Thursday, April 09, 2009

Nothing is Wasted

This piece started life as a piece of plain white felt which I used during the Colour Hues session at Satin Moon to test the various colours before using them on fabric. On fabric they do not look at all the same as in the mixing bottle.

I read somewhere that the flower foot is easier to use on heavier fabrics. Having reached a point where I needed to see positive results I have been playing with different threads, including metallics, varying stitch width and length and trying out various stitches that my machine has. The very large circles and curves were done by tracing round plates. Once again I have to wait for the marker to vanish.

What to do with this next? I was contemplating using it for a book cover, but the book would need to be 7 inches high by 4-1/2 inches wide MAX. Maybe better to keep going with embroidery and perhaps beading and make a small wall hanging. Interesting, compared to many fibre artists I think I tend to underembellish, perhaps this is a new departure for me?

Am now kicking myself that I didn't get amethyst and malachite chip beads from Eileen Neill at the Symphony of Quilts. Oh well, maybe she would do mail order.

2 comments:

Laura said...

Ruth
Love your play!
I like the blue washout markers which usually disappear with just a bit of water - not sure how much it would seep into felt. My fav is the clover pen that disappears with heat! Often just holding the iron over it will make the line disappear.
Sadly, the "chalk" in it is white, so you can only see on dark fabrics. Wonder how well the foot would perform with a tear away stabilizer on the back of cotton. I'll bring a couple of sheets to FAD for you to experiment with.

Ruth said...

Thanks, Laura!

I used the marker that dissolves in air and this morning it's almost gone. The fabric is wool felt. It took days to disappear from cotton.

Thanks for the offer of stabilizer, as I don't have that kind. I'm slowly expanding my understanding of stabilizers, stiffeners, interfacings, etc.