for a few days as my dad has been rushed into hospital
so I need to be back up Sheffield to give my mum support as
my dad is very poorly. Dad is stable at the moment after
being rushed on a 999 call. I have taken my quilting with
me and my dogs I may be there for a few weeks
.
Yesterday I was busy rummaging through my plastic bag of scraps. All offcuts came off other quilts in the past but felt that some of the mosaic like pieces of fabrics where just too good to throw away so put all the tutti frutti bits I call them in this bag.
Pieces of small squares and oblong wonderweb were cut out, the the bits ironed on where ever they could fit, this tecnique reminded me of crazy patchwork. Some will be used for the outer edge of the flowers and some will be used for the middle bit of the flowers. Im glad I invested in a very sharp tiny pair of scissors which are a godsend and my fabric paints, the wonder web and Omega Dyes for microwave dye-ing. Glitter paint is a favourite freind of mine for art quilts. You can use glitter paint on it's own or mix it with another painting medium, either fabric paints or acrylic paints.
The turquiose square was ironed then I folded the fabric in half then half again until I had ironed the crease marks for 16 squares. A flower will go in each of the boxes, they'll be pressed, tacked then stitched round the edge with a running stitch which is a favourite style of mine making things look folk arty. You can see in the picture the stems and stalks have been traced round the cut out template from the flower drawing, I just drew round the shapes in pencil the painted the shades of green from the Chroma paints acrylic Inks. The chroma inks are ok but they run a bit reminding me ink on blotting paper when painting on the fabric but so far Im managing.
Ideally if I had the money Id get a jar of mixing medium which you can add to the inks to make them thicker. I shall get some of that next month.
Today Ive another eight stems and stalks to do then the flowers, some stalks and stems will be highlighted much later on when stitched in place so that each flower is different and don't look the same. I believe each flower has it's own style, personality and look, just like people and animals.
While taking a break I have been reading other blogs and amazed that the credit crunch is also bad in the USA. Quilter, Writers, at home mums, worrying about paying for their house and if they are going to be homeless. My partner is worrying about losing his job as BT are cutting down staff, not telling people outright for redundancies but making things harder for everyone by making statistics higher and higher until impossible to get. If the high statistics aren't met then the workers are out of a job. So my poor Jim doesn't sleep well, feels sick, not well and under more stress.
With this quilting and blogging, it's my switch off button and I'm very thankful for that.
I think about all the quilters in the 1920's and 1930's who relied on their quilts and stitching to help them switch off and bide the time through difficult episodes of life. There has been moments where some nights I just could not sleep or got up so early in the morning, I just quietly slipped into my quilt world, stitching, drawing or blogging.
2 comments:
I love how you've done the stems, and can't wait to see the flowers!
I know what you mean about taking refuge and comfort from quilting during hard times. Even before the economy "went south", I was having some hard times in my personal life and just threw myself into the quilting. Have to have that outlet.
My thoughts are with you, I do hope your father will be better soon, take care
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