Living (loving) linen

Linen and I don't go together in that classic dress sense - maybe because I travel a lot to get anywhere I always end up looking crumpled - so linen invariably is something I love to stitch rather than wear ... this is a section of my latest work, using layered Aliquilts hand printed art fabric, hand stitched and embroidered with silk threads.

Clearing out and creative space

I am  not good at the de-clutter thing - although I greatly benefit from the creative space left after the event. The WMBM is ready to assist with the disposal of excess "stuff" .... and in between the exertion of 5+ bags of "I've only got 30 years left so what was that about?" I've managed to do a little stitching .... thanks to Jenny Bowker's Shimmering Quilt pattern   - a great exercise in colour and contrast and the ability to use what I had ... thank you Jenny B.

This is a quilt ...

 I am making an unusual quilt and exploring  SAQA's (Studio Art Quilt Associates) definition of  a quilt as "a creative visual work that is layered and stitched or that references this form of stitched layered structure." And so, the plaiting of the fabrics creates one type of layer, the joining of the new to the existing creates a series of layers ... recording the source of each different fabric creates layers in my journal - of friendships and memories and of experiences shared and intertwined ...this is a quilt.

Congratulations SAQA Star Recruiters!

Congratulations to the three Star Recruiters for SAQA (Studio Art Quilt Associates) who chose a pack of Aliquilts hand printed art fabrics as their reward for recruiting two or more members during the December 2014 quarter. Requests were for "purples and greens", "greens" and a  "Tarome sunset pack". If you've been thinking about joining SAQA you can join online and receive a 10% discount on membership if you use the code AGT in the section immediately prior to making your payment. You'll be in terrific art quilt company!

Variety is the spice of (stitched) life ...

Postcards are a great way to use up smaller, unfinished pieces or stuff from the "I'll get to that later" but never do pile. I covered a piece of fusible webbing with acrylic paints - in bushfire colours - and bonded this to white acrylic felt. This was then cut into a number of postcard sized shapes - before I experimented with hand and machine stitching. The first card is stitched by hand, including the blanket stitched finish.

 

Some variations using machine stitching followed - including a free motion echo quilting around a basic shape or design (leaf) and a loose zig zag edge to finish ....

 

Another variation using straight lines of stitch - different spacing creates different perspectives - and for the central, densely stitched area I used a recalcitrant  metallic thread on the bobbin and stitched "upside down" with the right side of the postcard facing down, and using a dark thread on the reverse as a guide ...

 

Some free motion doodling or sketching - this time rock shapes as another way to create variety and texture while making the stitch as much of a focus as the background on which it is sewn.

 

The original layer of acrylic and felt was stamped with one of my very first lino cuts - an abstract leaf shape which has now been stitched, free motion, creating veins and lines ... the postcard was then edged with a dense zig zag (satin stitch) while the stitch length was varied - wide and narrow - for the four sides - this creates a less formal frame.

 

Scraps, shirtfronts and 2015

The past few weeks have been spent creating functional items - using beautiful linen and batiks to make some gorgeous shirts for work, then incorporating the scraps and offcuts into a new project  - a really BIG project. I've had lots of time to plan, think, rethink, plan and experiment - my idea of a perfect holiday. In between exploring ideas, I made a few more shirts and contemplated the different materials - linen, silk, cotton, velvet, woven, printed .....
Here's to your creative 2015 and making time to experiment, undertake artistic challenges or just enjoy being where you are. Life is good.