BLOG 497

BLOG 497

 

First, I want to share a picture with you; it’s the collection of infinity scarves that inspired me to make one last week. These were done by quilting chum Veronica and you can see why they were inspirational. These are heading for Sweden!

 

 

               

             Veronica’s infinity scarves

 

The focus of my week has been trying to work out how to interpret my doodles in fabric. As soon as I am in a relaxed state, like listening to a speaker or just watching TV, I start to form these mindless images. They look like fractured mosaics (my daughter once said that a psychologist would have a field day analysing them!!) and I have always done them.

               Mindless doodles

 

I have been influenced by them before, years ago, when I started to make an ‘in the wall’ series of wall hangings. The turtle below, made from 2 batiks on a black background, is an example from that series.

             ‘In the wall’ Turtle

 

 

So I thought I’d revisit the technique and I tried a picture on baking parchment, just drawing as I went along and feeling my way round the idea. I tried to use ready-fused fabric but this was decidedly slow as I had to cut all the shapes to size as I went along. These pieces were no more than an inch in size so it was extremely painstaking!

 

             Drawing

 

             Start

 

             Progress

 

And as I continued to play, I started to wonder whether my doodling was best left as just doodling! But then, as I didn’t want to be defeated, I decided to revisit one of my old patterns. This is something I rarely have the chance to do because I am in the habit of destroying my original patterns when I have finished a piece of work. This means that my interpretation is the one and only and it protects my individuality. Why I still have this pattern I don’t know but I was grateful for it because it kept my creative juices flowing.

 

             Turtle pattern

 

 

Last time I chose black for the background but this time I decided on a light batik; it will be interesting to compare the results. And I wanted to continue working with bright colours so I chose batiks that had a variety of colours and values.

              Background

 

           Batiks

 

I also had a second pattern which showed the reverse of the image. I used this one to trace the shapes straight onto a fusible. This turned out to be a far easier way of working than using ready fused fabric and it allowed me to choose the areas/colours of the batiks that I wanted. This will keep me happy for the rest of lockdown!

             Fusible tracing

 

            Step 1


 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

      






Step 2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Adjustment

            

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Progress

 

And finally, in the warm weather this week, Tess and her family decided to have a bbq. I usually contribute marinated chicken on those occasions when we are invited but with lockdown we had to keep our distance. As they were preparing to eat, Ella said she missed Grammy’s manicured chicken! Here’s my interpretation of this!!!!

 

 

            Manicure