Bark Impressions

Bark Impressions

19.5"w x 30.5"long [49.5cm x 77cm]

It was great fun to revisit the crystal organza fabrics I had in the stash and use them to create the bark Impressions quilt. Many of the eucalypt trees in my suburban neighbourhood in Brisbane have interesting bark patterns, from which I took inspiration. A bit of paint to pattern the organza made the whole much more interesting as well as the interplay of shadowing when the sheer fabric was overlapped. A few fanciful bugs/insects were added to inhabit the bark.







Materials: synthetic organza, batting, cotton backing, yarn, thread, fusible web, fabric paint

Techniques: fusing, machine quilting, hand stitching, fabric manipulation, hand printed



What was I thinking!

Oh dear! I seem to have a lot of, what I would class as undesirables! These are synthetic fabrics bought for workshops or just because they were shiny and sparkly! They have been carefully stored, but no more- out they go! And hopefully a small part will be used to make a beautiful quilt!

Enhanced with fabric paint, ready for quilt construction. It is a journey into the unknown as I use these. Hoping my idea translates into an acceptable final product.

 

The Unused Desirables

For this challenge, I looked inside my cupboards, and I found lots of things I don’t use regularly.  But I cannot call them undesirables – I loved them when I bought them - they are all desirable, it is just that they have not been used – yet?!

There are some beautiful commercial fabrics, including interesting batiks, and some really old fabrics I bought in the US when I was still making dolls, bits of which I have used for making dolls’s clothes, like 20 years ago.  

There is a shelf full of silk organzas and painted silks, which I have used at some point, a long time ago.  Some of them were used in the couple of bojagis I made.

I have also a collection of fabric paints, and colourful pens such as Sharpies, which I always mean to use, and then I don’t – except occasionally for printing text with Thermofax screens.

I have gorgeous Inktense colour pencils and blocks – which I don’t know how to use, and no idea of what to do with them.  I have Markal sticks, which I do know how to use, but haven’t found a way of employing them in my work.

And other things I haven’t mentioned here….

So plenty to choose from, for this challenge… decisions, decisions…