Quilting & Learning - What a Combo!: gauze

Showing posts with label gauze. Show all posts

Wednesday, June 26, 2019

Gaïa's Garden

If you're interested, Gaïa's Garden is now on display at the Mississippi Mills Textile Museum as part of the Out of the Box (OOTB) artists group's Summer Fibrations Art Show.

Gaïa's Garden

It's been a long time coming. I've been thinking of this piece for about a year, wondering how I would make it.

Gaïa's Garden art quilt

I played with the placement of the fabric, one section at a time, until I liked what I saw. Some parts were easy while others were a real struggle. I'm not sure why. It may have something to do with expectations.

I suppose that this could be called the second in two series, depending on how you define the series. It's my second "fantasy garden" piece and also my second Gaïa piece. Here are the first in both series.

Morning Has Broken
Art with Fabric, Spring 2018

Gaïa Mother Earth
Art with Fabric, Fall 2017

Both of these were made for the Art with Fabric Blog Hops, Fall 2017 and Spring 2018.

Free Motion Quilting

Free motion quilting (FMQ) this piece took a very long time. I had said that I would be using different threads, but in the end I decided to stay with the Kimono Silk thread. since it was going so well,.

FMQ all the fun details in the fabric

I remember that I started with bright yellow thread and worked on many, many pieces that needed to be FMQ in that colour. Then I got bored before I had finished with the bright yellow and changed thread and kept going to another part of the quilt. That went on for a very long time. Eventually there were only some small spaces left to fill in.

I love how the quiet space of the swamp came together

Solving a challenge

The trickiest part of this piece occurred just as I thought that I was almost finished. I had noticed that my image of Gaïa seemed to be a little lumpy. I decided that I would deal with it once I had finished putting all of the fabrics onto the piece. I ended up ignoring the problem until after the FMQ. Better to deal with it later....right?

It might not have been such an obvious problem if I had sewn down Gaïa a little more right from the start, but somehow I doubt it. All I know is that there was a largish space that had not been stitched while all around it was heavily stitched....you can see it coming, can't you?

Gaïa had many sags

I might not have needed Gaïa to be svelte, but she was sagging quite a bit. Well, I've always wanted to try trapunto, so I ended up making a slit at the back of the quilt and giving her a little padding. The first time I sort of overdid it, and discovered that although I had sewn Gaïa to the background fabric, I hadn't sewn around her once the batting had been added.

I overdid the stuffing of Gaïa

I almost never un-stitch or redo things. I usually try to find a way around the problem, however after sleeping on it, I decided that it was worth while un-stuffing poor Gaïa, and at the same time sewing around her through the batting.

I added the label on top of the opening.

Here is a final picture of Gaïa's Garden, taken on the way to delivering her to the Mississippi Mills Textile Museum.

Gaïa in her fantasy garden

What I learned

I'm not sure that re-doing the stuffing was worth it. After finishing the piece, it seemed to be fine but in the pictures, it looks a little off. As a friend said, Gaïa would probably have a few lumps and bumps, wouldn't she?
I am happy that I took the time to re-do Gaïa. If I want to take my art to the next level, I will need to seriously consider un-doing work more often. I generally know right away when a problem arises but I usually talk myself out of doing anything about it.
I think that if I had sewn the image of Gaïa onto a fusible web, that it might have avoided the problem and kept the image flatter. On the other hand, if I had done that, I wouldn't have a 3D art quilt😊
I also need to plan my FMQ a little more when filling up spaces that really show. I had practiced drawing the stitching that I wanted in the sun but ended up starting the FMQ too quickly. I ended up only one side being what I wanted. I think that being a little more deliberate would have been worth it.

Monday, May 20, 2019

Making Gaïa's Garden

After a bit of productive procrastination, I'm back to working on my art quilt.

Gaïa's Garden

It's always a long process, so I thought that I would share some of it with you. Here's a recap (see Related links below).

My model for Gaïa

Choosing a colour palette

My model for Gaïa is this picture of a reproduction statuette of a beautiful Pre-Columbian female figure from Colombia, South America.

I used photo transfer medium to make the fabric image.

Gradients Multi
33366 11D Moda

It took me a long time to start because I was looking for the right fabric, which I found in the Gradients by Moda line.

Fussy cutting and trying out possibilities

Next I went through my stash and fussy cut fabric, including the background. I just placed them on the design board to get the general effect and to ensure that I had enough fabric.

That's where I was in my last post, with lots of work left and many possibilities.

The next part is the one I find most intimidating - taking everything off the design board and creating the background.

I attached the sky (including my hand-dyed yellow and pink cotton), the green background and the river. Then it was time to play with the colours. I took out my box of gauze, tulle, and silk.

It's difficult to see in the photo but the sky and river really shimmer. I separated the river into 3 sections - the reflection of the sky, a more turbulent riven and then a calmer lake.

Knowing what to keep

Creating the background and adding shimmer

From the many versions on my design board, there were a few things that I knew that I would keep.

These were the leaves beside Gaïa and the large plant, flowers and bird in this photo.

It took several tries to get the other side of Gaïa finished. My original thought was to use the light leaves. I also tried out some yellow/orange leaves but they just blended into the reflecting water. Finally I choose the darker blue leaves to create more contrast. Since the image of Gaïa is light, she needs a little help to stand out.

Should I use the light coloured leaves?

What about the yellow/orange leaves?

Finally choosing the darker blue leaves

Below you can see that I added a couple of leaves on top to create a curve.

My next two challenges can be seen in this image. The first one is by the river where I want to create a quiet space with a bit of a swamp or pond. The second one is the lotus flower at the foot of Gaïa. This is where I'm at, although I can still change my mind since the challenging pieces haven't been attached yet.

What it looks like so far

I'm working mostly from my design board which is on my ironing board. When I like something, I just pin them into place and go to the sewing machine next to it. I've been using Superior Threads' Kimono Silk thread to attach all of these pieces. I'm trying not to add too much detail at this point since once everything is attached, I'll be free motion quilting the piece. At that point, I may use heavier thread, depending on the effect that I want.

Working on my design board

Using Kimono Silk thread

What I learned

Deadlines have their usefulness (I guess) but since I got a bit of a reprieve, it's taking that much longer to make. Turns out that the description was due in mid-May but the final product is only due in mid-June. I'm afraid that I'll be using every last minute of that extra time - to make it and to productively procrastinate 😉
There is still a ways to go, although it usually goes a little faster once things fall into place.
As I've been writing this post, I realise that I'll be placing the swamp in the lake part of the piece. It make more sense, although reality is not especially important here!
As for the lotus flower, I think that if I add more fabric around it, I'll get a better sense of how it will look.
My background has a few puckers in it. Since I'm making this up as I go along, I'll probably cut around the river and adjust the fabric.

Sunday, February 24, 2019

Travel, Art and a DrEAMi!

This week I traveled to Montreal by train to see some great art, eat wonderful food and spend some quality time with my daughter.

Kent Monkman

Shame and Prejudice
A Story of Resilience

On Thursday, we saw Kent Monkman's exhibit, Shame and Prejudice - A Story of Resilience, at the McCord Museum. Kent Monkman is an amazing First Nation artist and storyteller. His work is funny, sad, colourful, provocative and socially relevant. I went through the exhibit twice - first by myself and then with my daughter, who answered my questions. It was great to be able to discuss this exhibit with her. If you're interested, check out Kent Monkman and the exhibit in the Related links below.

Montreal Museum of Fine Arts

Wire Mobile by
Alexander Calder

The next day we spent several hours at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. I've been there before to see special exhibits, but this was the first time that I took the time to go through the rest of the museum.

The special exhibit was on Alexander Calder: Radical Inventor. Alexander Calder was an American artist who had a degree in mechanical engineering. He went to Paris during the 1920's and hung out with all of the artists, writers and musicians of the time.

Calder metal mobile with a blue wooden background

A fun and colourful fish mobile
made of wire and glass by Calder

Silkscreen printed fabric by Alexander Calder (1949)

He was very versatile and worked with all kinds of materials, especially metal. He is well know for his circus pieces as well as the creator of mobiles

Calder even made jewelry and designed fabric. This is one of two silkscreen printed fabrics that he designed in 1949. The motif reflects his mobiles as well as the shapes that he used in his work.

Isn't that fabric wonderful? It looks like a retro pattern from the 60s! His work may not seem like a big deal today, but he was a man ahead of his time.

Ultramarine Blue by Ron Martin

Ultramarine Blue at the
Montreal Museum of Fine Arts

There was some very cool art but the piece that intrigued me the most was Ultramarine Blue by Ron Martin. Ron Martin in a Canadian artist living in Toronto. This piece, acrylic on canvas, was created in 1971. He explored working with one colour for ten years, from 1971 to 1981. It started with Ultramarine blue and bright red and then he spent many years working with black.

Although I'm not often attracted to monochromatic pieces, I just love the variations of the blue as well as the mouvement. It makes me feel happy and free. As usual with art that I like, I started wondering if I could use textile to create the same kind of effects.

Ultramarine Blue by Ron Martin

My Blue Painting

I started by trying to create these lines of mouvement with thread. I used darker thread to make lines and swirls for the background. I created many parallel lines to get the impression of brush strokes.

Creating the background mouvement using dark blue thread

I added lines of lighter thread but it became obvious that using parallel lines of thread just isn't the same since the brush strokes are full of paint, not empty. So now what?

Adding lighter blue thread

I went to my stash and made wider brush strokes using bits of tulle and gauze. Again, I started with the darker background and then added the lighter fabric. I think that it's starting to look more like brush strokes. Unfortunately this is as far as I can go since I only had a little bit of light blue tulle.

My Blue Painting so far

What I learned

I love looking at art, but it's becoming clear to me that I'm always looking at it through my own textile lens.
For example, I liked the Alexander Calder exhibit but all I wanted to do was add bits of streaming fibres on those lovely mobiles.
It was great learning more about Ron Martin - turns out my daughter knew who he was! It's funny but as I looked at some of his work, there is definitely a textile vibe there, even if he works with paint.
My Blue Painting is my DrEAMi! project this month - as in DRop Everything And Make It!, the linky party hosted by Sandra at mmm! Quilts. I've missed the last couple of link-ups, so I'm glad that I'm on time for this one :-)
This week, between the Funky Square Flower Mola and My Blue Painting, I have two more WIPs to finish! I think that UFOs and WIPs are much easier to make than finishes 😊

Page titles

Wednesday, June 26, 2019

Gaïa's Garden

Monday, May 20, 2019

Making Gaïa's Garden

Sunday, February 24, 2019

Travel, Art and a DrEAMi!

First Quilt-Along