I am slightly horrified to see how long itās been since I posted here! Life has been insanely busy in all kinds of good ways and has conspired to keep me away from my Bernina more than I would like. Butā¦as a new Bernina entered my life (fond farewell to my longarm, hello gorgeous 770QE), I have managed to create a few things and plot many more for this year.
December ushered in a white dog theme as I created two pieces for a dear new friendās kids. I have written before about monotonal pups and kitties but the first was a challenge – a sweet smooth-coated white Chihuahua. No cheating with lots of fur tufts here! I leaned on the background fabrics to add pattern and surface internet hereā¦Grant Haffnerās fabulous collection for Windham was a lifesaver here, as was a piece of hand-dyed velvet by the insanely talented Elaine Quehl ā¤ļø:
Oh so much stitching laterā¦in addition to fabric ink, I rediscovered just how useful those old powder eyeshadows and makeup brushes can be (incredibly helpful for shading ears and muzzles ;)!).
Next adorable subject was a little easier (fluffy) but wow I certainly used my entire weight range of Aurifil threads in almost-whiteā¦if you wonder if you would ever use those other heavier-weight threads, the answer is a resounding yes if you do pet portraits ļæ¼!
Posca paint markers were a big help here, to highlight the bits of fabric in between lines of Aurifil āfurāā¦again, strong background fabric help from Windhamās Dewdrop collection on top and silk dupioni below. Of course, I could do none of this without Mistyfuseā¦crinkling fabric to create the illusion of rumpled blankets is so much fun!
Of course, I couldnāt go this long without a kitty or two! Enter two sistersā¦tortie or calico, Iām never quite sure (given the white patches) but completely adorable and a very special Valentineās Day gift šš. Once again, Windham/Anthology batiks and Elaine Quehlās hand-dyed velvets to the rescueā¦and, for this one, both Aurifil and Superior Threadsā¦
Meanwhile, the Joy Quilt Project seems to be taking a wholecloth, v v heavily thread-painted turnā¦
This square began with a few randomly-stitched yellow centers in 40wt, then petals stitched with 2 shades of purple through the needleā¦well, you can see why I put more than a million stitches on my machine each year š. I am now obsessed with thread as the star, and next up is a thread painting of an urban garden. Then maybe the next large pieceā¦though I am now convinced that my pandemic project has become an ongoing irresistible way to play! šŖ”
neonkittyquilts 
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