Update on "Woolly Afro II" by Unicia Buster

"Wolly Afro II" by Unicia Buster 2014

Textile art, Hand and machine stitched 100% cotton, SOLD

"Wolly Afro" by Unicia Buster 2011
Textile art, Hand and machine stitched 100% cotton, SOLD

This is "Woolly Afro II" from start to finish:

I looked for my models (from the internet of course).

Another fabulous Google find.

This model was from real life - my good friend Shanaye willingly posed for me :).

I selected my color palette.

I made the pattern and cut it out of the fabric.

Pinned to background fabric to prepare for hand applique.

Stitched the face prematurely but I couldn't wait to see how it would look.

Let the stitching begin!

Trying out the circles for hair. Didn't particularly care for the colors chosen so I auditioned other colors and also made the hair fuller (below).

Much better hair.

Cut out all the hair for the lamb.

A lot of stitching to do.

You can see my handy-work close-up.

Still a long ways to go but progress is made.

It's coming along, thankfully.

Lot was done. Border is on, sheep was added on. I added painted details to faces with fabric paint and a few abstract flowers. All of the applique is done and the quilt sandwich was put together using free-motion quilting on the sewing machine.

Close-up of lamb.

Detail of some of the free-motion quilting on background.

Some pictures taken in direct sunlight. You can see the free-motion quilting better. The binding is on at this point.

Detail of quilting.

Detail of quilting.

Detail of quilting.

Detail of quilting.

I thought I was done until I showed it to my mom and a friend. They offered some suggestions to make the sheep look better, especially the pointed hump she got going on.

I fixed the hump and added detail to her face.

Added my signature to lady's arm and a bit more stitches to the wool on the lamb.

"Woolly Afro II" by Unicia Buster
Finally, all finished. Started in July 2013. Finished in January 2014. This was a really fun project and I plan to do more. None of my quilts before this used free-motion quilting (a technique I learned at a workshop back in November). I also learned how to properly bind a quilt using YouTube. This one is definitely far better than "Woolly Afro" which I did January 2011. Expecting even greater things in the year ahead.

I made this from a pattern I saw on http://www.makeit-loveit.com/pattern-pieces

I gave her to my little cousin (who's not so little anymore - she and her husband just had her first child). She saw it and loved it so much, I knew my first hand made doll (yes, I did it all by hand, no machine) would be in a very happy home. In my version, I stitched the entire face and I braided the hair and stitched it down. 

Updates on Various Projects

A better picture of "Windy" by Unicia Buster

Update on the wedding quilt. The three layers are quilted - I quilted in the black areas only. I have the binding left to do.

This is an old project I found among some things in a bin. It was based on a poem I wrote. I'm taking it apart to do something a little different with it.

"Ajani" is coming along. I decided to stop doing the hair and to quilt the layers together. But first I have to finish the border. Unfortunately, as you can see, I need a bit more material for the top and bottom border. Also, I can't find the material I used to make the border squares. So I have to go buy more, eventually (funds are low). Once the border is done and the layers are quilted, then I will resume the hair pieces. I may hand stitch over the machine stitched part of the tattoo because I didn't know anything about darning foots and free motion quilting so it doesn't look neat. Anyway, long ways to go on this one.

Another old project I found. It was about the many beautiful colors of black women. All the photos used in this quilt are pictures that I took, some candid shots and a few set-up shots. In Photoshop I added a layer of transparent color to each photo before printing them out. On the border, I was hand stitching words that describe positive attributes. I was a bit overwhelmed by the hand stitching task so I stopped working on it. It's large but I want to finish it now and with everything I've learned since starting this piece, I think it will be that much more beautiful when it's complete.

Section of "Woolly Afro II" by Unicia Buster.
One of the lambs has the circular pieces of fabric for hair. The other does not. Both will be painted on.

Section of "Woolly Afro II" by Unicia Buster.
Doing a whip stitch or hem stitch  around all of the edges of the fabric (except the hair). 

Section of "Woolly Afro II" by Unicia Buster. I pinned on all of the hair on the lady.

Section of "Woolly Afro II" by Unicia Buster.
Hand stitched with a basting stitch on all of the circles. (That took quite a bit of time).

Section of "Woolly Afro II" by Unicia Buster.
More hand stitching.

Section of "Woolly Afro II" by Unicia Buster.
Almost done all of the hair.

Section of "Woolly Afro II" by Unicia Buster.
Still working on the hair in this picture. I added a lot more browns and oranges to the hair. Didn't like all of the blues and greens that I had before (see a previous blog entry). I like the result. Will post more pictures later of the updates on this one.

Adrian's homework assignment. He had to make a compass rose. Isn't it lovely? He did a great job. I was so proud!