New journals for FAT

I have finished two journal quilts for FAT this week. I did my one based on a word, I chose "LUSH", a proper Welshism. I chose this because when i first started chatting with NJ (Listmom) I used this word to describe the work on her group. A few hours later i recieved a message that basically, give up can't find meaning of the word lush anywhere, is it a complement or an insult? It was a compliment! Lush -to me anyway means that something is gorgeous beyond belief.

In this piece I used acrylic onto coton, a first for me! I then machine quilted it, free machine, making some of my favourite, childish!, shapes. I then did a bit of hand quilting/embroidery, I used blanket stitch overlapped with thinner and thicker threads, and to be honest this is the only bit I am unhappy about. I think it looks shoved on, not integrated as well as the rest. I then beaded areas to pick them out more. I then made some fabric beads by using off cuts from another bit of painted acrylic and cotton, I watered down PVA and wrapped the fabric tightly around a cocktail stick. I really like how this piece turned out, probably because I didn't really think about it, I just did it and it evolved as I worked on it.

The other piece is this months journal quilt, based on "Christmas through the eyes of a child" and this started with a drawing done by Ellie, my 3 year old. She coloured in a Rudolph with transfer crayons, and did a grand job of it. I put it onto cotton and did some hand embroidery. I then added the red strips and free machined. I then added the buttons of mittens and hats i have been hanging onto for something nice. It's not perfect by a long way, but I love it as it is a permanent record of Ellie now, what she likes! Thanks to NJ for her inspirational themes.