Using up the scraps!

Well I've managed two more of these 61/2" square textile pieces, and I feel that I'm on a bit of a roll with them! However, things are going to be 'hotting up' again for the next few weeks with the final wedding preps, so this will probably be it now until after the end of May!

I decided to photograph the process of this last one, so here goes.

Above is a piece of fabric I printed quite some time ago. In fact, so long ago that I can't quite remember the process, but I think it included elastic bands and some left over thickened dye through a silk screen. It was rather dull and boring, which is probably why I've not used it until now! However, I dragged it out yesterday, and attacked it with some waxy fabric crayons, the results of which are below.

I selected some other scraps of leftover dyed and printed bits and pieces, plus a piece of commercially printed cotton, and cut them up into spirals, ovals and wriggly shapes which I'd prepared for appliqueing.

After stitching the appliqued pieces down, I continued to embellish the surface with lots more free motion quilting in colours that added more interest and depth to the background.

Both pieces are very similar individually, but as you can see from the first photograph at the top of this page, they would also work well together.

I've really enjoyed working on these smaller pieces, and they are a very good way of using up small, leftover scraps of fabric that are too good to throw away! 

Beginning with flour and water!

Below is the piece of cotton fabric that I created from a flour and water paste experiment made previously, Here. After painting it with acrylic paint, I cut it in half today and appliqued a few yellow cotton spots and some yellow net over the surface before quilting heavily with shades of blue, green and yellow viscose thread. They are the same size as the two from yesterdays post, 61/2" square, so quite small. I do enjoy working on smaller pieces, they feel more manageable for the detail that I like to add, and of course, they don't take as long to make! Well, not usually anyway.

Two posts in two days!! Somehow, I think there may be a bit more of a break before my next one, but thanks for reading, and have a good week!

Night and Day, or Many Moons?

Sometimes, trying to name a piece of work is harder than actually making it! I didn't have any plans when I started these, I just wanted to play around with some fabric that I had dyed and printed a couple of years ago.

They remind me of outer space, day and night, light and dark, moons, suns and planets etc. I just decided to travel with them to see where we ended up!

And when I put them side by side, they seemed to flow into one another. I'm not sure what to do about that, I don't want to join them, but maybe they could be framed in such a way that they make a pair.

Finally for this post, is my April Journal Quilt. A couple of posts ago I included some photos of the zentangles I had been playing around with. Well, I decided that they fitted in with my black, white and red theme, so printed this one onto some canvas, quilted along the black outlines, and machine couched the red knitting wool. Now I have to decide whether to continue this black, white and red theme for my next four JQ's, or to do something different. Hmmmmm decisions decisions!!!