Playing with Stitch and Embellishment
This selection comes from my first series of samples, created in early 2020, when I worked through an assignment for the Level 4 Patchwork and Quilting course. The charge was simply to explore all kinds of new techniques, and I went for brightly colored samples, the fabric of which I had mono-printed and the embellishments of which I created myself. Moreover, I considered them also as test pieces exploring how I couId quilt mono-printed fabrics. I chose the colors and motifs in response to a year-long engagement with the artist Natalia Goncharova and her work as a set and costume designer for Serge Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes.
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Angelina Beads and Wrapped Pipe Cleaner I
I had a piece of mono-printed fabric where I had used a stencil. It looked a bit like a water wheel. So I played with it.
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Angelina Beads and Wrapped Pipe Cleaner II
I used cut-offs to piece the the background and appliqued a few more swatches. I used beads I made from painted Tyvek, a long bead made from Angelina fiber, and a wrapped pipe cleaner.
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Angelina Beads
This was one of the first samples, using beads made from sheets of ironed Angelina fiber that I cut and glued. I hadn’t yet quite figured out how to connect background and embellishments.
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Paper-Bead Cluster
I tried out how strung paper beads might work out as they were connected to the “spiral tree” motif of the mono-printed back ground. It was also my first attempt at a fused binding. Not a fan…
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Paper-Bead Cluster and Plymer-Clay Ornament
Using the paper-bead cluster to accent (and also hide) the dividing line. I had this polymer-clay ornament I had made and painted. On the right side is an Angelina-fiber ornament ironed over a stencil.
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Paper-Bead Cluster and Muslin Bead
This is one of my favorites. Again, I had left-over bits of fabric with which I played for the background and appliqued squares. The muslin bead was one of those things that have their place in a laboratory but, probably, not in my quilts…