the different flowers. I added the astronaut later when I discovered I needed to cover an empty spot with fabric. You don’t want any of the pattern ease to be showing. By the time you are completely finished pinning motifs, the entire longhorn needs to be covered so you cannot see the pattern ease. Also, you do not want to have too many layers of fabric. The only exception might be with the eyes. I believe I have three layers of fabric for each eye. The goal is to overlap slightly so as not to create too much bulk to quilt through. And remember, it is fine to let the motifs spill over the pattern line. I think it creates an interesting look in some areas … notice the longhorn’s flowered legs … when the excess pattern ease is finally cut away.

Creating the bandana horns and legs – I always knew the red bandana fabric would be used for Bluebonnet’s horns and two of the legs. I also used it for the longhorn’s nostrils. While I could have covered Bluebonnet with just small flower motifs, I thought it would be fun to try some larger pieces that were not flowers. There are probably a few ways to create the horn and leg shapes for these areas. I chose to trace, with tracing paper, the horn and leg lines with pencil. Any area that shared an interior line, I created an additional inch in those areas. You do not want to butt fabric up against each other. The extra margin of fabric allows enough area to overlap slightly the fabric motifs that will be laid over that small margin. After you have traced an area, cut out the tracing paper and lay it over the back of the fused bandana fabric. Make sure you have the tracing laying in the right direction so when you cut it out, the fused side covers the outlined horn area on your pattern ease and the fabric is facing up. You can now peel off the paper backing of the horns and legs and place them on your pattern ease to be ironed down later.

Next week … we will talk about cutting the pattern ease away, auditioning the background fabric, and gluing down Bluebonnet on the background.

As always, if you would like to purchase one of my collage art quilt patterns head over to my Etsy shop for full-size pattern, supply list and detailed instructions. Domestic shipping is free.

Bluebonnet the art collage longhorn – collage lesson #1

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After releasing a new collage pattern, I like to throw out some hints/tips on how to make one of these quilts. Let’s talk about fabric choices for Bluebonnet the Longhorn. Although you don’t have to stick to an exact plan when creating your collage quilt … your fabric stash can be your best friend … it is good to have some general idea of the direction you are headed.

Originally, I thought about using all Kaffe Fassett fabric. I love their fabric’s bright colors! I also thought about using batiks and some novelty fabric for the actual longhorn. Wouldn’t it be fun to use batiks with a field of bluebonnets for the background? Absolutely! Exactly why I decided to do the opposite … bluebonnets and Texas-themed fabrics for the longhorn image and a bright yellow/burnt orange for the background.

Moda makes a lovely line of bluebonnet and Texas-themed novelty fabrics. I also used a fabric from Timeless Treasures that contains sunflowers, pansies, hydrangeas and some pink flowers that played nicely with the bluebonnet fabrics. Of course, when I saw the red bandana fabric, also a Moda fabric, I fell in love. Right away I thought about keeping the bandana fabric intact, instead of cutting it up, for Bluebonnet’s horns, two of the legs, and even the binding! You don’t have to always cut out small motifs for your collage quilt.

I worked on Bluebonnet’s face last. It was the most challenging area for me. When in doubt stage an intervention with your fabric stash! I pulled out a swirly blue fabric and Kaffe Fassett’s orchid fabric for the face.

Next time we will chat about strategies for filling up Bluebonnet with fabric motifs, overlapping motifs and creating the bandana horns and legs!

As always, if you would like to purchase this Bluebonnet art collage pattern, visit my Etsy shop with full-size pattern, supply list and detailed instructions!