Elta Kay Hooper
"I began learning to sew way back in 1952 on my Mom's Singer Featherweight. I did garment sewing from then on for myself and family until attempting some quilting in the early 90s. My sister got me started in my hobby interest in machine embroidery about 5 years ago. Garment sewing now is mostly relegated to Halloween costumes for the kids. I became intrigued in pictorial art quilting just a couple of years ago after finding creations by Cynthia England.
The photos below are of my granddaughter - Molly - a Pixel Quilt - a Paper Piecing quilt from a Cynthia England pattern, an embroidered shirt, and the apron I made Molly for her 6th birthday -- all County fair entries Fall of 2010.
The Pixel Quilt concept is different from others I checked out; one was Tammie Bowser's. Wendy Lewis has a website -- PixelQuilt.com. She has software that takes a photo, pixelates the image, then analyzes the colors and produces a printed matrix grid for fabric values. For a nominal fee, she provides a color palette, yardage chart, and placement grid, along with the construction method. The user decides on a finished project size and whether it will be made of ½" or 1" finished squares -- I chose ½" for better resolution."
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| Molly's eye |
"The Sewing Machine is a pattern by Cynthia England. I fell in love with it at first sight, and every part of the scene is made with small (some are very tiny) pieces of fabric -- there are a couple dozen in the machine alone. Her method is called Picture Piecing -- the paper shapes are ironed to fabric pieces that are then stitched together - the paper is not stitched as in reverse paper piecing. That's where I learned about ironing freezer paper to cloth."
"The Teacup apron was made because Molly was going to have a Tea Party theme for her birthday last year, then the family went to Lego Land instead. The lace motif in the bib decoration was "borrowed" from another design and stitched on wide organza ribbon as a foundation so it could be cut out and used as a 3D element."
