Textile Art

It's been a while. Good to be back to my creative space. I've got a bunch of textile art pieces floating around in my head. They are small and perfect for experimenting with new ideas - nearly instant gratification. And I love how graphic these small ideas in fabric can be when framed simply.

Here's the first brought to life - inspired by the fluid, organic shape of kelp. The negative space is just as engaging as the kelp itself.

It's just as I imagined it. That's what I love most about creating original designs in fabric. 

I made this piece using the same improv applique method I have been using for the past couple of years. I really enjoy the process of cutting and sewing by eye, rather than using a template. The variations of shape and serendipity of design that result are so interesting.

More to come. This one is in my etsy shop. 

As an aside - sadly etsy has been overrun with mass produced items under the guise of "production partnerships" and "vintage" items. There are still lovely handmade items to be found, but you have to dig around to get to them. Let me know of any better platforms for handmade items, please. Back soon, I hope.

Improv Art Quilt

Another improv appliqué project, this time pairing appliqué with pieced improv. I have found I really love the process of improv appliqué, from the cutting, to the basting (pictured below), to hand sewing.

I used matchstick quilting which works especially well to lend structure to wall hangings like this art quilt.

Although this shot is from before I hand stitched the facing, you can see the method of binding I chose. A facing is perfect for quilts you want to avoid framing with a binding that would show. I have to admit I find facing a bit tedious though.

On to the next experiment.

Appliqué Landscape

Another appliqué experiment - this time inspired by pottery.

I made up the process as I went along, and began with a quick freehand drawing using smooth, simple shapes. I numbered and labeled each piece before cutting the paper along the draw lines.

I used each paper piece as a template, cutting the fabric about 1/8" larger on all sides. I did this because I wanted about an 1/8" of foundation fabric to show between my appliqué shapes, reminiscent of the dark ceramic base of my inspiration. I experimented a bit with different colors in the landscape, ultimately keeping the hills a single green and swapping the lightest coral for one closer to the darker coral.

After pinning in place, making sure each piece overlapped evenly with its neighbors, I basted all the pieces down.

I used needle-turn appliqué and 50 or 80 weight, whichever I had on hand, of Aurifil thread to stitch the pieces down. This was a bit fiddly because of the overlapping pieces. Here it is about half finished.

After appliquéing, I removed the basting stitches. I like how the landscape looks, simply framed, but now I wonder if it would be improved with quilting. There is a slight wave to the fabrics that is bugging me a little bit, even with a few layers of batting added behind it. If I quilted it, I could mount it on top of the mat, rather than behind it. What do you think?

MarimeFaux Wall Hanging

You may recognize the inspiration for this piece as a print by Marimekko. It was a very large scale print; I'm guessing the motif was a yard across. Recently the design has resurfaced as a special line at a certain big box store and can be purchased on items like napkins and boogie boards. I guess you could say I'm on trend, but I've actually been working on this this needle turn applique wall hanging for over a year, finishing it just in time to photograph it in some beautiful spring weather.

I developed a new technique to create the design, something of a cross between Hawaiian applique and cutting paper dolls. I folded the fabric several times and cut out the motif using a template I designed. The result is not quite as smooth as I would like, but the slight irregularity of the shapes is somehow pleasing.

I finished the piece with straight line quilting and a faced binding, made following this tutorial.

I'm currently revisiting this technique in a table runner and print fabrics. I've adjusted the technique to fold and cut freezer paper to create a full size template to apply to the fabric, rather than cutting the fabric itself folded. This has allowed me to make smoother curves and more regular shapes. I hope that project will be finished more quickly than this was.