One of those weeks…
Do you ever have one of those weeks where you wish you could have stayed in bed and not get out? well … this has been that for me. One really nightmarish week at work trying to juggle agendas, keeping everybody happy, managing travel … grumpy people … and no sleep for me. For some reason … I have managed to sleep about 3 hours per night in the last 4 nights. It’s taking a toll …
So, needless to say, I have not been very productive. But I can show you some small samples I made last weekend, and finished at the beginning of the week, in preparation for larger pieces of work. I really like working in this manner … where I will make a small sample with the same techniques I am thinking of using in the larger pieces. It gives me an opportunity to see whether it is going to work or not.
The first piece is called Alley 237. It is a photo transfer of a door in the narrowest alley in Victoria, B.C. It is a lovely door and I always take a photo of it. So here it is:
I touched up the black areas with black fabric paint. The circles have been painted after quilting with metallic fabric paint. The green is a color by Stewart Gill and the red is by Silks.
I wanted to add some texture to it so I hand embroidered the circles with lana in a mustard yellow color using a seed stitch. I wasn’t sure that the door was standing out as much as I wanted it to, so for the larger piece i decided to transfer the writing on its own for now. So that’s what I have done. More on that one later, as it is still a work in progress.
I worked on a second smaller sample starting with the same burgundy fabric as above; quilted it with similar quilting as the larger work in progress piece, and then added the lettering. I wanted to see if I could actually write in my own handwriting and what it would look like. Then I added the circles with two different colors of green, once again in the lana, and beaded the smaller circle. The green and gold circles are hand-painted ATP paper (leftovers) using gold and green fabric paints. I like the way they look, instead of just painting directly on the fabric. I see possibilities …
I really like the different textures with the two sizes of script. And all those circles dancing across the surface. I am hoping to do some more playing this weekend.
Talking about this weekend, I will be putting together the kits for my classes in Houston at IQA this year. Yes, I am teaching there, and the classes are almost sold out. So if you are planning on going, and you have not made up your mind … there are still plenty of good classes out there to go to. I am really looking forward to the experience.
And if you are going to Market from 26 October to 28 October, I’ll be there too. I will be doing a demo for Wonderfil Threads both mornings on Sunday and Monday. Come pay me a visit. I’d love to chat with you.
In the meantime, keep busy, happy, enjoy the last days of summer and keep quilting. Until next time …
Ana
