Watercolor Iris

Another sample from a former workshop; I've used this design in workshops so much as it's well received and so versatile. It was almost finished when I came across it and decided to do a technique I learned from Patsy Thompson.

 Patsy does a "faux" trapunto which I think is very effective. To start, the top is finished as far as appliqué goes, you are ready for quilting - but before you start, turn it over to the back and place 2 layers of a higher loft batting over the area you want to trapunto. Pin it well.

 Flip it over to the front and stitch around the edge of the appliqué pieces you wish to have more batting. In this case, since it's such a simple design, I used the entire appliqué.

 And it looks like this on the back.

 Carefully cut away the excess batting, getting close to the stitching but not cutting it and leaving just the applique with extra batting.

 Next, cover the back with more batting; you can see the slight outline of the applique with the extra batting underneath. Ordinarily you would also put a backing fabric in place but this piece is being mounted on a pre-stretched canvas so I omitted that. Set your machine for free motion and quilt like crazy - outlining the appliqué and some of the detail lines inside. You don't want to stitch too much inside the "extra padded" area as it deflates it and you lose the effect of trapunto.

 This piece was mounted around a pre-stretched canvas. There is usually so much bulk at the corners;  I remove it VERY carefully using an exacto knife!

 Doing this will ensure a much flatter look at the corners where there is an excess of fabric.

The finished piece - Watercolor Iris. I like the use of the batik as a background. It adds some personality to the piece.
Til next time....Judy

Spooky Old Tree

I've been grabbing moments in my studio in between holiday activities. I just finished a small piece which in orange - a challenge from a group I'm in. I'm not into orange so it definitely was a challenge. I started with a piece of fabric I marbled.

 The marbling was black veining over the orange which I liked, toned it down a bit and added some movement.

 I used some paintsticks to emphasis some of the areas.

 Since this piece was going to be one of my layered pieces and covered with an organza, it was a good idea to highlight areas to show through.

 I silk screened a tree on top of the marbling, layered it with batting and backing and did some minimal quilting.

 Before laying the organza on top which is done after the quilting, I felt it needed more, so I discharge the same image on the organza, allowing the underneath to show through.

 I added a little more quilting - now to the 4 layers - organza, top, batting and bottom.

I bound it in leftover organza which gives a soft edge.
I'm off and running once again to Atlanta to do our annual Christmas shopping, lunch, etc with my daughter. Have a great weekend.

What to do with scraps

Oh...what to do with scraps. I had some deconstructive screen printed fabric that was going nowhere so I found some of the same color scraps and decided to put them together for a small piece.

 Often I use a screen of an old recipe that's been in the family. I like using family writings on my quilts; it allows me that wonderful connection to my past. However, after screening these words, I thought it was a bit strong by itself.

I have lots of sheers, both purchased in the curtain fabric section of fabric stores along with many I've painted myself.

This is a purchased one and one I find I use a lot.  It has a lot of patterning with a soft neutral background so it works well as an overlay for many fabrics.

I like this effect....you can see the writing underneath but it doesn't jump out at you.The sheer image is also soft and adds a nice something.

The top section was next (left) and thought it needed a little zing also. Using the same sheer, I found a different area and pattern for the top. Being the same fabric, they worked well together.

  Next I needed to trim off the left side and after previewing several color choices, decided on an olive green over the brown.

which worked well I thought.

 The last section was a purchased brown batik and that definitely lacked in personality. I had a silk screen of skeleton leaves in different sizes - perfect. I did a little color lifting using a discharge paste through the screen; thought it would be more subtle but thought it also needed a touch of black to give it just a little spark of life. Each leaf was outlined with rayon embroidery thread, done by machine.

And the finished piece - "Shadow of Leaves"

Castle

I really like doing small pieces as I usually am working around everyone and everything. I do love the big "sink your teeth into" pieces also, but smaller ones allow me to be creative and move on to something else. I just finished up another small piece using some digital imagery I had printed on fabric.  

 I also get a chance to try out new surface design techniques without a big investment in time or fabric. This piece has a lot going on -  silkscreen, discharge, digital printing, decorative thread work.

 I used a silkscreen of a tree on top of the castle image. I also used it on the orange stripe to give it a little more visual texture.

 I love my silkscreen of thistles which I made from thistles I picked years ago on a morning walk. I do like the colors in this piece but it is quite subdued and needed some added pizazz; I thought stitching with a sparkly thread would help.

 I used thickened discharge paste and screened images of trees along the bottom. The images came from my enormous file of tree pictures, many of which I photographed along the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Here is the finished piece quite squared off but my photgraphy does distort it and make the edges look uneven. Have a glorious weekend.

The Postcard

Another small piece recently finished is The Postcard. It will be going in the Galleribba Gallery - see the link on the left to get to this gallery of artists featuring small wall art. 

 I used lots of  leftovers which is always fun - feel like I'm making a dent in my stash although with pieces this small it's not even a drop in the bucket. I had some deconstructive screen printed fabric to start with which had somehow picked up a faint bit of yellow along the way.

 So I though I would mix in yellow as an accent

 and combine it with some mushroom printed fabric - also a leftover. The yellow was stamped or screened with writing to give it some texture.

 I found an old piece of blue and white Shibori fabric and screened it with an image of an old postcard addressed to my grandmother - Cornelia Adams. The postcard is close to 100 years old, so it's a real treasure which I love to use.

And The Postcard - look for it on the Galleribba website.
Til next time.

Small Quilts - Aftermath Revisited

I've been working on small pieces for the Southern Highland Fair in October, pinning them up on my design wall as I go along. I'm a slow worker so seeing multiple pieces renews my sense of accomplishment. 

I love collecting sheers to use in my work; I sometimes paint a piece of organza

and stamp on top...on left.

I also love to rummage through the curtain department and bins of sewing stores. There are so many really great sheers with such interesting prints. So this one won out, with its many possibilities within the same piece and a good color for layering.

I actually started piece this a while back but it worked its way to the back burner for some reason. So I rediscovered this piece of fabric with an acrylic medium transfer of lichen on top which I quickly screened with a tree image.

And this great sheer, which I screened on top of using the same screen in reverse. 

The layered effect worked well with the sheer I used.

So then what to use along the side. I liked this color but thought the screened dragonflies might be too much so I flipped it over - easy to do when using batiks...

and screened another tree along the edge using black textile paint on the orange and discharge paste on the black areas.  To tone down the orangey area, black tulle was used. My son thought it looked like the remnants of a forest fire and named it "Aftermath".
I liked his way of thinking and made him go through some of my pieces and rename them.
Til next time.....

Small Works - Applecake

I've been trying to finish up some smaller pieces I started way back when.  Some only need a binding or a label. It's a good feeling to see some instant gratification.

This piece is part of my small quilts series. I't's called "Applecake". There's a silk screen of a recipe for Applecake written in my grandmother's hand.  There are also drawings of a face my son did and a digital image printed on organza of a family member - so it was a toss up as far as picking a name.

I started with a piece of deconstructed screen printed fabric but it was a little subtle and I thought it needed more to liven it up. So I thought of running it through the printer using another image on top would help.  Next to faces, I love trees - so one of my favorite tree images was the first thing I reached for.

I also thought quilting around the tree with gold thread would sparkle it up a bit.

The picture of some ancestor (don't know who...but love the dress and hat) was printed on organza and used as an overlay.

And some writing from my grandmother's cookbook - I use this screen a lot.

Mylar threads which are the flat shiny threads can be wicked to use, but when they work, they work like a charm and add so much.

I also used a silver mylar to quilt the circles in the fabric above.
A fun little piece and best of all...it's done!