Painted and Embroidered Quilt Batting

The last several days around here have been 'different' as that old navy man and I have been dog sitting with the daughter's dog, Trixie since last Friday. She is a very nice house guest...but must be taken out several times a day for a walk....if you know what I mean. We've no fenced-in yard...so walking we go. She went back home yesterday afternoon and I'm still not back to normal. On top of that, it's HOT and we could certainly use some rain. Right this minute it is thundering and I'm hoping some raindrops fall any minute!

I did finish that project mentioned in my last post, but have been unable to show it to the person it is intended for...she's away til later in August and I want her to see it before I show it to you. I've been wracking my brain all day trying to thing of something to post about and I ran across some things in my UFO drawer I thought you might enjoy seeing.

Here is a little embroidered 'painting' of a swan......made from quilt batting. (Approximately 6 inches square.) I used Warm & Natural batting....it's thin and works well for this technique. It is painted with watered down acrylic paint. I do dampen the batting a little bit first. As I've said before...I'm certainly no expert.....so this can't be all that hard to do if I did it. And, gosh it was fun! (I air dry these...preferably outdoors on a nice day! I also put a piece of painter's canvas...or something you don't mind ruining, on the ironing board, put the painting there face down, cover with a press cloth...and press. This sets the colors. Then I embroider. And, repeat the pressing after all the stitching is done. They turn out so crisp and neat that way. Although it isn't essential!)

First, I paint the batting. After it dries, I take a good look at it and decide what I will be embroidering on it....this one said 'swan' to me! Never having embroidered a swan before and not having a picture of one made it a bit of a test....however, when you are working with something this small....(the swan is one and a quarter inches from tip of beak to tail), things seem to look more realistic than they might in a larger size. I think this one turned out ok.
Naturally, I had to have a tree....some French Knot flowers and a few birds.

I plan on either using this in a collage on canvas, in a small crazy quilt, or in a frame. At this point in time, I don't know which. Notice there are more painted squares pictured here to play with....wish you were here to play along with me!

What do you think? Does this give you an idea of what you can do with those odd leftover pieces of quilt batting? Stay cool out there.....and take care, pat