December 3, 2016

Night of the Dragonfly

Posted in Cathedral Windows tagged , , at 2:45 PM by Shelley Swanland

Night of the Dragonfly is leaving my collection to hang at my close friend Carol’s cabin. This quilt is, and I’m guessing, about 15 years old. I made it around the time I wrote my two books, Machine Stitched Cathedral Windows and Machine Stitched Cathedral Stars.
It represents the more complex range of my Cathedral Window technique and was never published.night-of-the-dragonfly-w I told Carol that I wanted to photograph it so I could show if off before it didn’t live at my house anymore. The Dragonfly fabric that I used is one of my all time favorite fabrics. Enjoy!night-of-the-dragonfly-detail

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September 12, 2016

Remnants of Spring

Posted in Embellishment, Silk Ribbon Embroidery tagged , , , , , , , , at 12:27 PM by Shelley Swanland

remnants-of-spring-wCollaged fabric, embroidery and embellishment on Linen, Remnants of Spring, is my latest piece. It features silk ribbon embroidery over vintage fabrics, digital pictures, vintage napkins and lace. It is embellished with buttons, charms and beads with a lock and key. Once finished the linen was mounted on a piece of felt and then a quilted base of crinkled batik fabric. remnants-of-spring-detail-2remnants-of-spring-detail-1

 

April 11, 2016

Lost in the Storm

Posted in Cathedral Windows, Designs & Patterns tagged , , , , at 1:49 PM by Shelley Swanland

Lost in the Storm RK W

Late last year Robert Kaufman Fabrics asked me to make this quilt using their Artisan Batik line of fabrics featuring their Floriculture 2 and Prisma Dyed Batiks.

It’s a Cathedral Window Storm at Sea based on a quilt I designed and made that was featured in Joen Wolfrom book “Color Play”.  http://joenwolfrom.com/books/

I was thrilled to get the opportunity. Well, the Free Pattern is available on their website. i hope you enjoy working with the line as much as i did!

The link is here: http://www.robertkaufman.com/quilting/quilts_patterns/lost_in_the_storm/ 

January 8, 2016

Winter Jay

Posted in 12 x 12s, Digital Collage, Embellishment, Silk Ribbon Embroidery, Twitter Quilts...Twilts tagged , , , , , , , , , at 4:17 PM by Shelley Swanland

IWinter Jay started this piece while housesitting in the mountains for nine days in December. “Winter Jay” is my latest Twilt. An Arm & Hammer Soda Card from 1916 was scanned and printed on cotton fabric and used as the focal point in the embroidery.
Winter Jay DetailLinen fabrics, cotton organdy and lace were stitched together before the embroidery was added. Silk Ribbon leaves, embellishments and beads rounded out the central motif. The embroidery was then mounted on the batik with silk, chiffon and satin ribbons.

For more info on the Twilts: Twitter quilts…….Twilts or see all my Twilts :Flickr Twilts Page. Click on the image of the Twilt to go directly to it’s high resolution image.

January 2, 2016

Wishes for a Fabulous New Year to All

Posted in Misc, Vintage Post Cards, Vintage Postcards and Art tagged , , , , , at 9:23 AM by Shelley Swanland

2015 Christmas 1914 Vintage Card

2015 is in the taillights and 2016 lays ahead.

I love these old cards from years gone by. The senders voices echo the wishes that were sent to their friends and family 100 years ago.

1914 Post CardI hope that all my family and friends have a happy, healthy and wonderful 2016 and many more New Years to come!!

July 10, 2015

Sunflower Summer

Posted in 12 x 12s, Digital Collage, Embellishment, Silk Ribbon Embroidery, Twitter Quilts...Twilts tagged , , , , , , , , , , at 1:50 PM by Shelley Swanland

Sunflower Summer Web“Sunflower Summer” is my latest Twilt or Twitter Quilt. I printed one of my Digital Collage designs on fabric, pieced on the black borders, layered and quilted the piece. Then the fun began. I added the bow with beads and then the silk ribbon embroidery. The gears, clock face and brass butterfly finished it off. If you are interested in the Sunflower print just contact me directly or through Etsy. The 8″ print isn’t available on Etsy but I could add it.
My Etsy shop can be found here: https://www.etsy.com/shop/ShelleysDesignWorks

For more info on the Twilts: Twitter quilts…….Twilts or see all my Twilts :Flickr Twilts Page. Click on the image of the Twilt to go directly to it’s high resolution image.

June 19, 2015

New Books and Needle Cases on Etsy

Posted in Embellishment, Journals, Needle Cases, Silk Ribbon Embroidery, Vintage Postcards and Art tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , at 9:16 AM by Shelley Swanland

Mini Comp Books and Needle Cases 6 15A few days ago I added these Needle Cases and Mini Composition Journals to my Etsy Store.  The Needle Cases are scans of Vintage Envelopes that I added Vintage digital elements to before printing on fabric. Once I put the needle cases together I embellished them with embroidery, beads, lace and buttons. The envelope addressed to Col Edwards is circa late 1800s.The other letter was sent from Italy to Long Beach in the 1950s.

Vintage Envelope Needle Case 2015 002 FVintage Envelope Needle Case Italy to Long Beach 01 F

 

 

 

 

Embellished Covers are added to Mini Composition books to create the Mini Journals. One is a felted base with Silk ribbon embroidered flowers which was this backed with another piece of felt. The other Mini Journal is linen applied to felt and then embellished with a piece of painted lace embroidery and beads. All four can be found in my Etsy Store.

Mini Comp Felt Silk Ribbon 01 FMini Comp Linen Lace Silk Ribbon 01 F

April 30, 2015

Post Card Art, A Vintage Bird and Flowers…..Ah Spring!

Posted in Designs & Patterns, Digital Collage tagged , , , , , , , , at 10:08 AM by Shelley Swanland

1800s Harpers LadyIt’s already over 90 here in beautiful Southern California, so it’s a good day to stay inside

Here are two new digital designs that I have created. The beautiful lady came from an 1800’s issue of Harper’s Bazaar Magazine. Half Pence postage and an old Post card back were used in this collage.Flowers with Vintage Bird and Post Card Images

The Pink collage uses a Cedar Waxwing image that I got over at http://www.olddesignshop.com. . An old image of a  postcard back and trellis were used in the collage as well as a photo of lovely pink flowers that I took a while back.

They are both available in my Etsy shop as fabric prints.

April 20, 2015

Vintage Art Fabric Prints on Etsy

Posted in Designs & Patterns, Digital Collage tagged , , , , , , at 11:34 AM by Shelley Swanland

Embellished Vintage Envelope NCIt’s taken me a while but I finally got my Etsy shop up and going again. Right now I have 10 of the prints used with the Neat and Nifty Notebook pattern as well as 6 of my Vintage Envelope Prints. They are all available in different layouts as well as with or without the patterns. All of the prints would be great in Crazy Quilting projects. Etsy is a fun and easy way to shop for gifts and supplies. I hope you can visit and have some fun. You can find my Etsy shop here:https://www.etsy.com/shop/ShelleysDesignWorks  April Bird Fabric Print1900 New Years Fabric PrintRome Roses Fabric Print

 

 

 

 

April 15, 2015

Vintage Postage Digital Art

Posted in Designs & Patterns, Digital Collage, Vintage Post Cards, Vintage Postcards and Art tagged , , , , , , , , , , at 1:32 PM by Shelley Swanland

2014 April New Prints no labelsThese are six new digital designs using vintage postcards, postage and card art I put together using my collection of vintage images. I love to dig through Antique stores and Thrift shops looking for vintage postage, old letters, post cards and writing samples. I then scan the images into my computer and using Photoshop combine them into Digitally collaged designs.

Printed on 100% cotton, I’ve used them in the Neat and Nifty Notebooks.  The prints are available as a set of one large and two small to fit regular and mini composition books and come with a pattern to make the Neat and Nifty Composition Books for $9.50.Composition Book Covers W01 To read more about the Composition books go here.

Fabric Prints are now or soon will be available in my Etsy shop Shelley’s Design Works.

The prints could also be used in Crazy quilting. I love combining digital art with fabric.
Contact me if you are interested in more information about purchasing the books or the prints and pattern.

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