A Little Bit High, A Little Bit Low

Yesterday was a studio day.  Lots and lots of sewing ensued.  Even a little wackiness (Lilo and Stitch on the DVD player, earlier McCartney on the turntable, some Shiva Nata in between to loosen up and calm down).

Butter and Egg Road, still in process, the photo print and the fence sewn in place.

A view of the printed out journal page, embellished with machine embroidery.

Detail of the stitching on the image.  I outline stitched the main images once the piece was sewn to the quilt base with satin stitch.

The apron sewn down and the piece is complete with the exception of the sleeve and label.  I really like how it turned out.  When I was in college, my watercolor instructor told me “you really like to work high key”.  I am embarrassed to admit, I didn’t know what she meant at the time, but I can see that in this piece.  It’s very pale, with just the hints of reds in the apron and hollyhocks to make it pop.  No embellishment needed.

And now on to the next piece:

“Day of the Cichlid”, machine embroidery with bobbin drawing, and reverse applique.  The piece at the bottom is auditioning.  When it is complete, it will also have cutouts like the top sections.

Detail of the bobbin drawing.  I used crochet thread for those passages.  Looks like this will be another high key piece.

Back to work, I have circles to cut out!

Moving Right Along

Floral Medley is complete, including sleeve and label (usually the very last thing that gets done, ok well it is always the very last thing but sometimes it is months after the rest of the piece is finished).

Final measurements, 26.5” x 35” (67cm x 89cm)

Now it is on to the next piece

Butter and Egg Road, inspired by the colors at my Mamaw’s house.  The apron was a thrift store treasure, and the hollyhocks are from a journal page that I scanned and printed onto fabric.

I am machine embroidering in the image to add a bit more color and texture.  When that is complete I will either satin stitch it in place or use the black bias tape that I used earlier this year on a different piece.

The Pellon interfacing fence that I’m going to applique onto a piece of off white batik fabric.  This will sit in the lower right of the piece and behind the apron.  I may also apply the apron to a backing piece of fabric, using the same method I did for the doilies on Floral Medley.  This makes it much easier to apply the threadwork to the quilt sandwich, and I’m really happy I stumbled upon this method while working on this set of work.

Back to the studio.  Have a great weekend, y’all!

The Best Part of Waking Up

Is getting to go to the studio and play! 

This piece has been in process for enough years that I don’t remember when I made the yellow base.  I have been purging the studio and came across it, and when I saw the colorful textiles in the Wavy Gravy movie, I knew it needed to be a floral scene.

The butterfly is an extra machine embroidered butterfly left over from the piece I made for The Artful Storybook.  He’s sat in the pile of in process works for two years now.  Doesn’t he look pretty flying above the flowers?

Here’s a detail of the picking process.  I made these fabric yo yos when Izzy was an infant, they come in handy for so many embellishing chores.  The crochet pieces are found objects from second-hand shops.

A different detail of the yo yos set in the center of pieces cut from the white doily.  If you look carefully, you can also see the machine stitched detail on the poppies.  I used crochet thread in the bobbin for that effect.

I chose to back the orange doilies with this African brocade from Becky at St Theresa Textile Trove.  It will help with the contrast against the bright yellows.

And another detail of the doily as finished flower.  I am going to go back in and add some veins in the leaves, either with beads or sequins, once the piece is ready for its final embellishment.  The poppies were sewn separately and beaded separately before being appliqued to the background, and the stems are zigzag stitch done over rattail satin cording for extra dimension.

I love when a piece comes together like this.  Everything here has been in my stash for quite some time, just waiting for the opportunity to be made into art.  The finished piece will be on exhibit at the High Road Gallery in Worthington OH as part of the upcoming FABRICations exhibit.