Sew Karen-ly Created...

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Sunday 12 May 2013

We're Up!

We've been waiting patiently to join the Mirror Ball Dot Blog Hop, and now it's our turn! (and by "we", of course I mean Polly and I).  When Mark invited us to participate in this adventure, it sounded like a lot of fun...and it has been. For me this was an opportunity to play with fabric, no strings attached. I wrote a bit about the hop and showed my palette on a previous post:
I need to begin with a confession...I didn't exactly stick to the rules and use just the colours sent;  I couldn't resist dipping into all those luscious shades in my stash.  As I poured through the fabric, I pondered what I wanted the fabric to say.  I thought about the name of the line, and wondered if anyone had ever done the obvious: a disco ball.  A Google search did not turn up any results so away we went on our first project...

Circle Circle Dot Dot
I decided to make a sphere.  I've never made one before.  I spent a lot of time figuring how to draw the lines and as always, it's simplify, simplify, simplify.  After a couple of false starts, it finally boiled down to 4 shapes, repeated and reversed.  By the time I had figured this out of course, I had used most of my onyx MBD, which means this rough copy is also my finished piece.
I backed the fabric pieces with Wonder-Under, and fused them in place.

In a do-over world, I would have redone some of the colour placements and smoothed out the stitching lines of the meridians a bit better.  But you get the idea;  it was fun and I will definitely make another.

Adding a second layer of wool batting to pop out the centre of the sphere gave birth to another idea:  I should make something 3-D: an actual Mirror Ball! I started by tracing a 4" circle onto cardboard.
I divided the circle into 6 equal parts and drew lines to connect three of them to make an equilateral triangle.


I cut this out with scissors.
Heavy weight interfacing was fused to the back of the fabric and I traced  20, 4" circles using that red can cover shown above.
 I pressed the fabric over the triangle template to make a crease to follow when sewing.
I laid them out in a line as shown and stitched them together along the creased line.I joined the last triangle to the first to make a loop
  For the top and bottom I made a little hat of 5 more sections and stitched them in place.
A length of sequined trim to catch the light and give a little sparkle was added for the hanging loop.
I could have stitched along the outside curves to hold them together, but I didn't; I took the easy way and added a drop of hot glue.  Simple, and fun! Picture yourself on the dance floor with a little night fever.

Circle Circle Square Square
Polly felt there was one last thing to be made from our leftover pieces, so we stitched 3" squares...
...added an attic windows mitred border with the Cotton Couture...
...and quilted a simple circle in the centre of each square and a piano key border. Using wool batting makes the circles pop.

And that's what we did with our Mirror Ball Dot.  Mark has scored some prizes for this blog hop.  The first is for everyone, from Fairfield Processing.  Use the promo code in the coupon below for 20% off your online order:

20% Off any order
promo code: MHFD13M 
Expiration: 7/31/13


To win a colour card and five Fat Quarters of Mirror Ball Dot fabric in your choice of colours, simply leave a comment below.  Just make sure I have an email address to contact you if your name is drawn!

32 comments:

  1. Good morning to you and Beth! I do hope you have a safe trip back and that there will be a ray of sunshine along the way so you are not in the fog or pouring rain all day! The sun was shining through all the fog in Saulnierville all week-end because of your visit! Thank you so much fo coming!
    Your projects are super gorgeous! I love the fabric too!
    Happy Mothers Day
    Hugs

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  2. I love your projects, they are all such fun....especially the real disco ball! Good to see Polly being such a big help, how ever would you manage without her?

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  3. Love your projects! So creative.
    Happy Mother's Day.

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  4. Karen you are a genius. The DiscoBall etc are just wonderful.

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  5. Love all of your projects - so nice that Polly gives her input as well!! You are just so talented!! Happy Mother's Day!!

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  6. I love your projects - especially the disco glitter ball!!

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  7. Karen fabulous job!
    I love all the pieces you made, especially the 3-d ball. When I was a kid, I use to make those using leftover Christmas greeting cards. Thanks for reminding me of a wonderful childhood memory.

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  8. I like the dico ball and think it will make a nice project for our Christmas meeting when we make a different decoration every year.

    Thank you.

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  9. Love your mirror ball projects...you always have such great ideas. I can remember dancing under the mirror ball--what fun.
    I'm happy to know Polly was such good help. LOL
    Diane P in Az

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  10. Trust Polly to come up with the bestest little project.
    I hope she and Maddie were good kids today, and gave you lots of time for yourself.

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  11. Great projects! Thanks for sharing. These fabrics are wonderful.

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  12. Really liked the sphere. I loved mirror dots when they were first released. Can hardly wait for the next release. Thanks for the opportunity for chance to win.

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  13. I absolutely love the disco ball. Polly is fortunate to partake in all of your quilting adventures. She is a beautul kitty. I really like your projects. Lucy

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  14. Your projects are great Karen!! Thanks for sharing! :)

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  15. Thanks Karen for giving us a great blog post! Fun, fun stuff!

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  16. The disco ball is so innovative!! I love how the fabric is the same but the colors are all a bit different. Reminds me of looking at a crystal with the AB coating on it... Looks like many colors when you turn it around.... So neat!! Great Post!

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  17. And now I can't get "Night Fever" out of my brain. And John Travolta's white suit. Thanks! :) I love what you do with that wool batting.

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  18. Three different projects? You do spoil us! My favourite has to be circle circle square square, your right the circles really do 'pop'

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  19. Wow, I love your projects and fabrics. Thanks for sharing with us..

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  20. You do wonders with fabric!! Looks like you had fun this past weekend. I love that area. Mind you I was born not far from there. My Grandmother actually lived in Saulnierville. Lots of good food in the area. ;)
    Did I mention that I love DOTS!!

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  21. As I was reading your post, I think this has been fun for you Karen. No doubt your creativity has sparked ideas in the minds of your readers. Personally, I think this fabric would be awesome in a cot quilt, but I do love the disco ball

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  22. What a pretty post. I do like your circle quilt and I'm glad that Polly helped you with the attic windows. What would we all do without our assistants?

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  23. Lovely projects , I especially love the circle quilt in those pretty colors , so sweet .

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  24. Those are fun projects! Did Polly try to play with your disco ball ornamanet? I think my cats might try...

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  25. I have enjoyed the. blog about this fabric and project!
    Sheila Smith

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  26. Looks like fun, playing with those dots. I'm off to the CQA show tomorrow - and looking forward to bidding on your Trendtex piece.
    Joanne

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  27. Love the dots. They are great. Thanks for sharing and for the opportunity on the draw
    bonnielarson58@gmail.com

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  28. Wow! Your projects are fantastic! My favorite is the little quilt, but they are all exceptional. Well done!

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  29. Love the disco ball! So creative Thanks for sharing.

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  30. Your projects are always so creative and totally different from all the big block quilts that are everywhere. Thanks for being an insperation to all of us.

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  31. Love mirror ball dots and giveaways. Thanks for the opportunity.

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