Three Little Birds

"Three Little Birds" 18X24 copyright Karen Mason 2011

This quilt was created in 2011 for the MArQ challenge "Name That Tune II". The quilt needed to be inspired by a song and have music somewhere in the quilt. The song I choose was "Three Little Birds" by Bob Marley. The kindergarten students at my school sang the song at a program and were too cute wearing their tie-dyed t-shirts.  The quilt evolved from there. The musical notes are in the quilting next to the little bluebird.
This was my first attempt at whimsy and I liked it.  There are a few technical problems in my opinion with the pieced background showing through the birds, but I think I have corrected it in my last bird "Happy", that I shared in my previous post.
I see a series forming. "Bluebirds of Happiness" will continue to evolve. I have big plans for these crazy little birds.

Photo Transfer

MArQ (Milwaukee Art Quilters), a group I belong to, is near the end of one of our yearly challenges. I have been working sporadically on my idea. (I have been very busy with a new job and have not had much time and have been very tired when I get home.) I have a little extra time today and have been working on my base fabric. Up to this point I have bleach discharged, used Tsukineko inks, and today I tried photo transfer with Citra-solv. I really like the results! The hardest part was getting the toner-based copies. I called a few places, one actually told me that laser and toner copies were the same thing. I explained that they were not, and went somewhere else. It worked and was VERY easy!I will definitely do more of this in the future. It is a very cool process! I have been learning a lot since I began reading blogs. I can't remember where exactly I found these techniques, (possibly Lyric?) thank you to everyone who shares their process!

Photo transfer directions:

Create a TONER copy of your original drawing or clip art(copyright free).

Cover work surface with newspaper. It protects the surface and adds cushion.

Place image face down on well pressed smooth fabric.

Brush on Citra-solv onto the backside of image. Please do this in a well ventilated area.

Burnish with a spoon or possibly a bone folder.

Iron through the paper. Use a press cloth to protect your iron.

Washout Citra-solv residue.

Next I need to add some paint, quilt, and add my copper embellishments. Hopefully I will finish in time.