One Direction Quilt Project: The Finale!

For those of you following the One Direction Quilt Project... it is complete! & it is currently on display at the Washington County Fair until Saturday, August 23, 2014 in the Domestic Arts building (#24). Congratulations to all the other participants & winners. For those of you who can't make it to the best fair in NY, here it is!

One Direction Quilt by Aprilsongstress on display at Washington County (NY) Fair August 18, 2014

Fiona can't wait to finally take possession of her quilt nearly 2 years in the making!

A special "Thank You" to my mom, Tamaris- Just-A-Duck & to Courtney at KC Custom Framing & Fabrics for pounding out an awesome long-arm quilt job while 9 months pregnant! You rock girl!

Close-up of hand embroidery & machine quilting

For those of you who are seeing this for the 1st time, check out my previous posts:
1.) 02/03/13
2.)  03/12/13
3.) 03/27/13
4.) 04/19/13
5.) 04/26/13
6.) 05/08/13
7.) 05/15/13
8.) 05/20/13


Happy Stitching!

Holy shhhh! It's August!

Wow! It's August. That means I need to get my stuff together for the Washington County Fair. Hoping for another ribbon or 2 this year. The One Direction Quilt Project should be wrapping up this month. I will keep you posted!

I have my first craft fair of the year coming up too! It is more artisan/ artist based & the organizers want us to focus on demonstrating our technique! Very exciting.

LocalFest event page on Facebook

LocalFest is in it's 3rd year & focuses things made here in the greater Glens Falls, NY area. I am thrilled to be a part of it this year. For the Facebook event page- CLICK HERE! There will be artists & artisans- selling & demonstrating, food, music, history talks, author readings, kids activities, performances, and more.

Check out what I'm making... Adirondack Guide, Noah John Rondeau lived in the Adirondack Mountains as a hermit for 37 years. A true individual, and self-educated man, he is just the sort of person I like to render in redwork embroidery.

Redwork of Noah John Rondeau

I hope you can stop by LocalFest at The Shirt Factory on September 6, 2014 & see me & all Glens Falls has to offer.

Happy Stitching,

1D Day - One Direction Embroidery Project- Harry

In honor of 1DDay, & the fact that the gift has been given... It is time for another One Direction Embroidery Project!

After I posted pics & shared my blog posts about the One Direction Quilt Project for my daughter (nearly complete, thank you for asking), I got a custom order from a friend for her daughter.

My daughter chose the pic I used of Harry. After I created the embroidery pattern & transferred the design to fabric, I got to work. the most time-consuming part is embroidering Harry's locks. But I find embroidering hair much more enjoyable than embroidering letters. I added a hot pink embroidered signature to give it a punch of color. I chose a lime green zebra print to compliment the lime green floss.

& the best part? K. loves it!

Little Mix project- Jade, Leigh-Anne, Jesy

So I have completed the embroidery portion of the Little Mix project for my daughter. I think they came out just as good, if not better than the One Direction portraits. Now to make them into something. I was originally thinking 4 pillows, but now I am thinking 2 with 2 members on each, or 1 giant pillow. Hmmm...

Well, while I remain indecisive, check them out below!

Fiona chose for Jade Thirlwall to be embroidered in blue, because Jade is her fave, just like Louis is her fave in 1D (I embroidered Louis in blue too. Remember?) Blue is not her favorite color, she just wanted Jade & Louis to match.

Jade before embroidery

Jade after embroidery

Next up: Leigh-Anne Pinnock is embroidered in the same green as Niall of 1D. Leigh-Anne didn't take as long to embroider because of her straight ponytail in the image below.

Leigh-Anne before embroidery

Leigh-Anne after embroidery

The 3rd & oldest member of Little Mix: Jesy Nelson is embroidered in orange just like Harry. The pillow(s) will match the One Direction quilt, using the same fabrics & colors.

Jesy before embroidery

Gathering supplies. Let embroidery commence.

The underside of embroidery

Jesy after embroidery

The 4th member of Little Mix I blogged about a couple of weeks ago: Perrie Edwards. Let me know what you think of my embroidered portraits. Check out my flickr. "Like" me on Facebook. Follow me on twitter: @aprilsongstress

Now on to my next project!

Little Mix project- Perrie

My daughter's other favorite band is Little Mix. I am in the process of embroidering the 4 young women in the same manner as the 5 young men from One Direction.

I began embroidering Perrie Edwards at JFK Airport waiting for our flight to London last week. Between the 2 flights & 2 nights watching British TV, I was able to finish.

Perrie with dip-dyed hair and pic through Sketch Guru

Pattern of Perrie created

Traced on fabric

Perrie is being embroidered using DMC floss # 321 just like her boyfriend Zayn.

Redwork begun while waiting at the airport

I started out using a dental floss container to cut my floss. (What a pain.) I quickly switched when my clever mother suggested I try the nail clippers. So much easier to use! (Though I kept dropping it & mom suggested she tie it around my neck.) I just wish I could take scissors.

Finished redwork of Perrie

I haven't started on the other 3. I think I will work on Jade next.

One Direction quilt project- Harry

Finally... the last one. He happens to be the youngest member of One Direction, Harry Styles.

Harry singing into his mic

To add visual interest I chose this image of Harry. It is very different from the images of the other members. It feels more intimate.

Embroidery in process

After creating the pattern from the Sketch Guru image, & transferring  the image to the fabric, I began embroidering Harry using DMC floss #922. Below shows the finished block. The mic came out a bit wonky, but I love how his face & hair came out.

Finished block of Harry

Harry's name just above Liam's

Harry's lyrics in What Makes You Beautiful

Fiona chose this line because Harry flips his hair a lot & she thought it was ironic. (Love my kid!) I added the butterfly because Harry recently got a butterfly (more realistic, not this girly) tattoo on is abdomen.

With all of the embroidery complete, my mom started helping me on the construction of the quilt.

Cutting the All-Star sneaker fabric

To flank the larger top & bottom group blocks, Mom pieced strips of the various fabrics to create the blocks in all 4 corners.

Ironing the strip pieced blocks

Below is the quilt top laid out on my daughter's bed. Notice all the One Direction posters. (Mom did the colorful strip paint job on the walls last year.)

Pieced quilt top

We will use the rest of the fabric to go around the top, bottom, & sides making a full size quilt. Now we need to find some backing fabric, then take it over to our friends at KC Framing & Fabrics in Saratoga Springs, NY. Maybe we will find some great fabric on our trip to the UK this week. It is my daughter's first trip abroad & she is so excited!

I'll post about the One Direction Quilt Project again when it is finished!

One Direction quilt project- Zayn

If I were allowed to have a favorite member of British-Irish boy band One Direction, it would be Zayn Malik. He's very nice to look at, shy, & (as I stated before) has the best voice. You may ask why I am not allowed to have a fave? That would be my daughter, Fiona. In her opinion, I am too old to like One Direction! (But I do. There, I admit it.)

I digress... This post is about the embroidered pieces I created about Zayn. If you have been reading this blog you must be familiar with my process by now...

1.) Pick awesome image of your subject & save it. (check)

Zayn singing, showing off his swallowtail tattoo

 2.) Create pattern by tracing over a printed copy of said image, or use an app like SketchGuru. (check)

Pattern created and traced out on the fabric

 3.) Trace pattern onto the fabric you will be embroidering on. (check)

Embroidery in progress

4.) Begin embroidering with your floss of choice (in this case DMC #321). (check)

Finished embroidered block of Zayn Malik

 5.) Finish embroidering & iron. (check)

That's it. It is so simple!

Zayn and Niall's names written by me

 Again, I like to use my own handwriting when I letter. I like using cursive more because it feels more like a design, like art. Printing feels like work.

Lyrics Zayn sings in the song Moments

Fiona wanted me to embroider nearly all of the bridge that Zayn sings in "Moments", but that was too many words for Mommy's sanity. I shortened it.

Only one more "boy" left in the boy band. Stay tuned for... Harry!

One Direction quilt project- Niall

Niall is the only member of One Direction who is not British. He is from Mullingar, Ireland. Because of that, I decided to add an Irish flag & the Union Jack to one of the blocks. I also added the 1D logo and one of Zayn's tattoos. For more on this block, check out one of my previous posts.

Cartoon 1D with signatures for the quilt

Fiona chose Niall & his blocks to be embroidered in DMC floss #904. It definitely reminds me of Ireland, even though it has been 15 years since I was there.

I've shared this block before as a work in progress. See it here. Below is the finished block.

Niall playing the guitar in embroidery

I think it came out great based on the image I created the pattern from. I didn't quite capture his quiff, but I like it just the same.

Niall playing guitar in Live While We're Young video

Kiss You lyrics sung by Niall

I think these are the funniest lyrics in the entire song. Again, I added a guitar for Niall, because I was not embroidering a chin. (Or drool, for that matter.)

Niall's name is complete- starting on Zayn

& for those of you who like to see the underside of embroidery...

Showing off my stitches

Next up is the member I, personally, think has the best voice... Zayn!

One Direction quilt project- Liam

Today I am featuring Liam Payne of One Direction.

The image below is to give you an idea of what the original image looks like & what the Sketch Guru image looks like. I usually use the "SimpleSketch2" option in the app. I find it gives me best mix of strong outlines & finer details.

Liam Payne and image used to create the pattern

From this sketch image, I create the embroidery pattern. Sometimes I draw it right on the fabric, as is the case with this project.

Traced out on the fabric

I didn't use my light box for this because the lines were so sharp. I just laid on my bed with some good overhead light & traced away.

Finished block of Liam all ironed

Using the trusty outline stitch, I embroidered Liam in purple- DMC floss #327. My favorite part of this is Liam's chevron tattoo peeking out from the arm of his sport coat.

Liam's name in my handwriting

Below is Liam's lyric block with the lines from "Over Again" that Fiona picked out. I traced Fiona's hand & embroidered the outline in light purple- DMC floss #209. Adding Fiona's hand made this quilt even more specific to her!

Liam's lyric block- Over Again

Up next... the boy from the Emerald Isle- Niall.

One Direction quilt project- Louis

The One Direction Quilt Project is advancing quite well...Today I am featuring Louis Tomlinson!

Louis singing

In consultation with my very opinionated daughter (I have no idea where she gets that from!), we chose this image of Louis (twitter: @Louis_Tomlinson).

Creating the pattern

I used the app Sketch Guru again, then using a pencil, I traced out the line drawing/ pattern directly on the bamboo/ cotton fabric.

Embroidery in process

Breaking out my trusty hoop & needle, I got to work (outline stitch, of course). Fiona chose DMC floss #334. You can see the finished block below.

Finished block

Louis named embroidered on a group block

Above is Louis' name that I wrote out directly onto the fabric. I say, make it more personal & use your own handwriting, or create your own font to use.

Below, I used a modified font for the random uppercase letters & my own handwriting for the rest. Fiona chose the lyrics to be featured based on some of her favorite songs.

Lyrics Louis sings from the 1D song Nobody Compares

Stay tuned... Next up: Liam!