SAQA One Foot Square artwork done!
Portage: Set Forth
I did a stint at the Studio Art Quilt Associates‘ booth for a bit during International Quilt Festival-Chicago. I came away with a newfound appreciation for those leaders of SAQA who are donating their time and effort to run “a non-profit organization whose mission is to promote the art quilt through education, exhibitions, professional development and documentation.”
To that end, I decided everyone (including me) has time to make a 12″ square art quilt for the SAQA One Foot Square Auction to be held November 10 online.
If you are not a member of SAQA, follow the link above and join. If you want to move the whole world of art quilts onward and upward, this is the organization to join and support.
With the whole series thing on my mind, I decided to take another look at some fabric I had painted while working on my Portage show.
I had eight pieces that were never finished because they didn’t fit the size or palette of my show. Perfect!
Step one: Use some of my peppy new rayon thread (Superior Rainbows) and stitch in a casual wavy manner over a pink, navy and brown piece. For a change of pace, I actually had a three-layer sandwich (top, cotton batting, dyed backing) going.
Step two: Using what I had at hand (Timtex), I cut some viewing frames. I should have used a bigger scrap as I had exactly 12″ pieces; it works much better when your frames are bigger or if you can cut two L-shaped pieces. Usually I cut a hole in a piece of paper or interfacing and use that as a frame to choose what to keep and what to cut. Speed does not always equal efficiency.
Step Three: Here’s another 12″ square possibility with a lot more movement and mystery. It also shows more of the tan/brown/darker pink side of the piece that is needed to balance the many canoes and add contrast.
I made the final cut down to 12″ square and the piece was ready for some kind of edging. I have taken a vow against bindings and am still searching for the perfect way to finish off the edge of textile artwork. Did the invisible thread straight stitch, followed by a zigzag - no. Did the variegated thread zigzag - even more of a no. I finally settled on a variegated cotton ribbon, stitched on through the center with invisible thread and then zigzagged around the edge.
More and more I think that small textile works such as these should be framed to give them their proper “weight” on the wall.
April 30th, 2008 at 6:16 am
Virginia, I love it! Especially the very watery quilting lines (of course the quilting is always my favorite part). Thanks for the walk-through of how you made your decisions, too. Very fun and interesting!
April 30th, 2008 at 5:07 pm
Thanks so much for the tutorial. I always appreciate being in on the ‘backstage’ stuff.
I’m working on a series wherein each piece finishes 12-inch square, so I invested in a piece of clear plexi cut to fit. I put that neon-color transparent 1/4-inch tape around the edges (because I’m a big fan of binding) and marked the centers of each side. It’s been a godsend.
I think I’m going to have start watching my nickels so I can splurge at this auction…
May 1st, 2008 at 3:01 pm
Linda - Thanks for stopping by!
Melanie - Good tip - thanks for sharing it! I would use a binding more often if the little binding fairies would come in the night and make them for me. I love stitching them down by hand, but not one other part of it!
May 1st, 2008 at 4:14 pm
Thank you for this glimpse of your behind-the-scenes. This is a beautiful piece.
May 1st, 2008 at 4:43 pm
The other cool thing about the plexi — which, btw, is a tip I picked up in Jane Davila and Elin Waterston’s Art Quilting 101 class (I’d hate to glom undue credit for this particular bit of ingneuity) — is that when the piece is framed the way you like, you can just run the rotary cutter along the plexi as though it were one of those fancy rulers.