Tuesday, October 03, 2006

Leave it to Me



Leave it to me to get it wrong! That was the incentive for the title for this piece. I misinterpreted the 3D requirement.

I layered a piece of hand dyed velvet, painted some bondaweb and fused it to the velvet. I covered the bondaweb with hand dyed throwsters waste covered it with chiffon and machine quilted at 1/4" intervals. I zapped the chiffon with the heat gun to show the colours underneath.

After I trimmed the quilt to size, 8 1/2" x 11", I applied a piece of the background onto the quilt surface which was woven into heated copper shim which I had painted with acrylic paints and embossing powder. I applied some gold leaf in autumn colours to the copper shim once it was stitched to the background. I also painted small areas of the background with Ormalene mixed with superfine metallic bronze powder. I layered black felt and orange silk organza, drew some leaf shapes with bobbin work using Ricky Timms razzle dazzle thread in glitzy purple. I free motion stitched the inside of the leaves with a variegated rayon thread. The quilt is bound with putple hand dyed fabric. The leaves were appliqued after the quilt was finished. I am looking forward to these challenges as I find it difficult to work on a set theme.

9 comments:

Roberta Ranney said...

If this is what you do when you do wrong, don't try to do right. I like the abstract quality of the background combined with the reality of the leaves. You have used so many techniques that I'm not very familiar with and some that I've never even heard of (Ormalene and throwsters). I find the gold leaf touches to be particularly appealing.

I think this is a particularly beautiful piece.

Roberta

Beverly said...

Carol, I think your color choices are stunning, and the texture adds lovely dimension to the piece. I don't see a thing I would change.

Do you teach techniques like these in any of your QU classes?

Beverly

CalicoDaydreams said...

I just love this piece. The colors are wonderful and it is so well balanced.

Cynthia Ann Morgan said...

Hi Carol,
This piece looks so lush and textural...I want to pet it! The rich colors, the antique feel of the background, the touches of glimmer, wow!
Cynthia

brendaj said...

I love the colors and sense of texture. I haven't heard of many of the products mentioned either; please do tell; what is copper shim?
Brenda

Cynthia Ann Morgan said...

Carol,
of course, we'd love to see your step-by-step!

lysrian said...

I love this piece, the colors and the composition work together to make a visually stunning presentation of the theme. Your interpretation of the theme is wonderful.

I think that you should defiantly share your process. I would love to read it and maybe try a technique or two…
-Lys

laura west kong said...

Amazing!!! I LOVE the purple leaves. My chin dropped to the floor when I saw your photo. The purple stands out wonderfully against the warm-toned background. The leaves hanging off the top and bottom of the piece are particularly effective. I wouldn't change a thing.

I would also be much obliged if you shared your techniques with the group. I am planning a major quilt to start in 2007 and hopefully finish in a year or two, that makes use of dimensional leaves and petals.

laura west kong said...

Thanks! I will check it out.
You should name your quilt "Leaf it to me" Scrolling quickly through the blog, I misread your blog post title as that.
laura