Revisiting an Old Friend

A few blog posts ago,

I was strung out on sewing with some of the fabric I made with

deconstructive screen printing.

I neglected to post the last piece that I made during that whirl of inspiration.

I didn't want to use the pieces of fabric with bold colors

on the smaller items that I was making (I'm saving them for a bigger bag!)

but I had a couple of pieces of fabric that had very pale colors

that would be great for a small bag.

I used one piece of pale fabric

along with a scrap of hand dyed batik

(and batting of course) to make my quilt sandwich.

I did some free motion quilting along with a poppy shape

(I know! I know! I'm trying to wean off that shape...)

and a little odd shaped leaf motif.

I rolled white paint (along with textile medium)

onto the back side of the quilted area.

I wasn't sure which side I would like the best

but at this point I was just experimenting.

I painted the poppy and leaf shapes

with a colored textile paint

to make them pop.

After deciding (okay - agonizing) over which side I liked the best,

I made a very simple bag shape.

I added a binding around the top edge and zig zagged the inside seams.

Then I added some shiny beads (for the magpie in me)

and hand stitching along the top edge.

I plan on going back and adding a button and loop closure

and maybe a carrying strap later.

It's a great size for my field sketching/watercolor set

and I plan on using it for that.

In this photo you can see

that it could almost be reversible with the

painting on both sides.

I love the color combinations.

I also love the marks on the side of this

that were made with the deconstructive screen printing method.

I think that I will definitely be doing more of this in the future.

See how the stitch lines show up so well when you roll paint on top of your quilted fabric?

If you're like me and you're afraid that you will mess up a large quilted item,

why don't you experiment with a small piece like I did?

Here is the front of the small bag

(which, btw, measures about 5 1/2"x7" and is apx.1" deep)

with my awkward stitching on it.

I'm not very good at free motion quilting

but practice really does make a difference.

Won't you try something new this year?

Try combining several art forms into one...

I used screen printing, sketching (or drawing), art quilting,

fabric painting and sewing.

Oh, beading and hand embroidery.

I hope that you will exercise your creativity

on a daily basis this year.

I plan on doing just that.