Bon Appetit Journal Quilt

The beginning of August brought a new theme on the Sketchbook Challenge blogsite. It was: everyday object. I use these themes not just to brainstorm the theme in my sketchbook but also to make a 10 x 10" Journal Quilt for every month this year with the Contemporary Group of the Quilters's Guild. The requirement for this also demands I include text.

I thought long and hard about all kinds of every day objects but the ones that kept coming to mind were knife and fork, or cutlery. After all we need to consume 2 or 3 meals a day which we eat using our knife and fork in our civilised world. I had several ideas of how I could incorporate these into a Journal Quilt as you can see in the Sketchbook.

But I kept coming back to the knife and fork, and then also wanted to include a plate with something to eat on it. And the plate had to have a placemat underneath. So it wasn't long before I grabbed some fabrics and got started. The green, machine quilted background is a typically Dutch damask fabric, as is the blue border, and the placemat started life as a vintage handkerchief. It was too large for purpose so it had to be cut to size and then re-assembled again.

I tried scanning in blue and white plates (a legacy from my mother in law) but they proved to be too 3D for my scanner so instead I used a blue/white paper napkin which was attached to the background with Mod Podge. What to eat? That was the next question and there was the answer ready on my breakfast plate. A piece of toast with fresh strawberries (yummy!). I photographed it, took it to the computer and printed it out to size on white cotton using my Epson printer. I sewed it on with some wadding underneath to get a raised effect.

The knife and fork are wood and I absconded with them from somewhere, many moons ago, with the thought that they would come in handy, and I was right!! They were gessoed and then painted with acrylic paints. I made holes in them using my Crop-o-Dile so that I could sew them on, although they are also glued down.

The title Bon Appetit hit me while making the JQ and was printed out with my Xyron Design Runner on calico (that's muslin in the US). Some beading and the JQ was finished. Enjoy!