Thursday, September 16, 2021

Fence Art Finish and Free Motion Mavericks

I was able to finish my Fence Art this week. I really love how it turned out. 

Outdoor Textile Art


It's hanging with the correct hardware (more on that later) and has been weather treated with spray, three times in the front and once in the back. All that's left is to paint and shorten the bottom dowel - which I got done, see last image!

Colours in the Garden - finished!


Garden Art on the fence adds colour when the flowers are fading 

I had a lot of fun FMQ the bee. The appliqué was all black with the white wings. I added the legs and antennae in black thread, the yellow stripes and then from the back, I FMQ the wings with metallic thread in the bobbin. I'm not sure how the thread will hold up to the weather but I can always touch things up when needed.

Bee with wings of metallic thread

Hardware and dowels
I've learned the hard way that it's very important to hang your outside art well, so that it doesn't fly away every time there is a strong wind. I have a pole (the black one below) that was used for something in the garden since it was with my gardening stuff. I'm using it for the top sleeve. 

I purchased a couple of packages of screw eyes to hold them on the fence. I was going to use the thinner dowel for the bottom sleeve but since I have the larger ones, I may as well make this as secure as possible. So the bottom sleeve has a wooden dowel roughly the size of the black one.

I put the dowels in the sleeves and then screwed in the screw eyes. The top ones are about an inch away from the edge of the piece while the lower ones are right at the edge. I'll be painting the wooden dowel green and cutting it so that it's only about an inch longer on each side.


Another look at Colours in the Garden

What I learned

  • Final update - dowel painted!
    I did end up stitching the outside edges of the blue fabric to minimize the amount of fraying. I love the look of the frayed edges but I'd rather that it didn't fray to nothing 😊
  • It took me a while to find the screw eyes - the tiny ones were with the picture framing stuff but the larger ones were elsewhere!
  • I think that a fun, fall fence art piece would be cool.

Related links

Linking parties

I'll be linking up to many fun linking parties. Let's have a look at what's happening out there, and don't forget to link up below - it really doesn't have to be a post about Free Motion Quilting! Midweek Makers, Put your foot down, Needle & Thread Thursday, Off The Wall FridayTGIFF, Peacock Party, Beauties Pageant, Oh Scrap!, Patchwork & Quilts, 15 Minutes to Stitch 2021Monday Making


Free Motion Mavericks

Welcome to week 348 of Free Motion Mavericks. Are you getting back into the swing of things, now that holidays and the summer is mostly over, and the kids may be back in school? I know that I'm looking forward to starting FMQ my son's quilt. I have no excuses left - it's no longer too hot!

We saw a few lovely quilts last time and even got a behind the scene look at digital custom long arm quilting from Rebecca. It's always great to learn about these things that look like magic to me 😊. 

If you didn't see Frédérique's latest Bow Ties baby quilt, make sure to drop by. It really is lovely and colourful. It was simply quilted for maximum baby softness.

Frédérique's Bow Ties baby quilt

And now it's your turn! 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

16 comments:

  1. Good thing it did not get carried away. Where I live I don't dare hang anything outside because it seems the wind is always blowing. Your finish is beautiful and regardless of how you feel about your own stitching it looks great. Love the little bee. Yay, I finally made it to your linky party in time. Thank you.

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    1. It's wonderful to have you here Denise! I think that the piece is pretty secure now but we'll see! Thanks for linking up and good luck with the quilt along - it looks great so far!

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  2. I love your fence art. It looks great in your garden :)

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    1. Thanks Janine. I bought fabric for a couple more - in fall colours. Not sure if I'll have time to make it for the fence before the winter but I'm looking forward to designing it! Take care.

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  3. I just love your fence art quilt Andrée! It fits that spot just perfectly. This reminds me of a Mariner's Compass quilt I used to hang in our garden but haven't been able to do so since the hanger y husband made was appropriated for a Japanese beetle trap!

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    1. Thanks Sandra. It really does add a lot to the garden. I'm hoping to make another one with a fall theme but today spent the day doing eco-printing. That was so much fun - and I'll know tomorrow but I think my results are much better than the first time I did it (and didn't even post about it - that's how not impressed I was!) Take care.

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  4. Perfect backdrop to your garden. The bee steals the show.

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  5. Never would have thought to hang a piece outside. I may have to hang one in our new (almost finished) 3 season room. Hum, I wonder what pattern would be good for that location?

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    1. Hi Bonnie, that sounds like it could be a lot of fun. Enjoy!

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  6. Quelle bonne et belle idée d'accrocher un quilt dehors ! J'adore l'abeille ;)
    Merci pour le partage de ton lien dans ma link party :^)

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    1. Bonjour Frédérique. J'espère que tu vas bien. Merci pour le message et le party. Bonne fin de semaine.

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  7. The fence art turned out beautifully! Love the littl details you've added. Good luck with the quilting project. Happy stitching this week.

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    1. Thanks Kate. I'm really happy with it and it survived 3 days of rain without and issue - that's more than I can say for my lawn, which is now a mushroom garden :-) Take care.

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