Saturday 20 June 2009

Another Little Quilt Swap

I am (hopefully) taking part in Kate North's quilt swap in July. It's not a done thing until the thing's done. In other words there is no compulsion to participate until the quilt is made and the photo posted to Kate's ALQS blog. The deadline falls in the third week in July so I don't have long to get my quilt made. (Sorry, the sign up period has ended so you'll have to wait for next year, if Kate does it again).
~
My initial thought was to make a quilt on the lines of my Journal Quilt for May, taking the centre panel and enlarging it.
~



~


I started by selecting fabrics of various textures including silk dupioni, crushed polyester, scrim and various weaves of cotton. The maximum size for the quilt is 24" x 24" so I assembled the various layers using this size plus a margin for sizing and errors. The next step was to add some texture pastes (pumice, matt medium and crystal paste) and paint the fabrics with silk and fabric paints.

~



~

Hmmm! Now it's painted I am not so sure. The colours have turned out a lot stronger than I had envisaged and for the moment I have gone off it! It is resting in the conservatory where I pass it regularly and where it will hopefully tell me what the next step is soon. I could have washed off some of the silk paints but I decided against that.

~

After I had painted the seascape I didn't want to waste the left over paints and brushed them loosely onto some cotton curtain lining, scattering salt onto the wet surface.
~



~ Now, this I like! Why do things always go like that? Take the pressure off and serendipity takes over. I love the subtlety of the marks and the colours look lively and interesting. Sooooo, yesterday I decided to run with this second idea and work on a wholecloth.

~



~

This is the result, a limited colour palette which I chose for no particular reason. I wet the fabric and then painted on the colours, some of which are metallics and again sprinkled with salt and left
overnight to dry, that was the hardest part!
~



~


This is the reverse side which I much prefer as it is a lot subtler. This is now sparking off several ideas for the next step and my initial thought is "Monet's garden" or, if not Monet's garden, a romantic garden with columns and trailing flowers. I'm thinking printing onto Extravorganza, maybe some printing onto the surface and some stitching to hold the whole thing together.

~

At least now some ideas are coming and I still have the original piece to think about. Oh yes, and my mojo is evidently back after last week, thank goodness! The good news is I take my last tablets tonight. Yay!
Posted by Picasa

7 comments:

Heather said...

I love all the fabrics you have created here Julie, including the seascape. Could you overlay strips of sheer fabric to tone it down if you find it too strong? It is such a lovely arrangement of strips. Can't wait to see how your quilt will turn out. Hope you will soon be feeling better now you have stopped taking your tablets and that they have done their work.

Julie said...

Thank you Heather. I'm very hopeful that once the antibiotics have cleared my system I will feel different again. At least then I can have the odd glass of vino!

Thank you too for your suggestion re the seascape. I have been trying to find some suitable photos of St Ives that I could maybe overlay and overlaying sheers sounds a workable idea too. I think the seascape will probably take longer to sort out that the second fabric as I have quite a few ideas for that.

Angela said...

Julie your work looks lovely. I really like the seascape and I am sure you will turn it into some thing you like.
Good news about the tablets.
By the way did you find your requirements list?

The Duck said...

Ooooooooooooh Auntie Julie this looks so lovely! I am having to have a little bit of first aid due to the many miles I do on the back of the motorbike with mummy and daddy! Hope to see you soon...when you have finished the tablets do you fancy a trip to York? Mummy told me about the hats! lol!

CAROLYN SAXBY said...

Hi Julie, firstly I really like the painted seascape that you had planned for the quilt piece. If you feel the colours are too strong you can alter it with machine stitch, hand stitch and beads???? Secondly, I love all your samples. I'm always loathe to waste my paints too and daub them all over other fabrics, threads and sketchbook pages ... they always seem to come in handy for something or other ...

and thirdly I am so pleased to hear your textile mojo is back ... and that you are hopefully on the mend and feeling much better. Now, it looks like I have quite a few other posts here to catch up with ...

Mermaid's Purse said...

I really like the depth of colour in your seascape - it's lovely!

Julie said...

Mermaid's Purse (aka Shelley) Thank you :o) It is growing on me but I am working on the second pice at the moment. I will definitely carry on with the seascape piece afterwards.