Here's my little trio of framed fabric postcards for the upcoming Pend Oreille Arts Council exhibit "Miniatures at Large" which opens on Friday. I finished the last one today, as usual just in the nick of time as we hang the exhibit tomorrow. I say "we" because my role with POAC has shifted: I am no longer just an artist member observing from the outside, but an artist on the Visual Arts Committee also observing from the inside and actively involved in the nuts and bolts of putting on these exhibits. Kinda exciting. At any rate, I've been mentally obsessing for at least a week about getting this trio completed, and now that it is, and I am happy with the result, I do feel a tremendous sense of lightness, of freedom, of even joy. Makes me wonder why I dragged my feet in the doing when this wonderful sensation was waiting.
Part of the reluctance to move along with projects is often due to uncertainty about fabric choices. As I sketched out some possible designs for my moon theme, I realized how much I enjoy that part of quilting - the design phase. And although I love working with fabric and get excited at the various pairings, I don't enjoy quite so much making those final choices. What looks good in my head often fails in reality, or the options seem equally good so which to choose? My first choice for tree and moon fabric for my final miniature (shown above on the left) didn't look right on the dark grey background - a disappointment since the tree has the same teal green tint as the grey. I let it go a day just in case, but no, it looks much better on this navy background. So I went in search of something else, pulling the brown fabric on the right. Ah, if I fussy cut just right, it will make tremendous trees, but not on the grey background. It too will look best on a blue background, coupled with the more brownish-pink of the moons.
To get to that brown, I had to move that batik I bought recently (and felt guilty about). It too has the same leaning as the background hand-dyed, and I was surprised that its pattern could work for the trees. Certainly far from what I thought I might use it for (and I felt a bit vindicated). You just never know... This "Strawberry Moon" was finished up the same as Harvest Moon (see this post for details), just the Decor Bond to stabilize the stitching which I did in sequence with fusing the different parts of the design down. I was smart enough to plan ahead, doing the outline stitching around the moon before fusing the tree over it. The outer tree also got fused at this point so both could be outline stitched before adding the last tree which overlapped all the other appliques and stitching around it. Fuse on a backing, secure to the underside of a mat and slip in a frame with glass for protection.
The only problem now is that I have all these "bits and bobs" and beginnings of ideas for additional small moon vignettes strewn about the studio and I need to be working on something else. Good thing I bought a small storage box last week to coral all the fabric postcard stuff that's been stacking up on the work table. Organization is a wonderful thing.
I'll post individual photos of the three "miniatures" along with details about the exhibit and opening reception tomorrow..
Part of the reluctance to move along with projects is often due to uncertainty about fabric choices. As I sketched out some possible designs for my moon theme, I realized how much I enjoy that part of quilting - the design phase. And although I love working with fabric and get excited at the various pairings, I don't enjoy quite so much making those final choices. What looks good in my head often fails in reality, or the options seem equally good so which to choose? My first choice for tree and moon fabric for my final miniature (shown above on the left) didn't look right on the dark grey background - a disappointment since the tree has the same teal green tint as the grey. I let it go a day just in case, but no, it looks much better on this navy background. So I went in search of something else, pulling the brown fabric on the right. Ah, if I fussy cut just right, it will make tremendous trees, but not on the grey background. It too will look best on a blue background, coupled with the more brownish-pink of the moons.
To get to that brown, I had to move that batik I bought recently (and felt guilty about). It too has the same leaning as the background hand-dyed, and I was surprised that its pattern could work for the trees. Certainly far from what I thought I might use it for (and I felt a bit vindicated). You just never know... This "Strawberry Moon" was finished up the same as Harvest Moon (see this post for details), just the Decor Bond to stabilize the stitching which I did in sequence with fusing the different parts of the design down. I was smart enough to plan ahead, doing the outline stitching around the moon before fusing the tree over it. The outer tree also got fused at this point so both could be outline stitched before adding the last tree which overlapped all the other appliques and stitching around it. Fuse on a backing, secure to the underside of a mat and slip in a frame with glass for protection.
The only problem now is that I have all these "bits and bobs" and beginnings of ideas for additional small moon vignettes strewn about the studio and I need to be working on something else. Good thing I bought a small storage box last week to coral all the fabric postcard stuff that's been stacking up on the work table. Organization is a wonderful thing.
I'll post individual photos of the three "miniatures" along with details about the exhibit and opening reception tomorrow..
1 comment:
I like the way you've bought the backgrounds into the tree trunks. Hope you're keeping warm.
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