Progress on the Upcycle entry

Finally, I am rolling along with something!  My entry for the SAQA Upcycle show is taking shape.  My first step was to cut the base fabric, and baste the large chicken feed sack pieces to it.  I also raw edge appliqued some small printed feed sack pieces to have a little color where the chicken feed bag pieces don't quite meet.

Image and design copyright RPS

Next, I played with the location for the secondary focal point pieces - chunks cut from a vintage printed tablecloth (check out the mid-century mod chickens) and a fun hanky with some more funky chickens on it.

Image and design copyright RPS

Once I had a good idea where the focal points will go, I started to place pieces of printed feed sack in the lower right corner.  The pieces will be raw edge appliqued, and I will use the same technique in the upper left corner.

Image and design copyright RPS

My next step is to make a small sample of the trick-or-treat part of the whole piece feed sack and try quilting it with thread sketched chickens.  I plan on outlining the trick-or-treat lettering in dark gray chain stitching.  Check back on Thursday to see how that goes.

More Unfinished Business

What is it about quilters/textile artists that we seem to amass so many unfinished projects?  Just about every quilter I have known has a sizable stash of "UFOs" (unfinished objects), and some even take pride in having more UFOs than other quilters.  Are other artists this bad with not completing things?

Anyway, I have not touched the Mardi Gras 8x10s" in the last week.  I picked up another project that I started a year ago: a collage that started with a tea towel.

image and design copyright RPS

The only thing that the tea towel had on it when I dug it out of an auction box lot was the embroidered clover flower and leaf at the bottom (and some stains).  It has come a long way, hasn't it?  I am building up a band of mixed stitches across the surface and I have some other small fancy pieces to add to it. 

image and design copyright RPS

Like many of my collages, I don't have a vision for the end of this piece, I will know it when it looks right.  The important thing is to realize when it is time to stop, I don't want to overdo it.  Maybe this weekend I will do something with the Mardi Gras series...

Picking up Pieces

In 2017, I had a great idea to make an 8 x 10" art quilt each week, an idea that numerous other artists have successfully embarked upon.  My take on the project never made it out of the idea stage.  I would still like to attempt it, though thanks to the multitude of other things I am attempting, I am not going to let it rule my life.  If I get one art quilt done in a week, great, if not, it is due to making other things.  If I get four done in a week, well that would be something.

Earlier this week, I cut up a piece of my Mardi Gras blend dyed fabric and started playing with bits of green, yellow and purple fabric. 

Since it is Thursday, and this is all I have so far, I doubt that even one of these will be done by Sunday, but at least I am moving along with one of my many ideas.  Now, go make something!  That's what I am off to do now.

Upcycle Entries - Making More Decisions

I've made a little progress in this early stage of my SAQA "Upcycle" entry (or entries).  I have three possible dyed tablecloth backgrounds:

I have doubts about the bottom two, they look too much like tie-dye, which they aren't.  Many people try to equate some of my dye techniques to 1960s era t-shirts, which is NOT what I am trying to emulate. Anyway, for the Upcycle idea, I want to create a series of small abstract collages on dyed damask napkins and join them onto the tablecloth background.  Here, I am starting to audition the napkins:

The separate small collages will incorporate lots of found objects and stitch-able materials.  I will likely add pieces of re-purposed clothing too, and I am about to embark on a journey through the house looking for potential non-fabric scraps - for example: shopping bags, net bags from fruit and vegetables, junk mail, wrappers, etc.

Ups and Downs on the Upcycling

I have not made much progress on getting a clear idea for my Upcycle entry... I have been playing with some possible materials.  The old quilt top that I featured in my last post is out of the running.  I want to show off my hand dyed upcycled textiles, so the base is going to be a dyed damask tablecloth.  There are so many possibilities for this theme.  My vast stash of vintage textiles includes men's ties that are intended for a wearable project, but there are many of them.  I could use some of them with other pieces of old clothing in a collage

Of course, I have many dyed doilies which I have fun using to create texture in a piece.  Too many of them might look too antique, too stale for the art gallery patron.  I need to think about making something more edgy and unexpected.

Along with dyeing fabric for resale and my own creations, I often throw a few pairs of socks in the dye buckets.  Some of them are starting to wear out, but they are too beautiful to toss in the trash. 

A while ago, I found instructions for making sock dolls.  Since then, I have wanted to make a wall hanging with a whole bunch of wildly embellished sock dolls.  Maybe it is time to pursue that idea.

Contemplating an Upcycling Project

One of SAQA's upcoming calls for entry is "Upcycle!"  Since I have gotten my start in the fabric and art quilt business by upcycling vintage textiles, this is a must-do opportunity for me.  I am also planning an entry in their 3D Expression show, that entry deadline is earlier that Upcycle, but I am pressuring myself to have solid ideas for both by the end of November in order to complete them in time to submit my entries.

Here is my first thought for Upcycle:

This is a vintage quilt, about 70 x 80,'" in very rough shape.  It would be a base, a jumping off point for a fabric collage.  I am envisioning lots of hand stitching, overlays of images on sheer fabrics, some painting on fabric too.

The rips and tears indicate that it sure has seen a lot of use in its life.  Hopefully, it was loved in its early life, but is has likely been through some rough handing.  The quality of the hand stitching holding it together hasn't helped it much, but I commend this quilt's maker for sticking with it and finishing it.  We all have to start somewhere.

Here is something that will horrify vintage quilt collectors - I admit, I ran this quilt through the washing machine a few days ago!  Yes, I know I am not supposed to do that to an old quilt, but I had to in this case.  I had a mouse problem on Saturday, and the little bugger holed up in this quilt.  Being terrified by hot pursuit of my cat, the uninvited mouse left copious... deposits.  I had to wash it.  There is no way I am going be wrapped up in a quilt this large, hand stitching it with mouse turds all over it.  I am pleased to report that in its already fragile state, the washing machine really didn't do any more damage.   A little bit of the batting came out from the larger holes, but that's it.  I don't think that any of the tears were made worse.  I'd rather risk the damage than have the risk of who knows what the mouse could have been carrying.

Next time, a few more Upcycle candidates.

World War I Challenge Progress

Sadly, I am missing the entry deadline for this quilt, it is still not finished.  I'm not upset by missing the deadline, I will still finish the quilt and since I am going to be a vendor at the show it was to be entered into, I will have it on display (and for sale) in my booth.  I have a few more things to add to it, but here are a couple of detail images of the quilting and the very cool stamens in the poppies (hand stitched - straight stitches with French knots).  Enjoy!

images and design copyright RPS

This week is quieter than last, so I really have every intention of posting on Thursday... will it be about the finish of this quilt, or something else?

In Ten Minutes

So, I have two little stitched pieces that I intend to be bases for some sort of embellishing.  I have not touched the pieces since I put them together last Wednesday.  I have though a lot about what I want to do with them over the past few days.  Many ideas for this project have flowed through my brain, and I keep coming back to putting a single flower on each one.  I picked a Joe-Pye-Weed flower head and placed it on one of the pieced back to see how it might look, thinking that I could stitch a portrait of the flower:

I want to do something with a day lily too, so I gave myself ten minutes today to come up with petals for that and leaves for the Joe-Pye-Weed:

All images copyright RPS

Yes, ten minutes, that is it.  I have not sewn the pieces yet, they will be raw edge appliqued.  I freehand cut the pieces, looking at the real things while I cut.  The orange for the day lily is silk dupioni that I dyed last summer with marigold flowers, and the green is a hand-dyed cotton gauze.  Now, I won't work on these again until the weekend.  I'll take them with me to a local art festival where I will be doing demos.  I should have both pieces finished next week, and I will document the time spent on them over the weekend.  How long do you think it will take me to stitch the leaves and petals down, stitch the stems and hand stitch the flower head for the Joe-Pye-Weed?

On Thursday, I will have some sort of of-the wall ramble here...

In One Hour

With peach and blackberry on my mind, as promised I allotted one hour to come up with a base for a fabric collage.  First, I made a very quick selection of fabrics and ironed them:

Next, I cut several sized of strips, and started sewing them together:

Moving on, I kept trimming where needed and sewing pieces to create not one, but two sections of pieced fabric, until they were big enough to be able to get 8 X 10" pieces out of them.

Here's the final result, two collage bases, each 8 1/2 X 10 1/2, in less than one hour. 

All images and designs copyright RPS

Yes, the size is small, but think about finishing things quickly.  If you are pressed for time, look for small projects.  You won't get overwhelmed, and your confidence will grow as you get satisfaction in finishing something in days or a week or two.

Next week, find out how I embellish the two pieces.  I honestly have no finished image in mind right now for these.  I am simply playing with a color palette.

Learning New Things

For some reason, I've decided that I don't have enough to do (not the case in reality), so I am taking a six week long calligraphy class.  I had the first session last week, and here is what I did in class:

Learning any new skill starts with the basics, and there is no getting around it.  It takes time to master anything.  As I have discussed here before, I have encountered many people who apparently want to master a skill instantly, so they don't bother trying anything new.  It just doesn't work that way.  The best things in life aren't downloaded.  Which reminds me, I have some lovely stitching going on a collage, I am off to continue these fly stitch vines and keep working on my stitching skills.

Done!

It is finished:

Images and design copyright RPS

One of my many goals for this year is to finish more art work for competition, selling and project samples.  So, now that I have finished this box. I'm on to the next one!  I also want to finish a couple of 2-D collages that I started earlier this year, not to mention all the unfinished projects and series from the past few years... I'd better get busy!  Next week I will profile one of these older projects.

Entry Deadline Looming...

I have made good progress with embellishing the sides of the box I posted about last week:

Images and design copyright RPS

These pictures are from Sunday, I have added more embellishing.  To
morrow I must zigzag stitch the sides together.