New Hat!

Water-themed Hat

Paintstik and Jacquard textile paint samples

The Richmond Folk Festival (http://www.richmondfolkfestival.org/) is coming up in October and this month starts heavy recruiting for our sewing/quilting demo area in association with the Children’s Museum of Richmond (http://www.c-mor.org/). Their theme this year is ‘water’. So I made this hat to wear on my visits to the local quilt chapters to sign up volunteers! Then I can wear it at the festival, enter it in the State Fair, and maybe even model it at the fashion show/lunch at the Houston Quilt show!

For the pattern I used a straw hat I’ve thoroughly enjoyed that’s beginning to disintegrate. I cut 2 of each of three pattern pieces out decor bond fusible interfacing (heavy weight stuff): crown top, crown side, and brim. I layered strips of fabric across the fusible side for the brim, then pressed to tack in place. For the underside I used a solid piece of fabric, fused to the second decor bond brim piece. Then stitched the top and under brims together on the outside edge, turned, and stitched multiple lines of stitching around the brim to hold the top fabric strips in place.

I used a similar approach with the crown, fusing to the decor bond, sewing the crown side to the top for the lining, then the same with the outside of the hat. Next I slipped the crown lining inside the hat crown and quilted the top and sides, leaving a couple of inches from the raw edge unstitched. That way I was able to stitch the outside brim to the outside crown. Finally I hand finished the lining by folding the raw edge of the crown lining over the brim lining raw edge and stitching. Bonus – the hat fits great!

Saturday my favorite local quilt store, Quilting Adventures (http://www.quiltingadventures.com/) had a demo on Paintstiks, oil based paint for fabric. I’d worked with them a bit, but it was a great help to have some instruction. Three tips Joyce shared: use a tacky mat to work on so stencils and fabric don’t slip; use 404 repositionable spray adhesive on texture plates or stamps to keep fabric from slipping; clean up promptly with unscented diaperwipes. For stencils, rub the paintstik on the slick side of freezer paper to make a ‘puddle’ of paint, then pick up and/or blend with a stencil brush to do stencils. Works very well! You can also paint directly in the stencil, and then blend with the brush to the edges.

I came home and cut a frog stencil based on some of the fabric in my hat and played around with the Paintstiks. See photo above of samples. Then I stenciled some frogs on my hat! It may still need some beads and shells…

Water Features

David’s Fish Pond

Lily Leaves

Gold Fish

Marilyn’s Water Garden

I’ve loved fish ponds since I was three years old – I still remember how excited I was when we looked at a new place to live in Barstow, California.  There was a gold fish pond in the front yard!  But when we moved in, I was puzzled – the pond was gone.  Many years later I learned my father had filled it in, to be sure me (3) or my sister (1) didn’t fall in.  I also wondered occasionally about the wire over my grandmother’s fish pond.  Which didn’t stop us from enjoying feeding the gold fish oatmeal, or managing to stop up her fountain with a stick.

My brother remembers the pond, and has built his own, full of fish and water lilies, as shown in the photos above.  His is above ground in a long rectangular pine box along side their deck. 

The other photo, of the stone garden waterfall, was taken at a friend’s home.  The pond came with the house, and they’ve done a lovely job of enhancing it with a stone walk and plantings. 

Where’s your favorite fish pond/water feature?  What does it look like?