Natural Dyed Collage

As I work through my stack of unfinished pieces - I have come to this collage of naturally dyed silk and cotton fabrics that was overprinted with metallic paints and block prints, then quilted. 

I made this piece about 2 years ago and never took it any further than the quilting and final trimming.  It did not inspire me.  I felt (and still do) that the darker fabric around the edges is distracting.  It just looks very bland to me. 

Those naturally dyed fabrics are precious, though and I hate to think of just tossing this in the trash.  I will see if I can improve it with some additional layers.....not sure what I will do, but I am going to dive in.

Trimmed Purple Collage

I've trimmed this piece and am now evaluating it on the design wall.  I am not sure it is even worth binding.........?  Maybe it is just my winter mood.

.....Still, I feel it is leaps and bounds more interesting than what I began with (below).

 Or......is it better trimmed and rotated?

(I think this might be better if I can even up the blue printing so the color shift lines up horizontally on either side of the yellow circle).  What do you think?

Quilting Done

The quilting is now finished and I am looking at this piece on the design wall.  I am really on the fence with this one.....I do not love it, and am not sure I should finish it.  Is it worthy of binding?  I will at least trim it and take another look before I decide.

Red Quilting

Blue Quilting

 I've used a very loose stitch (moving the quilt really fast under the needle) and a variety of threads to build up visual interest in the blue area.

I did not enjoy the quilting on this one.  I am accustomed to doing swirls and waves.  Straight lines and messy and overlapping felt foreign and was boring.....

Primary Colors - Stepping Back

After printing a lot of different colors and screens, it is time to put this piece up on the wall and take a step back.  I wasn't sure how this was going to turn out.....I am less than thrilled, but I am going to go forward with it.  Quilting is next.

Red Detail

 Here is a closer look at the red screen printing over the black text printing over the purple collage.

Red Over Purple

 The other side of this piece is printed in red - again, darker shades of red on the outer edge, working toward the center with lighter, brighter red.

Blue Over Purple

 The next phase of printing is to add blue.....darker / Navy blue on the far end, gradually moving to a brighter blue towards the center.

Yellow Glow

 Back to the print table I go with this piece.  I have decided to print a glowing circle in the center of the piece.  I want to use the complimentary color to purple - Yellow!

Progress with Printing

 Above - the first layer of printing is done.  I have created a lighter area in the center using lighter fabrics (some fused peach hand dyed and fused natural silk organza), followed by screen printing with white.  I have enhanced the darker areas by using black ink for the printing on the sides.

Here is how it looked before the printing.....I think it is always interesting to compare.

Recipes in Black and White

 OK, so the recipes have been Thermofax screen printed in white in the center of the piece, and I've switched to black ink for the rest of the collage.

Creating a Lighter Center on Purple

 I have studied this collage of hand dyed fabric and have decided to create a prominent lighter area in the center of the piece.  Above, I am auditioning fabrics from my fused fabric drawer.  Below, the fabrics have been fused in place and I am ready to further lighten the center area with screen printing.
I am using white screen printing ink and again - my grandmother's recipes.  This should be another piece in the abstract series - "Learning to Cook".

Purple Collage Challenge

 Two years ago, I was just easing into the process of block printing and screen printing on a fabric collage.  I was doing this exercise by using up scraps that were fused to the batting and then the raw edges were free motion zig zagged to secure them.  I did a big stack of these collages in various color combinations in anticipation that I would finish them off quickly.

Life got in the way, though, and I did not finish them off quickly.  For two years, the stack has been occupying a favorite upholstered chair in my studio.  This winter, I am challenging myself to work with these foundations.  This purple one was about 58 inches square.  I studied it for a while before deciding to cut it into two parts.

 

I have decided to try the smaller one first.  It measures about 28 x 58.

Horizontal or vertical?  Hmmmm.

Details of "Learning to Cook #2"

 This first detail shows the binding (top edge).

Learning to Cook #2

Here it is all finished - bound and a full view.  Details tomorrow.

Quilting In Progress

 I have enjoyed adding various colors of thread......red, blue, variegated turquoise to red, and dark blue. 

 Below - the full piece with most of the quilting stitches done - I have just a few more areas needing dark blue, I think.

Evaluating Quilting Lines

I have been stopping periodically and putting the piece up on the design wall to evaluate the effect of the stitching and to make decisions about proceeding.  There is a lot of stitching on this piece - I am stitching inside each cell three times to build up a heavy layer of thread.

Thread Choices

 I am hoping the quilting brings this piece together.  My plan is to stitch on the inside of each screen printed cell with a contrasting color.  I want the paint to show, so I do not wish to stitch over the top of the printed lines.  I am going to start with a very pale tan variegated thread.

Making Printed Patches

 I had the forethought to print some fabric for the binding while I was printing the quilt.  There is more than I need for the binding, so I plan to use the rest of it to build up the collage a bit more.

Above, the audition of the additional fabric on the end.  I think I will use this to create a more balanced piece.