Ben & my Sunflower Journal Quilt for June

I forgot to post Ben's picture from our weekend in Indiana! Ben is Ron's family's dog and he is a doll! Ben is an Otterhound and, next to Mandy, one of the best dogs around. Talk about a gentle giant! Even with his size you wouldn't know this guy is around...other then he likes to have you throw his toys (outside) and play fetch! When he runs, it's elegant because he just glides! Even with his size (his head is as large as a human!) you wouldn't know he was in the house. He walks slowly through the house and sits away from the table while you eat. He's never a pest but just a lover. A WONDERFUL dog who was adopted by Ron a few years ago. If you're looking for a large dog and have the area for them to run and get exercise, there are Otterhound rescues.
I worked on hand stitching my June journal quilt for the CCC fiber group on our trip this weekend. Our theme is Art of Nature and we create a 8 1/2" x 11" quilt monthly. I had a sunflower picture that I scanned and printed on fabric. I was going to use this in my Hundertwasser piece but decided not to. Instead it was a good inspiration for my journal piece. I found a shibori piece I dyed several, several years ago in blue and yellow. I think this was actually one of my first attempts at shibori. I wrapped a piece of fabric on a small PVC pipe then dyed with navy, unwrapped and overdyed the piece with deep yellow. I actually had a piece of paper attached to the fabric on the technique I used! Seemed like the perfect piece for my sunflower.

Here's my sunflower which I cut out and fused on the background. I free motion stitched the sunflower petals and stem. I'm putting french knots in the center and hand stab stitching the background. For the center of the flower I used my tailor tack foot and stitched in a circle pattern. When I finish with the piece, I'll go back and clip the center of the threads to make it fuzzy. I use this foot a lot (see the cat tails on my frog piece).

I wanted to make some small leaves to add to the sunflower and thought about the leaves I made for the tree project this winter. So I found some fabric I had screen printed and then BLANK! I couldn't remember how I made my leaves! I had 34 gauge wire in the center and free motion quilted and added beading...but for the life of me I couldn't remember how I got the wire in the center! Geezzzzz This is why journaling or documenting is good! I did find on the tree project web site my leaves and my explanation. Anyway, I think I figured it out and I made 3 small leaves that I'll add beading on. Here are my leaves before beading. Two of them do have wire in the center which allows me to twist and give them some more dimension. Once I perfect this process I'll take pics and post on my blog so when I make them again I'll remember! It's heck getting old or is it just lazy brain!