March was a month for trying new things.  I made two cameo quilts...  I saw a pretty cameo and thought it might be possible to do a whole cloth cameo with my longarm.  So I used a picture of a cameo that might not be so hard to try out the whole idea.  I used two layers of wool batting, hoping the open spaces would show dimension.  I like how it turned out, the piece is 8 inches wide and 15 inches high.  I used neocolor II crayons to paint the background.
This was quilted on my sitdown longarm.

This was all a test before I quilted the larger piece.  This piece is 40 inches tall x 30 wide approximately.  The cameo depicts the goddesses Selene of the dawn and Eos of the dusk.   I used my  Innova longarm to quilt the images (I know, I know - two longarms???).  And I am so happy that I could do that.  I turned off the stitch regulator to do the quilting, it makes the machine run so much smoother - no jerking me around.  I even used the longarm to couch that braid around the circle.  The inner circle is made with a creamy radiance fabric and it is inset into slipper (the pink color) radiance fabric. I still needed to paint in some shadows in this photo.

Here is the cameo that I used to make this quilt.  

I may need to add more wool batting to the chest of Selene... I tried steam and starch to get rid of her chest wrinkles.    I will figure it out.  That's what's fun about trying new stuff, it takes a little finagling to get the kinks worked out - then either it does or it doesn't.  Here is the bound and finished piece.  I am thinking about making a slit in the back and stuffing that wrinkled chest with more batting, then sewing it closed like the trapunto of yesteryear.  

I dunno, it was a fun project, but I think I'll move on to something else.  I have an idea for a new art challenge: Threads of resistance challenge    I don't get too worked up about politics in general, but I am concerned about some environmental issues.  If you want to talk politics with someone, look elsewhere, I just hate that sort of thing.  So I will have my little say with art in this challenge.  I will keep you updated.  

“I realized something on the ride. I realized if I wait until I'm not scared to try new things, then I'll never get to try them at all.” 
― Marie Sexton, Between Sinners and Saints

Have a great day, karen Lambdin, proud to be a quilter