As open as you can get

so here I am again.  very late.  Unfortunately, I was up really late last night, not working on this, which I finished a week ago, but on a larger piece that this one suggested.  when the muse is there, you just have to go with it!
of course that meant I slept the morning away.  so here is my open piece.

in some ways, this piece is along a direction I have been moving along for about a year now, since being inspired by melanie testa and then deborah boshert.  i suppose you could say it is a cross between the two...with a bit of leah day thrown in, but my technique is a bit different to all of them.

All of the fabrics are silks and satins and sampes from the recycle depot.  basically I just place them all down and play 'til I like them, but since i am going to do a silhouette over the top i am not too picky.

the silhouette in this case is of some bluebells, which Ijust sketched, in a midnight blue organza.  i free machined that down, then glued the seam line, then cut it out.

after that, I free motion quilted in the different spaces of the collage (well, most of them).

Then square up and bind, and there we go!
I suppose we could say, that as spring is here and the flowers are opening, it is along the lines of the open challenge, but it didn't begin as a challenge piece at all.  I have a couple of half finished pieces as well, one that I will just cut up and reuse and one i will finish eventually.....
This piece is just over A3 size or 11 by 17 in, so that is open, too.
hope you like it1

Open to Change

Open.

So many different ways to interpret this.  As someone who likes to experiment, and my "creations" don't always match my original plans and expectations, I really have to be open to change!

 

 

In a recent workshop day with Catherine Nicholls, we were experimenting, (or more correctly playing!)  with pen and ink.  This is something that I have absolutely no experience with, but oh what a great day it was!  We had some fun with playing with dots - lots of fun in fact!  (more about that in a future post on my blog)

 

 

and eventually, we reached the point where we were to paint cherry blossoms using Inktense pencils, washes and shading.  The fun with this is that it is so unpredictable as to what you will get.

I am no artist.  It soon became apparent that I was not creating a cherry blossom in any way shape or form!

 

 

decidedly not cherry blossom like

 

Much more tulip like.  I was open to this, and worked with what was presented, adding some shading with pencil crayons and dots.  Some faux trapunto, some dense quilting (whaaaaattt?!) and my end result

 

This is an example of what I like about creating - being open to what is revealing itself as you progress and being open to change to take a project in a completely different direction!

You never know what comes next!

 

Thank you Gina, I really enjoyed this theme!

 

Janet

Finished size 16" x 16"
Wholecloth, painted, pen & inked, traputoed and quilted,
Superior Bottomline thread top and bottom

 

Open Ended

I chose to take Gina at her word and made this an "open art event".  I had used a similar technique years ago in a cloth book and decided now was a good time to try the technique again.

Fall Leaves

This technique requires lots of fusible web.

The process:

• decide on the dimensions of the project
• iron fabric to fusible web and cut strips in varying widths 

fused strips of fabric

• remove paper from fusible web
• decide which strips will be the the warp and which will be the weft
• set up a weaving board securing the warp at one end with pins. (A piece of cardboard works well).

warp attached to weaving board

• begin weaving the weft strips

• When the weaving is complete, tighten up the warp and weft strips so no background shows through
• Place the completed weaving on a background fabric and iron. Follow fusible web manufacturers instructions. Make sure the entire piece is fused to the background fabric.
• Layer the weaving, batting and another piece of backing fabric and the piece is ready for quilting

The warp I used was originally black, but after completing the weaving, I decided the contrast between the warp and the weft strips was too great, so I fused and cut more strips and wove the piece again. The fun part is substituting one woven strip for another without needing to use a seam ripper.

Open Ended

Did you see the five leaves? I couldn't decide whether or not to stitch around them. What do you think?

Open

 After much consideration I decided to go literal with 'Open' as I had often considered cutting into a quilt to reveal an inner quilt. So I started with a piece of paper to see if my idea had any hope. I had been stuck on what my opening would reveal until I was taking apart the beautiful bouquet a friend had brought me, all with flowers and greenery from her garden and yard.

 I laid out the various flowers and greenery. Not finding any fine tuille I settled for a heavier piece of netting but decided it would be too much to add the stitching as I normally would do, so simply used some iron-on to keep it all in place. I was happy with the subtle effect the layer of netting added.

 More testing .... how to keep the opening open .... a few clay buttons should work....

 The outer fabric is one I had bought a few years simply because I liked the fabric. It was so different and looked hand-dyed. I drew the stitching lines around where I would sew and then cut the openings. You need to look closely to see the white chalk lines.

 Sewn and cut below....

 More testing but it didn't pass ..... the fabric would be too limp to give the effect I wanted.

 So I decided to make the opening fabric double sided with batting in between ... an actual quilt, how about that?! Below is the finished piece.

 I finally decided not to add a facing or binding but rather I crocheted a cotton yarn trim and stitched it to the edge. It seemed to go with the organic feel I was aiming for.

 Now I'm looking forward to our next challenge!

hmmmmm

I'm progressing well with my next challenge piece - what do you think?

No surprise on the dense quilting, perhaps, but I have done something new to me in this one!  Looking forward to seeing everyone's pieces next week!

Openers.....

OPEN reveal day is coming up on September 12th.

Let's Open Up Another Round!

It's time to open up a new challenge! So many ideas have run through my mind for this next round but I can only choose one. I was watching the French Open when I realized how I liked the term OPEN.....
I'm hoping this challenge will offer several different directions and also leave it OPEN for you to choose something totally different whether it be in color, design, size, theme, etc. The theme is totally or not-so totally OPEN! Take it literally or make it open as in an open art event. We OPEN our mail every day, we OPEN parcels and presents,

... flowers OPEN and so beautifully!

 ...the OPEN bridge....

 ...OPEN jars...

 ..OPEN doors....

..behind some OPEN doors..... mmmm they're almost ready too! Quick get this posted!...

 ...the OPEN book....

 we OPEN the kiln (ok that one was for me),

                 .................................................  eyes wide OPEN?....                                                                                                                                                                                    


...wide OPEN track....





                                         

... I could go on and on ... but if you don't want to use OPEN in any of the literal expressions or meanings then treat this challenge as simply OPEN, with no restrictions. Go ahead make that big quilt or that tiny one, or that long skinny one, or make a quilted vase .... the them is OPEN! Of course if you find a little restriction helps you with your creative thinking then set your own restriction and pick what OPEN means to you and this challenge. Are you OPEN to it? I hope so. So let's go OPEN our sketchbooks or tablets and start the OPEN brainstorm!

Oh yes, the reveal day can also be OPEN but let me OPEN my calendar and go for September 12th.

Beverly's Remnants FINISHED!!

Not quite a week later, and I've finished the quilt.  I added a pieced binding, which I think was the perfect frame for the quilt.

I love the line that is created where the line on the right joins the binding- and I didn't even notice it until I looked a the picture!

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.