Inspiration Avenue: About as Romantic as I'm going to get

This week Stephanie asked us to be romantic for our Inspiration Avenue challenge entries. Although I don't yet have the loops sewn on that I'll use to hang it, this is about as romantic as I'm going to get this week. If nothing else, it's a good example of surface design and a good example of things I need to do better next time.


I began with some cotton fabric I rusted for last week's IA challenge, then added a bit of dyed wet wipe from Thursday's post. Over that, I added two more layers of rusted fabric in the form of lace and decorated/decorative tulle. I did some wonky horizontal stitching to add to the surface design, and because I wanted a bit of color in the top layer. Next, I took a partial wet wipe that had been dyed and stamped nonsensical words in rust (stamp was a prototype with no name from River City Rubber).

I had worked hard to this point on this piece and was really happy with the piece as it was progressing. Next I sewed a bit of vintage sheet music, a scrap of rusty lace, and couple of silk flower petals inside a piece of clear plastic. At this point, I was still liking the piece, even though I thought the silk flower petals were probably the wrong embellishment to go inside the plastic.

Because the final piece was clear plastic, I couldn't pin it to the quiltlet and I didn't want to glue it, either. Basically, I wasn't watching what I was sewing after I set it on the quiltlet. So, I have the plastic embellishment too low on the assembly relative to the horizontal wet wipe.

What to do? Live with it! I have too much time in it to throw it away. However, I'm going to attempt to cover the problem with tulle, in fact, if I have any left, I might even use the rusted tulle that I placed over the first wet wipe. But for now, this is as romantic as I'm going to get on this quiltlet!

Thanks for the challenge, Stephanie. At least I've learned a LOT this week.

Edited with update:

I spent Friday reworking this piece. I first cut away part of the lace around the flower at the top, then I sewed the decorative tulle over the top of the plastic embellishment. It helps to unify the color of the silk flowers with the wet wipe and hides the stark look of the plastic and its position on the piece. Then I added the back and the two tabs that will hold the quiltlet on a wall. Although there are still a few problems with it (the flowers look much better under a full spectrum light than they do from the scanner), I am finally pleased with this completed quiltlet. You may have to click on the photo to see the whole quiltlet because I imported it from Saturday's post.