“Inchies” : An exchange of green fabric inchies

Theme of green was set by the moderator of AusNZ art-quilters

Joining the AusNZ art-quilters group this year, has thrown challenges that could not be resisted.  

One challenge has been to make seven sets of nine inchies in fabric, adopting the theme “green” and being one inch square.  

Being my first time ever to make inches I took the theme quite literally and concentrated on the different moods and texture of green – leaves are a favourite so they had to be included.   

Today my 84 inches were divided into 7 packs and mailed to the moderator for distribution to other 19 inchie fans.   In mid-June these will be swapped with others from our group of 20 “inchie buddies” from NZ and Oz.  

This is what mine look like.   What do you think of my first attempt at these little ones?

Angelina Fibre Workshop

The backdrop for angelina

Playing around with various types of Angelina Fibres, I find that the Hot Fix is easy to work with and it produces a very glossy finish.

Lots of ideas are floating around my mind – after creating a myriad of shapes using my iron, stamps, and other items from the bottom of my cupboard.   A soldering iron is one of the further approaches I plan to trial.

Angelina is an amazing product to incorporate into art-quilts.    A workshop is arranged for mid-June whereby I will be encouraging a small group of ladies to get in there to play and experiment!

More playtime – this time with a base of silk cocoons

Playtime exercise using silk cocoons again.

Silk cocoons were sprayed with Moonshadow colours.

Machine stitched with metallic thread onto pink satin. 

Interfacing was used to aid the stitching process.

The vibrant colourspeaks for itself.

Awash with colour!

Silk and wool rovings, with bobbin machine stitching.

Scrummy textural piece – base being silk cocoons

Silk and wool rovings, with bobbin machine stitching.

Experimenting is such a good thing to do.   Sometimes it leads to a dead end but that happens when one is trying something completely new.   This week though my experimenting has lead me to discovering a new medium that provides colour, texture, and variety to the range of techniques at my fingertips.   Silk and wool rovings are so luscious and beautiful to work with.     Playing with these has filled me my cup with much more confidence in this medium.

I want to show you two completed pieces made this week.

One piece was made by spreading a combination of silk and wool rovings, applying spray starch to give a soft but firm bond, then machine stitched by bobbin application of variegated thick thread.  

The other piece is a combination of silk cocoons rather than rovings, sprayed with Moonshadow paint, and a piece of knitting was snuggled between the cocoons, as were snippets of yarns.   When it was ironed the sericum adhered the fibres together.   It also is soft to the touch but strong for practical use.

The on-line course I am doing is encouraging me to experiment – so  this is is just one of the results.   Others from this week’s work will be posted for you to see too….very shortly.

What you can do with table napkins!

Machine stitched and distressed paper napkin

EXPERIMENTING…..once again!

I belong to a group whereby we are experimenting using different fibres other than fabric.  For six weeks we focus on different elements and each week we try something completely new.   This encourages me to use products I have never tried before!Now here is the result of my first week’s work.  

Using paper table napkins I machine stitched to form a background, then made a grid and rubbed this back to produce a distressed effect.   Pieces of napkin were then attached over the grid to produce the final image.  

Having never worked in this way before, I found it enchanting and  now more ideas are flowing.   

Watch this space for the next challenge!

Beautiful silk paper has been made!

Following instructions this time, rather than a previous attempt

where the end result turned out like tyre rubber,

this silk paper turned out to be soft, lustrous and just as gorgeous as it looks.

Just right to become a gift for friend.  

Can’t wait to make some more, different colours next time.

Play time – trying new techniques

A Christmas swap with my fibraquins resulted in a garden quilt being made for Connie. What an opportunity it was to experiment! Initially blocked with any good ideas on how to create a garden quilt, my mind simmered for quite a while….until one of the articles in my favourite magazine (Quilting Arts ) opened up possibilities. So I was off to the local bargain shop to purchase silk flowers for this project.

Even when fabrics and notions were assembled ready for use, I was pessimistic about the outcome. But I need not to have been Mrs Doubtful! See for yourself the result….also just how software can be used to create another beautiful image of the same garden quilt. Viola!