"Above Eden" - How it all began...

"Above Eden"

Like most fiber artists I am an ardent "collector" of scraps, remnants and anything that might someday make its way into a new work.  Nothing with potential ever finds its way to the circular file.  Thus, "Above Eden" had its beginning long before a stitch was sewn.  Here's how it all started...

1.

Left over hand dyed and hand painted strips of fabric from another work.

 

2.

Two small silk screens used in previous works

3.

Pattern for gold foil bird image copied from original silk screen image

4.

Gold foiled bird image fused to fabric and tree image screened onto fabric

5.

Quilting begins with the tree image and some sky background (note red apple of shiny, red puff paint)

It might be worth noting here that the sky background for the bird and tree was created from hand dyed fabric with over printed stamped images from a craft foam stamp that I made a long time ago.

6.

Bird machine appliqued with continuation of sky background quilting

7.

Quilting the sashings

8.

Small elements created as accent elements

9.

Gel medium painted onto sides of small quilted elements to prevent fraying

10.

Small quilted element top stitched onto quilt

11.

 

 

Fabric altered to create cohesive binding

Yet another note...Since all the original sashing strips had used up that fabric, I was in a dilemma over what fabric to use for the binding.  My stash was not yielding any color that worked, but I did find a blue-blue that did not clash.  The problem was that it drabbed down the entire quilt so I set about altering it by first discharging some of the color with a Clorox bleach pen gel, neutralizing it so the bleach would not eat holes in the fabric.  Once the fabric had dried, I overpainted it with swish-swashes of Setacolor white fabric paint.

12.

Altered fabric ready to cut for binding

13.

Binding on right side of quilt

Binding on back side of quilt

14.

(Back of quilt)

And there you have it...

"Above Eden"--How it all began and how it ended :-)

 

DaVinci's Vetruvian Man at IQF Long Beach, CA

 

DaVinci's Spirit Visits IQF Long Beach- Picture compliments of Mary Beth Kile

I don't know why the bottom corner of the quilt nearest my elbow appeared wonky in this picture.  I swear, it was squared up and perfectly rectangular :-)

 

Here's a closer picture of the quilt...and me (tee hee) - Picture compliments of Mary Beth Kile

Picture compliments of So Cal SAQA News

Here I am demonstrating the method I developed for making polymer clay stamps for use on fabric.  It was heart-lifting to see how many quilt festival attendees were interested and it was wonderful to see an old friend, Susan Edwards--the pretty gal wearing a red and white striped blouse.

All the exhibits were absolutely astounding.  It was inspirational to be among the works of such talented artists.

More Stamps for Fabric on Etsy

It's been a productive day.  Not only did I list 8 of my stamps on Etsy earlier today but this evening I listed thirteen (13) additional stamps.  Perhaps if I just leave my catalog of stamps by the computer, I may manage to get all 50 listed within the next few days.  Here are the stamps I listed this evening.

Polymer Clay Stamps Finally Posted on Etsy

Many of my followers have been urging me to list my polymer clay stamps for fabrics on Etsy and today I FINALLY started posting them.  Of the 50 stamps that I have designed, I've only posted eight (8) so far, but it's a start.

These are the stamps that made their way to Etsy today.

 

 

Thank you, everyone, for continuing to push me to list these stamps.  You are all the very, very BEST!

Stencils and Stamps from Commonplace Objects

Lookie, lookie what my friend, Mary Beth Kile, gave me yesterday.  These are 14" x 19" placemats (© 2013 by Kimberly Sabel) made from a matte rubber-like product.  They are distributed by Advantus Corp. and can be found at Bed Bath and Beyond. I see many stenciling and stamping possibilities with these mats.  It will be fun to see what design emerges if pressed onto a Gelli Arts gel printing plate.  Another option might be to place these on fabric painted with Setacolor light reactive fabric paints to see what design mysteries the sun might create.  Because these mats are almost 1/4" thick, they would probably be too thick to use as a stencil with a brush, a brayer or a foam paint roller, but I'll bet they would be great to use as airbrush stencils.  Then, too, they could be mounted on a slab of wood or Plexiglas and added to my ever growing inventory of permanently mounted stamps. 

What do you see as printing possibilities for these designs?

"Farewell Toast to Winter" was chosen for an Etsy Treasury

What a pleasant surprise it was this morning to find that my "Farewell Toast to Winter" appeared in the Etsy Treasury, "Touchable", created by Polish textile artist, Bozena Wojtaszek. Her Treasury can be viewed in full here.  

Below are some closeups of this quilt that was "drawn" with stitching.  It just developed as I admired a rosebud on my table and as I worked at the sewing machine.

 Remember--Revel in the "what if" moments.  Snatch them up and see what happens.  Don't let an opportunity for discovery ever slip away.