Friday, April 20, 2018

The Trouble With One-Of-A-Kind Fabrics

I ended the last post with a preview of work begun on that great save of a disappointing dyed fabric. My problem with these kinds of fabrics is that I don't know what to do with them, can't imagine cutting them up, and fear any addition of stitch will ruin, not enhance them. But I'd stared long enough at this one to have at least moved to the conclusion that I would not hurt anything by stitching along the dark edges of the zigzag. Of course, my first thought was to use a dark blue thread, but the muse has returned to the studio and said, "Uh uh uh." Yeah, that really is one of my weaknesses, going too matchy matchy and ending up with something less than exciting. So with the mantra "go bold or go home" ringing in my ears, I reached for that bright green spool of Oliver Twist Hand-dyed thread, shook off my timidity about freemotion quilting and dived in. The green blended in nicely, not getting lost but not jumping off the quilt either. Whew!


And I was ready to stop again. Afraid to add any more quilting. Afraid I would lose all that texture and subtlety of flowing colors. So it took awhile to get comfortable with the nudging from the muse. She was reminding me that at one point I'd considered quilting leaves inside the dark areas, and that I had those sheer leaves still looking for a home. Honestly, I'd been thinking maple leaves and the sheer ones are birch leaves so that's not going to work. After much "musing", I remembered an Amish-style wall quilt made long ago and unearthed when I was going through the bins looking for something to go with my offerings for the Rooted In Fiber Exhibit last December. I remembered being surprised at the quilting I'd put in the borders, but wondering why I hadn't used this again. I was pretty sure it was from a book of Amish quilting patterns by Gwen Marston and Joe Cunningham and quickly found it on my bookshelf. Looked pretty much the right size, and I traced it out on a transparency sheet so I could audition it over my fabric. So perfect!


Now to decide on thread. I'd been mulling three from my Oliver Twists: a dark plum, a medium dark blue, and this warm golden brown - all variegated because of the hand-dyeing, all picking up colors in the fabric, all very viable choices. Again, I felt I was going bold by picking the golden one, wanting something that would do more than create a shadow and one that would complement and tie in with the sheer leaves. The muse was nodding in approval.


I'm generally very tense when I start freemotion quilting, but from the get go I felt I was in my element, cruising along with my stitches more even and my curves more smooth than I think I can do and filling the space freestyle as I moved down the zigzags. I did mark the undulating center line with soapstone, if for no other reason than to be sure I was ready to curve in the right direction around each 90 degree turn. Mostly, I wondered who had inhabited my body for this stage.


I loved the way this design looked but I wasn't feeling so confident about the color choice anymore. Yes, it was very much like the leaves I want to add. But I couldn't help wondering if that blue thread would have been a better choice. That's another problem with one-of-a-kinds, no extra to do samples on.


Up on the design wall it went, with a lone leaf attached. I'm just not convinced like I once was that the leaves work on this. It's taken me days to decide about the thread color, with or without the leaves. I've come to think it's a good choice, playing on the lighter yellowish areas of the fabric. Well, good or not, it's there and not coming out.


Here's a shot lying on the table, colors adjusted and perhaps still a bit off. The sheer just picks up the light differently, does not mute like one would think, looks different in different kinds of lighting. The Muse, however, is being mute on the issue.


Here's another shot of the quilting in more natural light and thus more true. I had been thinking to call this one "Float" because I'd planned to float those individual leaves across the surface, but once I chose this particular leaf design for the quilting, "Sway" came to mind and seems more appropriate. That is what the long thin branches of willow trees do as they hang down and move in the wind.


Here's the quilting from the back. It's squared up now, no mean feat when a quilt is longer than your cutting board and has no seams or borders or blocks to use as a guide. I butted a variety of square and regular rulers together, used a tape measure to check that dimensions matched in all directions, then chalked the cutting line on so I could do one last check and one last adjustment before cutting.


I started auditioning binding fabric while it was up on the wall, having narrowed that down to two that have been auditioned as it lays flat on the table. I cannot make up my mind between a dark forest green and a dark charcoal - both leaning towards blue. My art group meets Monday so I may enlist their help. In the meantime, I'm about to embark on yet another leaf cluster for the ArtWalk application. The Muse agreed it was time to quilt up a few more, had been drawing me that direction. This one already had stitching around the leaves but I hadn't done more because I couldn't decide how to quilt the background. After placing my transparency sheet over the top and drawing some ideas on it, none of them were working. The Muse reminded me how well that garnet stitch had worked on one and poo pooed my resistance because I'd already used it. Shouldn't part of this "working in a series" thing be exploring different quilting designs too? Apparently not, and it made me quite happy to come to that conclusion, freeing me to repeat that successful design. However, I can't figure out how any of these thread possibilities will actually look just by pooling them. The Muse let out an impatient sigh. Oh, right. Unlike my zigzag overdye, I have lots of this fabric and the smart thing to do would be to make up a small sandwich and do samples. It's ready and waiting.  

8 comments:

kathy loomis said...

Before you choose a binding fabric, please consider no binding at all!! Faced edges (where the finishing strips are entirely turned to the back of the quilt) look so much more like art and less like traditional bed quilts.

The Idaho Beauty said...

Already considered and rejected, Kathy, but thanks for the suggestion. I use both kinds of finishes as well as wrapping over canvas and slipping in frames. I let each piece tell me what it wants and as much as I thought this piece was going to be asked to be faced, it keeps nudging me towards binding. It wants some containment and definition, I feel, which will not make it look less like art. It's just another sort of framing or matting to my eye, if used judiciously and mindfully, one last design decision. Don't worry, it won't be a wide binding, but a very narrow one. ;-) And easy enough to reverse, should I put it on and realize it's not working. Sometimes I really can't tell until I try it.

Anonymous said...

Your leaves meandering through the quilt are perfection! Your thoughtful choices have done the dyed fabric justice! I'm looking forward to seeing what color binding you choose--and what color the art group suggests, too! My opinion is to use the charcoal because I think the green would distract from the elements of the quilt itself. Which ever you choose, I'm sure it will be what the 'muse' steers you toward!

The Idaho Beauty said...

Thanks, Jan! Those two fabrics are a bit like that sheer leaf. Every time I enter the studio and see them auditioning and making their case, the lighting changes keep me flipping between the two. The dark green tends to bring out the green in the fabric, but it IS a stronger statement, which could be good or bad frankly. The other is complementing and bringing out the blues more and would create a "softer" outer edge which at first I thought was not contrast enough but now think might be just right. We're meeting at Meg's where there is much more abundant natural lighting, my work always looking quite different when I get it there and my indecisions suddenly whisked away even if the group says nothing. But they always DO chime in with very helpful observations so I am looking forward to what they have to say.

Living to work - working to live said...

Well you have lots of good advice there to help you along the way. I just thought I should pop by and say how much I like this. I love free motion quilting, as you know, and this is beautiful. I also love the leaf! I think the colours are fine. I'm intrigued to see where this takes you.

The Idaho Beauty said...

Thanks, Hilary, so very nice to get your thumbs up on all this. Did more back and forth on the binding choices and adding of the dimensional leaves yesterday and think I am getting closer to settling. Tomorrow at Art Group should seal the deal and I can confidently (?) finish this up. The clock is ticking after all . . . ;-) I am so excited about this piece and the others I have in mind to hang with it which should make a quite cohesive group.

Charlton Stitcher said...

‘Go bold or go home!’ Such great advice (beautifully demonstrated) ... and to be remembered next time I’m prevaricating!

The Idaho Beauty said...

Ooo, glad you think I did well following up on it. I think I got it from the saying "Go big or go home." I can go big and it's still not an improvement. I've been working more on getting bold and even when the boldness is just baby steps, I can still see the difference. :-) Hope this works for you!