Fairy Mini Quilt

Quilted Fairy, measures 13.5" x 9"

Another Quilted Mythological Creature Series mini quilt!  A couple of weeks ago when I made the quilted Centaur mini, I also made this quilted fairy--partly to keep the recipients guessing on what I was making for them.  This one was a birthday present for Afton at Quilting Mod.  I left the design of the fairy to the last minute, and decided in a migraine-induced state to just find a cool fairy online.  I settled on this artwork by Jesse Lindsay:

Picture/artwork credit to Jesse Lindsay

I traced the basic outline, removed her skirt, and added arms, hands, legs, antenna, eyes and extra swirls in the wings.  Geez hands and feet are hard.  And those tiny eyes!  

Quilted Fairy: final drawing on fabric.

Again I used Kona Silver and two layers of batting (Quilter's Dream wool on the top of a cotton batting).

Quilted Fairy: basic outline quilted.

I chose Aurifil variegated Creme de Menthe (4662) for the wings--I love how the different shades of teal can be interpreted as the wings being translucent, or catching the light.  The inner details are 1-2 layers of quilting, but the outer edge of the wings is 4-5 layers to define them from the background.

Quilted Fairy: hand for scale.  She's little, and her face is the size of my finger nail.

The fairy's body is Aurifil Wisteria (2566), and the antenna are quilted using a double strand of Wisteria and Medium Lavender (2540) so they are a little darker.

Quilted Fairy: body detail.

The background echo quilting is Aurifil Mint Ice (2800).  I love how these cotton threads have a nature shine! 

Quilted Fairy: echo quilting detail--I love those accidental diamonds!

Quilted Fairy: quilting details.

The back is some blue solid scrap I had, the binding is Tula Pink Mosaic in Glacier. 

Quilted Fairy: back.

I took this quilt with me all the way to Savannah for QuiltCon so I could give it to Afton at the same time I gave Jess the Centaur mini quilt.  Luckily we ended up having dinner as a group on the first night so I didn't have to wait long, and she loves this fairy quilt!

Quilted Fairy: neat.

See more of my Quilted Mythological Creature Series HERE!

Centaur/Sagittarius mini quilt

Quilted Centaur: 12" x 9.5"

The next installment to my Quilted Mythological Creature Series is this Centaur/Sagittarius, made for Jess from Quilty Habit.  I knew I wanted to create a strong, intelligent female creature for her and finally settled on a centaur, and since Jess was born under the Sagittarius astrology sign I figured it'd be fitting to give the centaur a bow and arrow.  Plus good bow hunters are strong and skilled.

Quilted Centaur: quilting detail, check out those tiny fingers!

This is one of the more detailed in this series since she has a tool and 9 fingers (her second thumb is behind her palm).  There were a lot of extra start and stops for the bow and and fingers!  I created the image from various centaur line drawings I found online and added details to keep the horse themes I used in the Hippocamp and Campohhip quilts.  Then traced the image onto some Kona Silver:

Quilted Centaur: drawing on fabric.

I start with a basic outline, then add a few details (like the hair) before doing all the background fill quilting:

Quilted Centaur: Basic outline done.

I used Aurifil 50wt in Chocolate (2360) for the horse body, Medium Lavender (2540) for the human part, Marrakesh (3817) for the hair, Dark Violet (2582) for the bow and arrow, and Silver Moon (4060, variegated) for the background echos.  

Quilted Centaur: Hair detail quilting.

There are two layer of batting (one cotton, one wool) for texture and stability.  The binding is Tula Pink Mosaic in Glacier. 

Quilted Centaur: horse tail detail (sorry for the weird colors, the sun was setting fast during my photoshoot!)

I was so excited to give this to Jess in person while we were both at QuiltCon last week!  Such a joy to see her expression and give her a hug with this quilt :-)

Quilted Centaur: back

See more of my Quilted Mythological Creature Series HERE!