Moon Magic - Kindred Spirits Exhib.2008

This is my first piece for our Exhibition next year under the theme Myths & Legends - and I am into fairies. This is a wall quilt measuring 2' x 3' (I have another three to do!!) I have tried to depict a night scene, with a full moon and a rather gothic flavour!
I dyed all the fabrics at the same time, at a 5 day Retreat with Patricia McLaughlin in January this year, when Patricia also showed us this technique of hand applique, where you apply the fabrics in a logical order to medium weight Vilene and then applique the whole piece onto the background. This is how the Gothic Castle was worked.
I also worked the Fairy in the same way, and both designs are from a Dover Publication of copyright free patterns. The fairy's dress is hand dyed silk using salt when the dye was still wet, and the wings are three layers of organza, made on the machine in a hoop, then cut out with a soldering iron (and I wiggled the iron on the wings a bit to make a pattern!)
The leaves are impressions of real ivy leaves I painted with opaque paint then pressed on the quilt. The whole quilt is free machine quilted, and there is quite a lot of metallic rub ons on the tree trunks. I've also used watered down Stewart Gill Galactica paint for the fairy dust!
I reckon I need a couple more 'bits' on there somewhere, perhaps along the bottom, but I mustn't make it too pretty, as it is supposed to be atmospheric and spooky like - hence the fairy's expression! Any suggestions.........?
And finally... I received this beautiful postcard from my friend Dot (who still hasn't got a Blog yet!) and she writes on the back "Have been trying my hand at printing, thought you'd like to see. Made the block from craft foam and printed with acrylics with some coloured pencil on top. Enjoy" The hand embroidery is just exquisite, and the poem at the bottom reads - Seasons come and seasons go but loving feelings stay, the treasures cherished in your heart can never fade away. Magic. Thanks again Dot.

Textile Challenges - September

This month's Challenge on the Textile Challenges Group was to make a 'Flexi-Bag' using Margaret Robert's free pattern published by Fibre & Stitch on line magazine. I used Mags. idea generally, but I did make up a 'quilt' with no raw edges, then free-machine quilted it, then stitched the edges to form the bag. I put the three layers together (wadding down first, then lining and top fabric right sides together on the top) and stitched all round, leaving the straight edge open. Trimmed all round close to the seam, turned right side out, turned the straight edge in and slipped stitched in place.

The free-machine quilting actually follows the shapes etc. of the various colours in the fabric. I used a commercial fabric and YLI metallic thread.

Lutradur and other stuff

Last week, Carol in Scotland sent me a piece of Lutradur and some other more gossamer coloured pieces, to experiment with......... Following Carol McFee's article in the Fibre & Stitch Zine (on line magazine) and using the Lutradur, I first stitched down pieces of lace (some beaded pieces) and gauze (previously painted for another project - couldn't find my white stuff!) then painted all over the back with mixed red and blue acrylic paint. Let it dry....
Then painted the front half red and half white. Let it dry.. then painted all over with a very watered down yellow pearl paint. Let it dry....
Then washed it all over with a watery red dye/ink, followed by a Stephens Ink watery blue wash, which I hoped would turn it purple. It didn't, but I am quite happy with the result!

From this experiment I have two postcards and an A5 piece, for the Kindred Spirits Exhibition next May.

This is a piece of the other stuff Carol sent me. As you can see it is mauve and very see-through (gossamer but stiff) I stitched bit of knobbly lace and gauze on it, as before, and painted the back. All same process, at the same time as other piece.
I went through the same process of colour stages, but painted yellow opaque on some of the blue, which gave me the green. As you can see, no traces of the original mauve colour (if it is there, it blends very nicely with the other colours)
I made two more postcards. This one has blue felt at the back, and the one below has green felt. The subtle change is very interesting.
The piece left over from this experiment makes a perfect first signature (page) for the Book Cover I made (Secret Garden) a couple of months back. I shall be using some other colours for more signatures. More stuff for Kindred Spirits Exhibition.

Many thanks again Carol for your generosity.

the Artist's Muse - Chapter 6/Challenge 6

I went to help my friend Carol set up her Exhibition at Lapford Mill last Thursday, as she is part of the Devonartworks 2007, which runs from the 8th-23rd September. Whilst there, I noticed these wheels leaning against the wall of the Mill, and took this photograph. Now you may be wondering what this has to do with Challenge 6 in the Artist's Muse Group, but one of the challenge choices was to take a photograph and create a piece of work using black and white fabrics, that is an interpretation of the photograph, either literally or in the abstract.
I changed the photograph to black and white on the computer, and printed a copy.
I traced all the interesting bits, drew an uneven grid all over it, then coloured in alternate black and white squares. I now have an abstract design, that I may work in fabric, or I could take just a section of it. Only time will tell..........!

POSTCARDS

I have recently received two beautiful postcards in the mail. The first one came from Doreen my cyber friend in Australia. I've peered at it for ages, but just can't decide how she worked the background, although there does seem to be a bit of angelina on there, maybe it is felted. The hand couched threads and other stitches are just lovely. If Doreen drops by my blog, perhaps she will tell me how she did the background. Thanks again Doreen.
This card is from Carol in Scotland, and is amazing. I can see the background is stamped with a swirly and an angular design several times, the gold looks to be the final one, and is stitched with gold thread, but somehow the punchinella (sequin waste) is on the top, without the background showing through. Just exquisite - thankyou Carol.
Carol was also kind enough to send me some Lutradur (and Evolon) to try, as I had no idea what it looked like (white piece in pic.) I also bought some 'paper fabric' from the local Florist(75p. mtr.), which looked very similar although a lot thinner (blue and pink in pic.) I'm going to have a play with these on Sunday, so watch this space!!