Ever wonder what to do with class samples? When I first started quilting back in the Jurassic period (1985) I signed up for workshops, lots and lots of workshops. They were a great way of picking up techniques and getting tips. They were also a great way of accumulating half finished projects and samples. Now I rarely sign up for a workshop, but I did commit to doing the assignments given by Leah Day on her blog,
The Free Motion Quilting Project. I've done all 35 to date. My stash of samples was mushrooming. What to do?
The answer came when
Fiber Artists Coalition decided to create an exhibition titled Salvage and Selvage. All the work in the exhibition had to include recycled materials. Why not repurpose my free motioning quilting practice pieces, using the quilt as you go method and repurpose those samples? Hence
Tree Serenade was created.
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Tree Serenade
48" H x 40" W |
If you have been following my blog you will recognize various pieces of the quilt, such as my "wonky" quilt, several pivoting paisley incarnations, a few branching out pieces, my sample of adding acrylic paint mixed with a bonding medium and the latest assignment based on flowing lines that became the tree. If you haven't followed the blog or just want to jog your memory, scroll through the previous posts and have fun matching them to the background pieces. Note how the quilt as you go method becomes an integral part of the design.
The only portion of the quilt that did not come from Leah's assignments are the leaf clusters. These were made by spray painting dryer sheets, bonding them to drop clothes used to catch paint in my wet studio, cutting out clusters, fusing them to quilt and further securing them with free motion quilting.
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Detail from Tree Serenade
Note the leaf clusters made from painted dryer sheets. |
I really love the whole thing! What a grand idea and I so agree that I must work up a completed item to use these samples/assignments or get rid of them!!! Great post!
ReplyDeleteCan you imagine a grand finale project where all the Quilting Project followers create work from their samples? What an exhibition that would make!
DeleteIt's comments like yours that keep me motivated to create and write about it. Thank you.
All 35!! omigosh! And such a great way to recycle the UFOs. I LOVE your nature art work!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Sharron. Yes, it is true, I have completed all 35 Quilting Project assignments. I have found them invaluable for taking my FMQ to the next level.
DeleteSay what? Dryer sheets? How did you even think of that?? Awesome quilt!! It's a FMQ collage!
ReplyDeleteWhat can I say, Danielle? Everything is fodder for my quilts. I was folding the laundry, getting ready to discard the dryer sheet and noticed how the fibers were splayed out - sometimes tightly packed, sometimes with gaps and thought things like mist and clouds. I figured they might be fun to use with surface design techniques, too.
Delete