I know this isn't very thrilling, but I thought I ought to show you all what I've been working on this weekend. Do you remember the skirt from the fashion show that got cut up? Well, I assembled all the pieces on my design wall and when they were in roughly the right places I held them in place with some temporary spray adhesive. Last time you saw it, it looked like this:
The benefit of using temporary spray glue is of course that it is temporary so I had to get right on and stitch it together permanently.
Everything is simply laid down raw edge and I've held all of the pieces with a simple running stitch worked near the edge with a hand dyed thread.
I'd really like to hand quilt this whole piece, but life (or deadlines) is just too short this time so it'll be machine quilted maybe with a bit more hand stitch detail if it seems appropriate.Because this quilt top is something of an assemblage the composition doesn't make sense anymore. The ribbons used to reach the waistband of the skirt but now they stop dead and the cages and birds hang in mid air! The idea I have is to extend the drawing of the ribbons to reach a large key ring (with lots of keys) held by a hand. To that end I've taken some photos today which I hope I'll be able to work from. These are about the best (it's a rubbishy grey day for photos).
I'd quite like to add in lots more cages too. I'm thinking of the masses that you see in bird markets in the Far East. When I looked for a photo to post here from the web they all seemed to be copyright, but you know the sort of thing I mean. Next step will be to start the drawing of the hand, keyring and extra keys. I think I'll use a fine black pen, but I'm worried it might not be bold enough. We'll see.
Bye for now,
Laura
P.S. I've started blogging on the Fingerprint website too. I've kicked it off with the first part in a bit of a series about the digital printing process. There's a link in the sidebar or you can get there from here.
Hi Laura - I really like the quality of the hand stitch against the raw edges. I know you'll be pressed for time so to hand stitch the whole thing may not be feasible but a combination of hand and machine will look great!
ReplyDeleteThis looks really interesting. I always approve of using pre-done work in new work, re-using and giving it a new life; it always makes me extra creative, as well as happy something possibly isn't just put away and rarely seen again. I think the mix of stitch types will work well, and I will look forward to seeing the drawing of hands and keys, and how they integrate and bring it all together.
ReplyDeleteI love the way you move from sketch to stitch so fluidly. I find this very inspiring and like the raw edge/hand stitch a lot.
ReplyDeleteHi Laura. What pen you are using here for the drawing. I want to add some drawing to my quilts but not sure which one to buy.
ReplyDeleteHi Jacqui, Any permanent pen will be OK, just make sure it's lightfast and waterproof. I've used all different brands and they seem to be much the same, just be guided by the type of tip that you want and the size and colour. Don't buy loads though, I've found they seem to dry up annoyingly quickly!
ReplyDelete