Welcome to Day 3 of the Get On Board with Sewing Blog Hop. Hello and if this is your first time visiting my blog, welcome! I’m Yvonne and my blog and business name is Quilting Jetgirl which is a blend between my current profession (I am a quilt pattern designer and technical editor for the quilting industry) and my former professional career as an aerospace engineer. In addition, today happens to be my birthday. All in all, I’m quite excited that you are here today and I can’t wait to share my finished thread painting of a very special gold dust day gecko with you. At the end of this post you’ll find a Rafflecopter giveaway associated with the blog hop and a special birthday coupon code to my pattern shop.
But first, a bit more back story…
When Melva from Melva Loves Scraps reached out to me at the end of June to see if I might be interested in participating in a blog hop to celebrate that September is National Sewing Month AND when she mentioned that the theme would be tropical, well, I knew it would be perfect. At the end of June when Melva contacted me, I was in the final stages of planning to move back to California after having had the privilege and opportunity to live on the Big Island of Hawaii for a little over a year and a half. I knew that having this blog hop would be the extra incentive I would need to get my sewing studio set up (Studio Set Up Part 1, Studio Set Up Part 2) after our move.
Today, I’ll be sharing photos my finished project, but if you are interested in how I created this thread painting, be sure to read the progress posts I made last week:
Iggy – “Hanging Out” with me in my Studio
As I mentioned last week, there are a few things about moving away from Hawaii that are a bit sad. One of the things we miss most is Iggy, the dominant male gold dust day gecko who lived on our front porch. We grew rather fond of Iggy. Don’t worry, the new owner has already texted us photos of Iggy; he’s still thriving and being a good guard gecko! Well, as of today, my thread painting of Iggy is complete and he now will get to “hang out” on my wall beside me as I work in my studio!
Iggy (Gold Dust Day Gecko) Thread Painting and Threads Used
I used a total of 22 different 50wt Aurifil thread colors to create Iggy. From the lower left of the photo above, starting with black, and moving clockwise, I used:
- 2692 (Black)
- 2630 (Dark Pewter)
- 5004 (Grey Smoke)
- 2360 (Chocolate)
- 2350 (Copper)
- 2024 (White)
- 2277 (Light Red Orange)
- 2145 (Yellow Orange)
- 2115 (Lemon)
- 2870 (Green)
- 2865 (Emerald)
- 2860 (Light Emerald)
- 1114 (Grass Green)
- 1231 (Spring Green)
- 2908 (Spearmint)
- 2312 (Ermine)
- 2000 (Light Sand)
- 1320 (Bright Teal)
- 2725 (Light Wedgewood)
- 1128 (Light Blue Violet)
- 2740 (Dark Cobalt)
- 2810 (Turquoise)
Whew, that’s a lot of thread, but having the variety of colors and shades is ultimately what gives Iggy depth and helps make him seem as realistic as possible.
Iggy Inspiration Photograph by Michael Fuchs
I was working from an inspiration photograph of Iggy that my husband took, and my husband used a very narrow depth of field when he took the photograph. That means that Iggy has a very narrow band of focus in the photograph. In order to do my best to mimic Iggy fading out of focus, I tapered off the micro pebbling and background detail and switched to using lighter colors and eventually went to more traditional thread painting and avoided trying to make each individual skin bump perfectly defined.
Iggy (Gold Dust Day Gecko) Thread Painting
Iggy is ready for his close-up! As you can tell when comparing to my husband’s inspiration photograph, my thread painting version of Iggy is not perfectly color matched, but I am quite happy with how he came together.
My husband and I estimate that the thread painting I created of Iggy is about 3.8 to 4 times larger than Iggy is in real life. The hoop that Iggy is mounted is a 10.5″ diameter hoop, and the visible thread painted portion of Iggy is about 9 inches long. If I had quilted his full body at this scale, he would have been about 27″-30″ long. In real life, Iggy probably measure 7″ long from nose to tail tip if he was stretched out in a long, straight line.
Iggy
Last but not least is a photograph of Iggy beside my thread rack / stash of 50wt Aurifil thread. I have 81 different colors of 50wt thread, and using 22 of those meant I used over 25% of the thread that is on the rack in order to make Iggy. That’s pretty mind boggling to me. Iggy was a labor of love, and I know I am going to enjoy having him to remind me of our time in Hawaii.
Speaking of mind boggling… I estimate that I have well over 40 hours of quilting put into creating Iggy. I didn’t keep track exactly, because I honestly didn’t really want to know, but over the last week and a half I have poured in the hours to make sure that I got Iggy complete in time for this blog hop. It was a labor of love, and I am so glad that I took the time to make something for myself as my first major project in my new studio.
Get On Board With Sewing Blog Hop
Now for all the fun stuff! Be sure to visit all the other wonderful projects that are being shared as part of the Get On Board With Sewing Blog Hop hosted by Melva from Melva Loves Scraps and Brenda from Songbird Designs.
Thursday, September 1
- Anorina Samelia’s Mum
- Brenda Songbird Designs
- Cheree The Morning Latte
- Denise For the Love of Geese
Friday, September 2
- Karen Karen’s Korner
- Nancy Grace and Peace Quilting
- Sharon & Susan Ms P Designs USA
- Nina-Marie Creations – Quilts, Art, Whatever
Monday, September 5
- Karrin Karrin’s Crazy World
- Linda Texas Quilt Gal
- Yvonne Quilting Jetgirl (You are here!)
- Emily The Darling Dogwood
Tuesday, September 6
- Gail Quilting Gail
- Joy Days Filled with Joy
- Melisa Pinker ‘n’ Punkin Quilting & Stitching
- Carol Quilt Schmilt
Wednesday, September 7
- Melva Melva Loves Scraps
- Tammy Tamarinis
- Leah Quilted Delights
- Patricia Faith, Trust & Breast Cancer
Birthday Flash Sale
Iggy is my birthday present to myself. My birthday gift to you is a one day only 35% off coupon code that you can use and apply toward any and all patterns in my pattern shop. Just use the coupon code: AwesomeIggy and remember, the coupon code will only be valid on September 5, 2022 (Pacific Standard Time).
Thank You!
Thank you so much for visiting today and helping me have a memorable and enjoyable birthday; I just love getting to connect with the quilting community. If you would like to continue to follow along with me on my quilting journey, you can email subscribe to follow my blog using the menu on the right hand side of this page or follow me using any of the options linked to below. Happy quilting!
- Don’t miss out on my free Tutorials (at last count I had well over 100, so have a bit of patience letting the page load!)
- Speaking of Tutorials, I’ll be back on Friday with a DIY tutorial on how my husband and I built the combined cutting station / drop table in my new sewing studio.
- Follow Quilting Jetgirl via Feedly
- Sign up for my monthly Launching Pad newsletter
- Facebook Group
- YouTube
Giveaway
I hope you are having a great time visiting everyone on the Get On Board With Sewing Blog Hop. Be sure to use the Rafflecopter widget below to enter to win the grand prize quilt package: a $25 gift certificate from Gardensong Fabrics, $25 gift certificate from Rebecca Page, Aurifil thread, a digital pattern from Melva – Pieces of the Santa Fe Trail, a book, Fabulously Fast Quilts donated by Patricia from the Faith, Trust & Breast Cancer Blog, three stash builder bundles generously donated by Island Batik, and a crib sized Quilter’s Dream Angel batting from Songbird Designs. Good luck!
Linking up with Needle and Thread Thursday, Finished (or not) Friday, Beauties Pageant 185, TGIFF, and September 2022 Favorite Finish.
Your ‘labour of love’ with Iggy clearly shows, he is AWESOME! And looks perfect hanging on your wall.
Iggy is a wonderful remembrance of Hawaii. I am taking a FMQ class right now so I can also create my own unique quilts.
Quilts. Iggy is awesome!
Wow, Yvonne, Iggy is fantastic!! Amazing work!!
Happy birthday Yvonne! Wow on Iggy – he looks beautiful, and I am astonished at the detail. I enjoyed reading about your studio setup in your new hangar and just signed up for your blog posts.
Iggy is awesome…your quilt that is, as I don’t know about the actual Iggy gecko, not having met him, lol! I love Hawaii. We honeymooned there on Maui and I have been to Maui and the Big Island several times. One condo we stayed in had geckos coming in and running up and down the walls, but I didn’t mind as they sure kept the cockroaches at bay. I grew up in California and my hubby is from CA, what city did you move to? And Happy Birthday!!! Have a lovely day!
You did it! Your Iggy ‘paintin’ turned out wonderful. I’m in awe of the detail and ALL those thread colors! Hope you have a very happy birthday! Best to you today and the year ahead!
Happy Birthday, Yvonne! I hope you enjoy a lovely day doing all of your favorite things. Iggy looks wonderful on your wall, I didn’t realize he was that large. (I imagined a 6″ hoop, for some reason!!). I’m glad to hear real-life Iggy is thriving with his new people, too.
First off, Happy Birthday!!! Hoping you have a wonderful day and new year!! Second is WOW. Iggy is beautiful, I can’t even imagine going from a photo to your hoop!!! The detail you managed with just thread is amazing. He will be a great memory of your time in Hawaii!!!
Your Iggy thread painting is fantastic! I make quilts, to answer the question in the giveaway.
Iggy is wonderful! I hope you find some new local denizens in Tehachapi, too.
Iggy is fabulous! Welcome back to CA, I’m in Northern CA. And most of all Happy, Happy Birthday!
Happy Birthday, Yvonne! I love Iggy and I am glad that in real life he is 7″ rather than 27″. I don’t mind smaller versions of these glorious creatures, but larger ones do bother me a bit! Hope you enjoy your day, and your birthday month (always good to celebrate as much as you can).
Happy Birthday and many happy returns of the day! Iggy turned out great and having him sitting on the wall by your sewing station will surely bring you joy. I was thinking over 40 hours spent creating this representation.That is a lot of sewing in such a short time. I look forward to seeing more creations.
Happy Birthday! glad to discover your blog
Iggy is fabulous!
wow this is gorgeous. so very creative. I love him on your wall where you can see Iggy daily. What wonderful memories you must have of him. thanks for sharing.
I mostly make quilts, but enjoy making small zipper pouches and recently a string back pack!
WOW….simply stunning.
Oh my goodness, Yvonne, Iggy is a stunner. So much work and care and now you get to enjoy him for life. He’s so much prettier than the geckos we have here in Queensland (sorry QLD geckos, but it’s true). I love your husband’s photo as well, and it’s very clever how you adjusted your thread technique to match the bokeh
Wow! Iggy looks so realistic! Excellent work with your thread painting, and happy birthday to you!
Iggy is GORGEOUS, and you gave us a peek of your new sewing table – it looks beautiful.
Iggy is totally amazing!!!! And so true to life!
This is exquisite, Yvonne!!! I noticed that one of the comments on IG was “this broke the internet today”. I am in agreement!
Happy birthday, Yvonne! I hope you have a great new year ahead! Iggy is beautiful and is such a great memory and mascot for your new studio!!!
Wow, Yvonne! Iggy is gorgeous! What a masterpiece…but I would expect nothing else from you and your creativity! I love everything about it. And, I love that Aurifil thread too! My favorite thread for piecing my quilts. Thank you for sharing your amazing Iggy with us and for joining along on this blog hop! And happy, happy birthday, as well!!
Aw, well now Iggy can hang out with you in spirit! :o)
Wow! This turned out just fabulous.Your ability to do the shading and detail is so cool. Well done!! Happy Belated Birthday to you as well!!
Iggy is absolutely amazing. Thanks for jumping on board with the hop. 😉 Blessings, M
That is incredible!!!!
Thank you for sharing Iggy with us! I am just amazing with your stunning work! What a fun hop!!
Iggy is the bomb!!! Thanks for sharing in detail about your design, process, materials, and finished result. I am blown away by all the detail.
oh wow, Iggy is amazing! You must be very patient! Happy Birthday! xx
Beautiful gecko, very impressive. I love my Juki and I love the inset in the counter you have made for yours. Do you have enough space behind it to work on large projects?
Love Iggy. And happy late birthday! xo
Iggy is absolutely stunning. What a special memento from your time living in Hawaii.
I so enjoyed watching Iggy grow, both here and on Instagram. I love that he’s presiding over your studio; he turned out just beautifully.
That is so … stunning! I don’t even know how you did it, but it looks amazing!
Well, a very belated happy birthday to you! I love how you came up with your blog name – so appropriate!
I understand how difficult it must have been to leave Hawaii! I cried when we left Okinawa after living there for 4 ½ years! Your beautiful thread painted Iggy seems to be watching over you in your studio. A special project indeed. Thank you so much for sharing!