Numbers 24, 25, and 26

PROJECT:  Create 88 - 8" x 8" Canvases

PARAMETERS:  Fiber Art (including textiles, fabrics, gauze, cheesecloth, yarn, thread, embroidery floss, wool roving, and paper), mounted on 8" x 8" canvases.

GOAL:  Create hardcover book, showcasing this art.

A friend, Cora Mae, gave me some Shibori fabrics she had dyed.  I decided to use three cuts from the beautiful fabrics for today's pieces.

Cora Mae's Shibori Fabrics

#24 - The first picture is the cut piece of fabric:

Fabric used in #24

I saw a flower in this image.  I used a white POSCA paint pen to lighten the "petals."  Then I added extensive machine stitching.  I cropped the piece before adding the blanket stitch around the edges.

#24 - 8" x 8" canvas

#25 - the cut fabric:

Fabric used in #25

This time I envisioned a landscape.  First, I fused on a couple extra pieces of fabric near the bottom of the image.  Again, I used extensive machine stitching.

#25 - 8" x 8" canvas

#26 - I stared at this next fabric for a long time.

Fabric used in #26

In the end, I decided I couldn't really improve on the design.  (It's rotated a quarter turn in the next image.)  Like the others, this fabric was mounted on stiff interfacing.  After cropping, I added the blanket stitch around the edges, and called it good enough!

#26 - 8" x 8" canvas

Till next time...

Numbers 21, 22, and 23

PROJECT:  Create 88 - 8" x 8" Canvases

PARAMETERS:  Fiber Art (including textiles, fabrics, gauze, cheesecloth, yarn, thread, embroidery floss, wool roving, and paper), mounted on 8" x 8" canvases.

GOAL:  Create hardcover book, showcasing this art.

When I shop for fabric at the thrift stores, I look for blouses with lace, texture, or interesting patterns.  Today's three pieces make use of some of this fabric.
#21:

#21 - Lacy Fabric

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#21 - The lacy fabric spread out to show the detail

Here's the other fabric I used:

#21 - Second fabric

#21:  I used the first fabric for the flowers, and the second fabric for the vase.  The background is a piece of silk painted with black acrylic ink.  (The three, 4-petal flowers came from another blouse.)

#21 - 8" x 8" canvas

#22:  Most of the fabric for #22 came from the front of a sheer, flowered blouse, that had both lace trim and pleats.

Fabric used in #22

Thread painting and machine stitching with my Pfaff added flowers and other detail.  And here's the finished piece:

#22 - 8" x 8" canvas

Maybe you can see that I used some of the pleated fabric across the bottom of the piece?  I love texture!

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#23 started with a piece of crepe de chine I had painted with acrylic inks.  

#23 - Inked crepe de chine

I thought the ball of yarn would work well with this piece - which is why it's in the picture - but then I ended up not using the yarn.  Instead, I stitched on a piece of inked cheesecloth:

#23 - Inked fabric with cheesecloth

Not sure where to go with this one, I cut out circles from another blouse.  Though I'm not thrilled with this piece, I declared it finished!

#23 - 8" x 8" canvas

Till next time...

Numbers 18, 19, and 20

PROJECT:  Create 88 - 8" x 8" Canvases

PARAMETERS:  Fiber Art (including textiles, fabrics, gauze, cheesecloth, yarn, thread, embroidery floss, wool roving, and paper), mounted on 8" x 8" canvases.

GOAL:  Create hardcover book, showcasing this art.

# 18

# 18 - This piece started with needle felting wool roving.  I loved the colors, even though the wool makes a blurry-looking picture.

#18 - A detail from the stitched piece

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#18 - 8" x 8" canvas

Above is the finished piece - stitched, and mounted on an 8" x 8" canvas.

#19

#19 also started with needle felting.  I was envisioning a beach scene with a palm tree.

Fabric cut from a thrift store blouse

This brown fabric provided the trunk for the palm tree.

#19

I used cheese cloth, dyed with acrylic inks, for the beach sand.  White gauze formed the sea foam.  Once I had the tree trunk in place, I couched on green yarn for the palm fronds.

#19 - 8" x 8" canvas

#19 - Stitched, and mounted on an 8" x 8" canvas.

# 20 - Detail

I had colored some white lace from a thrift store blouse, using acrylic inks.  There's also some inked cheese cloth in the "hill."

#20 - Detail

#20 - The finished piece, mounted on an 8" x 8" canvas:

#20 - 8" x 8" canvas

Till next time...

Sidetracked

I took a break from my 8" x 8" canvases to do some preparation work for note cards.  I do about 1000 note cards / year, and most of them are sent to Operation Gratitude.  Many of these cards go to deployed military personnel.
First, I treated archival tissue paper with India inks:

The next picture is a close-up of the inked tissue paper:

I also color rice paper using alcohol inks.  Here's an example:

This is another strip of rice paper.  I loved seeing the sunlight hit the drying paper.  You can see some of the small bottles of alcohol inks off to the side:

Next, I cut the tissue paper and rice paper into pieces a little bigger than 4" x 6".

I glue the papers to pieces of card stock, and let them dry well:

The last step is to crop them to 4" x 6", before they're mounted on the blank note cards.
I enjoy the different patterns that evolve from the process.  Here are some of my favorite examples from this batch.  Do you see a butterfly in this one?

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I'll be back to the 8x8 canvases next week!

Week 7 - Number 17

PROJECT:  Create 88 - 8" x 8" Canvases

PARAMETERS:  Fiber Art (including textiles, fabrics, gauze, cheesecloth, yarn, thread, embroidery floss, wool roving, and paper), mounted on 8" x 8" canvases.

GOAL:  Create hardcover book, showcasing this art.

#17 - Needle Felting

#17 - Needle felted piece, waiting for the stitching.

#17 - 8" x 8" canvas

I did extensive machine stitching, to give detail to the piece, as well as hold the wool in place.  The flowers are embroidery stitches on my Pfaff sewing machine.

Note cards

These are note cards I create for Operation Gratitude.  The images are India inks on archival tissue paper.  

Till next week...

Week 6 - Numbers 15 and 16

PROJECT:  Create 88 - 8" x 8" Canvases

PARAMETERS:  Fiber Art (including textiles, fabrics, gauze, cheesecloth, yarn, thread, embroidery floss, wool roving, and paper), mounted on 8" x 8" canvases.

GOAL:  Create hardcover book, showcasing this art.

# 15 - 8" x 8" canvas

#15 - This piece is basically collaged from two silk fabrics I painted with acrylic inks.  (The sun was cut from another fabric.)  I used Wonder Under, a fusible web, to attach the fabrics to a background of stiff interfacing.  The only stitching is the blanket stitch around the outside of the piece.

# 16 - 8" x 8" canvas - unfinished

#16 - This piece is done with needle felting and machine stitching.  For the final piece (below) I couched on yarns, to add to the grasses.  Then I cropped it, adding a blanket stitch around the border.

# 16 - 8" x 8" canvas

Till next week....