Monday, June 11, 2007

Today's Work

Since the angel and I are at a bit of an impasse, I decided to work on another version of my tree stump made with painted fusible web. But I tell you, I really had to push myself to do it. I was quite intimidated at the thought of reproducing that stump again. Why I think I have to have it come out the same, I'm not sure, but that's what I decided was making me so hesitant to dive in. I hesitated a bit over the background as well, second guessing the decision I'd made days ago to use this fabric that was the border on the journal quilt. Also, I was using up what was left of the original pieces of painted fusible, and I didn't have that much to choose from.


Once I got to a certain point, though, I finally loosened up a bit. I wasn't pleased with what was before me, so figured I couldn't make it worse by continuing to add to it. I had some pretty light pieces, too light really, and some darker ones with green. I decided to try pulling the web away from the paper so I could better see the true color of the paint on it. This worked really well, and I was able to cut tiny pieces and move them around until I had the look I wanted. I used a piece of release paper instead of the Teflon sheet to protect my iron, and discovered that if I pulled it off quickly instead of slow and carefully, I had less problem with the paint or fusible separating from it. I'm still getting some shine, but I'm learning to ignore it. Eventually I stopped, hoping that quilting would cover the places I felt too abrupt, light or dark, and enhance the look of bark.


As in the journal quilt version (see here), I felt much better about it after the quilting. Click on the picture to see more detail. In this case, I am quilting with a layer of batting and a piece of newsprint under that. I'll be mounting this to a base that will act a bit like a mat, so don't need the layer of backing fabric at this point. Once mounted, I'll add more quilting detail to keep it from pooching away from the mount.

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