Just the Two of Us - the pelicans are finished!

There they are! The pelicans are finished!  I am thrilled with how this project turned out. So many ups, downs, and even sideways to get to the end, but finally, we made it. Thank you so much for following along their journey with me - you are all amazing, helpful, supportive, you know - the best!

Here's what happened since the last post:

I decided on the freehand painted background -

Lots of invisible applique:

More invisible applique - placing the pelicans onto the background:

Loading of the beautiful ice-dyed backing (this one was dyed by Helia Ricci):

And then the quilting:

And then the blocking and drying:

The first facing.

Believe it or not, this was my first time facing a quilt.  On my first attempt, I cut my pieces, folded in half and pressed and then attached to the four sides of the quilt.  Well, I was so unhappy with the miters this happened:

After talking with my friend I decided to do a full facing (waste a lot of fabric).  And since I really wanted some wow, I decided to curve the edges.

Just a little bit more and it will be finished!

So that's it... it went by a lot faster in pictures!  

The Painting Technique

Many have asked about my painting technique on the pelicans and want to know how I learned. I was able to spend a week with Sharon Schamber in a small group week-long retreat. During this retreat I created Oliver, my owl quilt. I have used the techniques I learned from Sharon in so many of my quilts over the years - like I have said before, if you ever get the chance to take one of her classes, do so! Her wealth of knowledge is unimaginable - you will learn so much, I am proud to call her my friend!

So, back to the painting technique. If you are unable to take one of her classes, you can order one of her DVDs on her daughter Cristi's website, Purple Daisies Quilting. The DVD is entitled Quilt Fairy (Concept, Design and Construction), and it was based on the techniques covered during the week-long retreat. This is the next best thing to having Sharon there with you in person.

I've taken what I learned from Sharon and added my own style to it. Yes, I do some things differently, but the base technique is still there -- you have to take what you learn and make it work best for you - adjust, adapt, change, but most importantly learn, as much as you can!! Try new techniques and practice - not every piece will be perfect, but I'm sure you will learn something new with each piece.

Hopefully this answers the questions many of you have commented and emailed me - keep creating!