Cynthia St. Charles Store

Tuesday, April 26, 2016

Looming Deadline Forces Decision


 I have been fortunate to be invited to present an entry for the Dinner@Eight annual exhibitions over the past 6 years or more.  I always jump at the opportunity because it is such a great group of artists.  There is always a theme and a size restriction.  This year the theme is "Pattern" and the size is 40 x 40".  We are given advance notice of about a year to create our entry.

Usually, I have something done well in advance of the entry date, but this year I have barely been in the studio, and when I have been in the studio I am working in Mixed media - not fabric, and not making anything even remotely right for the theme or size.

A few months ago, I began pulling UFO's out of the drawers and closet to see if I might have something already on the way to meeting the criteria and satisfying my critical eye.

This is one of the first things I came across.  Probably printed this 4 years ago or more.  It is appealing because it measures 40 x 40".  It is problematic because it will be smaller after quilting and I don't see a border being beneficial to this design.  I put this one away, but recently pulled it out again, along with some other possibilities - which I will present here on the blog this week. 

I usually do not solicit input, but I am really not "into" the process this time around.  Input welcome. 

I think I can do better than this.









6 comments:

  1. Have you thought of dividing it and adding elements inside rather than a border? I would print out the image and cut up the paper to see what might work before putting scissors to cloth. If you leave raw edges, you won't loose any size to seam allowances.

    Diane

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  2. Truthfully, no, I have never considered cutting it up and adding elements inside. This is a novel idea for me and not a bad one. Thanks for suggesting Diane! This is my least favorite of the choices I have right now, but it will be easy to print it out on paper and play.

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  3. When you mentioned this would be the right size but not after quilting, my first thought was to slice it into sections and insert other fabric to get it up to size. It would add to the patterning and make it more interesting. Right noe it's a little static.

    Ok, I always comment before reading what others have said. So now I check and see I am not the only one with this thought. I think it's a sign! Great thought to experiment first with paper printouts.

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  4. I like the idea of cutting it up and adding elements. What if there was a color or something that was a contrast as the in between that made the image pop, inviting your imagination into the mystery?

    I also have a request to ask. Does anyone know the steps of how to work with heat shrinking thread, with scraps of fabric and a heat gun to create an abstract collage?

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