Above is a small quilt (can be either a wall hanging or a throw) that I made for a client. The two pictures are blown up copies of two original drawings by Tiff Demezas, my client’s 12-year old daughter.
Above is Tiff’s original drawing, done in colored pencils. I blew this small picture up to approximately 24″x32″ to use as a template.
Above is Tiff’s drawing of a spotted horse grazing.
Perfecting this quilt and trying to keep true to the original drawing was a challenge. For instance, I couldn’t find any material that was white with irregular brown spots, so I cut out small brown circles and glued them on a white horse (everything in this quilt is flannel, incidentally). To ensure that the spots didn’t fall off over time, I quilted over every spot. Although I usually applique pieces on a quilt using a satin stitch, this time I glued all the appliqued pieces (including all the spots) and used my longarm machine to secure the edges.
I got the idea from one of the “Quilting Creatively” shows on TV that a friend had downloaded for me. One of the famous artists that appeared on that show glued down all her pieces and then quilted them all at once, edges and all. I was wary of doing this, as some of my pieces were very small, but not only did it work but it saved a lot of time!
In this drawing, you might note the tractor hiding in back of the fence, at the edge of the barn. I think this young girl is destined to become a fine artist.