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Thursday, June 28, 2018

A Wild Garden...




It's that time of year when gardens are taking off with wild abandon. This "Wild Garden" quilt is one I started several years ago. The piecing and machine sewn applique pieces were the easy part. The project started out using a LizzieBCre8tive! pattern. I added the pieced border and changed the flower style a bit. The slow-down came when I began to machine quilt it. One big downfall for me in quilting, or in any project really, is thinking "this won't take long". I get started, then bog down. There was more to stitch than I anticipated (as usual), so the quilt got set aside for a time. At last our guild issued a challenge to complete some of those languishing projects. It was just the motivation I needed to get cracking and finish this one up!



In our Fiber Art Bee, we are doing a book study of Deborah Boschert's Art Quilt Collage. One exercise was to identify personal symbols that we consistently use in our work. I discovered that this bloom I call a "splat flower" is one of mine. They seem whimsical, playful and free, which is often the goal for my work.




I love the twining vines and two-toned leaves also.



In addition to quilting, I get a lot of other projects underway. Throughout June I've been participating in artist Karen Abend's Find Your Flow -a 30 day creative practice. My commitment was to sew a small collage each day of the month. The goal is to make some art a daily practice, to more fully explore one style of our choice, and to be accountable by posting our work in a private Facebook group. It was a very good practice and it caused me to stretch as I considered the materials and how to combine them in new ways each day. I also stuck to a neutral palette for the most part, though there are touches of color towards the end. Messy stitching created the message and the heart on a tea bag in this little fragment.



Keeping it simple with a free-motion stitched bloom sewn on lace and a cardstock piece.



Here's a vintage bathing beauty photo stitched to a tea bag, atop a scrap of lace fabric. The old stamp and a bit from bridal trim accent the collage. I can't get enough vintage-style art! And I'm pretty fond of recycling bits and pieces of fabric and trim along with unusual materials. I'm planning a journal to showcase the collages together. Stay tuned!


4 comments:

Jan said...

You are on a roll with finishing up that project and creating all these lovely collages! I agree they will make a nice journal all together. Very peaceful color way. Tea bags are fun to use, I have been lately too.

Lynette (NZ) said...

Lovely quilt. I ADORE your wee collages - great idea to do the journal to showcase them. I look forward to seeing it. Happy Summer to you ♥

Bleubeard and Elizabeth said...

You created an amazing quilt, and I am in awe of it now it is finished. However, those little collages are what made me sit up and take note. I am in love with each of these and the tea bags make them even more special. You are SO clever!!

Robbie said...

I really like the layered background on the quilt!!! Very clever!!! My fav is the bathing beauty on the tea bag!!! So cool!!!