Remnants After the Fire

At the time I thought of our theme, there had been several fires in the news.  I thought of the effect those fires had on property and possessions.  I pictured the charred remnants of furniture, clothing, photographs, memorabilia of the families effected by the fires.   My idea was beginning to percolate.   Initially I was going to rust fabric, but that didn't work out.  Instead I came across a tattered piece of this.

an old crocheted dresser scarf.  Ah!  This could work.  I just had to add to (or subtract from) this tattered piece and I would have a remnant, right?  So I took the piece, grabbed some matches and attempted burn the piece.  I didn't quite get the effect I was looking for, but after a bit of rubbing with charcoal it started to look like what I wanted. 

I now had pieces that looked like they had been burnt. All that was needed was a background.  I remembered a technique I had learned for piecing curves and used it to create a background that would represent fire.

 To this background I added some free motion quilting to represent the fire's flames.

Next came the pieces that I had burned and rubbed with charcoal by FMQing them to the background.  Here are some detail shots.  You can see the burn on this piece.

and the charcoal on this piece

 

Like Beverly, my piece is also not quite finished.  It is missing the binding because I couldn't decide if I should use a binding or use a facing.  So I have left that decision to the rest of you TTs.  What do you think?  Here is my representation of Remnants After the Fire.

 

 

 

 



Hands Free Tote

Well I’ve finally made it.  It’s done!

I started out surfing the internet hoping to find some creative ideas.  I found pictures of balance wheels from time pieces, an elephant balancing on a beach ball, a balance scale…you name it there were many.  None really “rang my bell".

While looking at my African Collage and trying to figure out how to quilt it, an idea came to me.  Have you ever attempted to carry something on your head without using hands to maintain its balance?  Women in Africa do it all the time and make it look so easy.  So there I had it...my inspiration for this piece.

I started drawing out the image in my sketchbook.  Here is a piece of it.

The next decision was how to construct the piece.  An abstract representation or a natural one.  I chose the natural and started making templates for the various pieces that would be needed to construct the figure. 

 I was quickly running out of time.  I also needed to find an appropriate background.

Well here at last is the piece. 

It was constructed with hand applique.  I added colour to the white and black print with watercolour pencils.  I added charcoal shading to one section hoping to give the clothing some dimension.  And the basket…well that took a bit of experimenting which you can see on my blog here.  All in all I’m pleased with the piece, but I have to learn to balance my time a bit better.  Thank you Judy for a challenge that stretched my imagination and applique skills.  I also managed to use some new products, that I will use again.