feathery stencil play from patsy thompson ~

MarveLes Art Studios Blogs, Sewing Loves 12 Comments

hi all!

i’ve been wanting to play with some of patsy thompson’s stencils for awhile now, and finally the right time came along, so I snatched up a couple when she had a sale last month.  the particular stencil below has been on my wish list a long time… isn’t it pretty?

i used my favorite chalk “sewline” pen to mark the fabric.  I don’t usually mark for feathers, but this has a ‘perfect circle’ as the center i did not want to mess up!  and a bit more of a complex design than i was used to, and it proved to be really easily done than i’d expected!

and the stitching begun:

i  wasn’t sure what colors of thread to apply when i chose this brown hand-dyed fabric… but i decided to {be brave} and began with a periwinkle blue magnifico thread from superiorthreads.com  and then a pink for the second round:

and a lighter pink for some highlights:

i think i like it.  it’s different.  a bit unusual, perhaps.

i was a little intimidated by the complexity of this pattern at first, but after choosing my two main thread colors, and studying it for a few minutes first, and then ‘ghost-traced’ it with my fingers for my first couple thread paths. {how da ya like that new term ‘ghost-traced?’} lol. then all yi needed to do was execute, which was as simple as skip, repeat, skip ~ repeat!

then i’ll do backfil quilting in a dark chocolate brown, and bind it up for a nice little sample or decorative table topper… will show it when it’s finished.

i love this stencil, and i’m anxious to try it again, and perhaps… even one day… make a larger quilt with it?   

the back burner is getting full again…

xo

Comments 12

  1. Patsy's stencil does look quite complicated but, as you discovered, broken down into its parts it is very do-able. Hardest part is picking the thread colours, at least it is for me. Beautiful job

  2. I love Patsy's designs and you did a wonderful job on this Leslie. I must say – even though I'm an AuriGirl… I might have to give those Superior Threads a try. See how my Janome likes them. Your work is always so beautiful and inspiring. Thanks so much.

  3. I love Patsy and I love you! Your blog is my number one source of inspiration. Which pencil color do you use and how do you remove the lines? Thank you.
    Phyl

  4. Lovely work. Your coloured thread quilting always looks amazing. I haven't seriously considered stencils yet but using that one as a feature design is a good idea. I will look more closely at the stencils next time I go to a craft show.

  5. Oh how fun!! I didn't know she sells stencils – just one more thing to put on my never-ending list of stuff I want to buy! Since I became a quilter, I'm worse than my kids EVER were about "I want that!"

  6. Ghost tracing..now there is something I never heard of, and yet I think about how would colors work with each other and never thought about your ghost technique…I do love the colors, and of course your beautiful designs. I think I will try this using a stencil too, and maybe I will like my practice work, rather than just practicing on plain ole muslin quilted sandwiches. Very pretty and it has such a warm cozy feel to it! yummy, are you serving hot chocolate with that? Beautiful Lesie Girl!

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