Vintage Stars

This is the last quilt finished here in Okinawa and the first quilt of 2010!

I didn't measure it before the movers packed it, but I think it is about 50x65".

I raided my scrap bin for vintage looking fabrics for all of the star pieces.

I love the wrinkles of heavy top quilting so I did an all over free motion design except for the stars which I left plain.

Some close ups of my 2 favorite fabrics in this quilt.

Shirt > Dress

Another re-purposed piece of clothing. This dress started out as a button up shirt.

You can see the original button placket on the back of the dress. I did however have to make 2 additional buttonholes to close the back yoke.
The vintage pattern I modified.

I lowered the neckline, omitted the collar, left the sleeves full, added a detachable bow and pockets, and lengthened it. The fabric of the shirt/dress has a soft feel and beautiful texture.

Bingata Rooster

I took a class to learn about the traditional art of fabric dyeing called Bingata. This craft is an ancient Ryukyu craft here in Okinawa. The fabric is coated with a sticky gum substance to resist the dye. Then you take little brush and work dye into the fabric. This class happened to be a rooster on canvas. Not very traditional and a little disappointing for me. Usually the designs are of flowers or koi fish.

Here is what the rooster looked like after the light and dark colors were added.

Below is how it looked after the gummy stuff was washed away.

Because we worked on canvas and not thin cotton fabric there was some fading with the wash process. Overall I think it is pretty good for a newbie.