Fiber art day---or how I spent a drizzly, grey day in a bright studio!

With the pieces from the quilt show in hand, I began working, not sure where anything was going. Sometimes that's how it is with fiber; you need to just work and let the fabrics and embellishments speak as you go. Above is the fused sheet of Angelina---I used some of all the colors from the bag, plus a bit I already had. It is extremely difficult to photograph as it shimmers and changes color is the light from every angle, but in the photo below.......

......you can get an idea of how it has changed again, next to the flambouyant batik. It holds it's own though! At one point I was looking at it thinking, how will I use this monster I have just fused??? Ah well, back to the batik fat quarter.......I was envisioning something long, to set off the leaves in the wax print. I cut two strips 7" wide and seamed them. The pattern did not match but with the riot of color, it really did not show much.
Thus, the long piece in the photo below.

At this point I have backed it with a very contrasting batik I have yards of and put in some new batting that is a bamboo blend. It's quite soft and drapable---I could see it used for clothing easily, though I wonder about the possibilities of dying or painting directly on it. But that's for another day......

I began quilting only the large, detailed leaf motifs and opted for a clear thread, since it had been so long since I had done freemotion and I had little faith in my hands to work. Well, it went *okay*. It certainly was nothing like my quilting of yesteryear. The beauty of the clear thread is it doesn't show the boo-boos but provides texture.

The back shows the stellar quilting........someone really needed to find her reading glasses before embarking on this journey. >:(

When all the large leaf motifs were quilted and the piece was stabilized, I looked for a contrasting batik to tear some strips from. Torn across the grain, they have a certain amount of flexibility; a little coaxing from the steam generator and they curve almost like bias strips, but I can still retain the raw edges I love.

So that's where we are now; torn strips pinned on, more to pin, and did you notice that the Angelina is nowhere in sight? There are still a lot of decisions to be made on this, and I may have to pin and re-pin until I am happy with the dark, vining shape, as visually that will be the make-or-break part of the piece.

This is just the beginning; lots more to come.

Including some of that Angelina.......I just have to find the right spot!

I did learn my leg will hold up to sewing, and also that it needs a LOT of breaks. So when I resume the church banners, that should be interesting. No working straight through all day.

At any rate, I hope you find something today to provide the pleasure this did for me! And yes, I loved the smell of the batik under the iron......what can I say???