Sunday, December 29, 2013

Happy New Year! (A Few Days Early)

 What a whirlwind the last couple of months have been.  Europe was fantastic!  We planned our trip through AAA.  We had a fantastic agent who helped us to plan our hotels, railway schedule, and our side trips.  And, oh, Lufthansa is the only way to fly overseas: good food, free drinks all night, and snacks.
 
The wedding dress took much longer than expected to complete.  I ended up sewing 1,000 beads on it.  You couldn't really see the beads, but when the light hit the dress just right, it sparkled.  It looked magical during the ceremony.
 


 
 
I am very excited to finally have the time to get back to my new first love, quilting.  And...... I have been asked to make another wedding dress for a very dear friend.  Of course, I couldn't say no.  I am staying home this summer so there should be lots of time to do both.
 
The minute I saw this photo, I knew it had potential as a wallhanging.  My new son-in-law took this photo last spring.  It would provide me with new challenges of dealilng with skin tone and water.
 
 
I uploaded the photo into Photoshop and applied the posteredge filter to it.  This helped to make the highlights and shadows more pronounced.  I put the tracing paper over it and made my pattern.
 

I liked the flowered material for the sand near the water, but the pattern was too "strong" for a lack of a better word.


Then it dawned on me to turn the material over to soften the print.  I have the sand and water ready for the legs and hats.


Here is a composite picture I put together of our trip.  In the center, is mom, from our first trip to Prague.