Stardust

I was really excited to get my hands on these new whimsy and word stencils because I love stencils and I adore Tam and have taken several of her classes. I love her whimsy style and these stencils make it so easy to add a little whimsy to any project.

I decided to make another quilted wall hanging this week.  I used the Whimsy Town stencil, the Hearts and Stars stencil and the Believe stencil.  I wanted to use the word stardust because who couldn't use a little more stardust in their lives.

Before I started on my quilt I got out a piece of drawing paper and made a quick sketch, so that I could figure out the placement of each element in my design.

Then I started transferring my design to a piece of dark purple fabric that I had dyed in the past.  I keep a stash of dyed fabric so that I have it for any project that comes up.  I used opaque white paint to stencil on the stars, houses, and the word that I wanted to use.  I didn't use the hanging stars and hearts stencil just like it was, but I picked some of the stars out and used them.

After the white paint dried I started painting over all the stars with a mixture of transparent white paint and a little bit of transparent yellow paint. I also painted over the houses with Metamica paints in Moonlight and the hearts in Amourosa and the hill under the houses in Heather Mist.  I used more white on the word stardust.  I put two coats of paint on every element, so that they would have intense color.

I used Pearl-Ex powders over the word stardust and over the stars.  I used macro-pearl on the word and interference gold on the stars.  I mix the powders with clear textile medium and paint them on just like the other paints.  These powders give an intense shine and add beauty to the quilt.

After all the other elements were painted in, I transferred the sketch of the girl to the fabric from my initial sketch.

I painted in the girl with Metamica paints too.  I went with flesh tones for the face, but I had have purple hair to go with the purple theme of this quilt.  I gave her a glow with some more Pearl-Ex powder in micro-pearl mixed with textile medium.

The last thing I added before stitching was the words Live Your Dreams in her neck with a Pentel gel roller for fabric.  I love adding words to my quilts to inspire me.  After the painting was done I heat set the paint and cut and pinned the batting and backing to the front.  Then I free motioned quilted around the houses and stars and filled in the background with swirls.  I used a dark purple rayon thread to match the fabric. I also used a light purple thread in her hair and some silver in the glow around her head.    I used a satin stitch to finish off the edges.  Here is the finished quilt, which is 15" X 14".

Here are a couple of close-ups.  It is hard to capture all the shine and beauty with my camera, but this quilt does sparkle in the sunshine.

Here is my original sketch which I colored in with Derwent pencils. 

I hope that you have a great weekend.  You can view more of my art at my website.  www.handsandharts.com 
Janelle