Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Spice of Life Girls

For this challenge, I seemed to be concentrating more on word associations than the colors alone.  Sayings and phrases with the word "spice" were rolling around in my head.  
The Spice Girls, a popular female singing group from a few years ago, was one of the ideas that popped into my head with my word associations.  Another was Spice of Life.  At one point they melded together, although I wasn't consciously working toward that end.

As you can see in the photo above, I free-motion stitched the letters L - I - F - E into the spice bottle bodies.  Each of these girls has a special spice to life to offer.

L spice is for Love
I spice is for Inspiration
F spice is for Family/Friends
E spice is for Enjoy and Experience


The heads on the Spice of Life Girls are free-motion stitched following a drawing on paper. The background was machine pieced and free-motion quilted.  The bodies were fused and machine appliqued.

13 comments:

Brenda Gael Smith said...

Terri, what fun to see the return of your distinctive faces to Twelve by Twelve - I've missed them!

These girls look kind of subdued. As if they might have their studiously serious faces on and, just as you turn around, they will fall about laughing!

kirsten said...

I've never seen spice girls with such realistic body types!!!
I'm pleased to see the return of your beautiful faces, too, Terri.

Karen said...

Very clever Terri, and I'm glad to see you're girl's back also.

Lisa Flowers Ross said...

What kind of thread did you use for the faces?

Gerrie said...

I was trying to find a way to do a Spice Girls quilt. I am so glad you did. I think I am the one on the right!! The stitching of the faces is fantastic.

Diane Perin said...

Such a fun idea and I like the neutral background against the strong spicy bodies! That contrast makes the colors really pop. I too am happy to see your faces and really like the outline drawing/stitching the way they're used here. Very nice (and great border, too!)

Elizabeth said...

Fabulous wonderful and your stitching of the faces is amazing!!!!!! the letter meanings are terrific as well!! BRAVO!!!

Terry Grant said...

Love the combination of the simple body shapes and the sketchy line drawing faces. It has a very "modern" feel to it. So clever! How do you think of something like this? Blows my mind.

Terri Stegmiller said...

@Lisa Flowers Ross - I don't recall exactly which black thread I used on this one as I have many. But I'm guessing it was either a 30 or 40 weight cotton.

Barbara Strobel Lardon said...

I LOVE this one! I think you can interpret this in so many ways. My first reaction was all the different body types we women hate. haha.

Deborah Boschert said...

So, do you stitch through the paper and then peel it away? Is it tedious? I use this technique quite often and it works great... but it seems like I am forever picking tiny bits of the original paper pattern from under the thread.

I love the different hair styles too! The stitched letters are great... I love that they are subtle.

Renate said...

This is ingenious! Can I come to you for ideas? The many little nuances you added are very clever!

Terri Stegmiller said...

@Deborah Boschert - Yes, I stitch through the paper. And yes, it can be tedious to remove it all, but I must not mind doing it as I seem to do it again and again.