Fractured Egret as a mobile = fabric art on the move

You have to be over 'a certain age' to remember Frank Sinatra belting out “My Way”. I remember it well. As this project morphed from one thing to another the words, “I did it my way” kept floating through my mind.

As I began to look at the suggestions for fractured things, mosaics appealed to me. Thinking on a grand scale I thought I would do a fractured water lily with an overlay of a dragonfly. I had some sheer fabric just waiting to be used. I found several dragonfly photos, blew one up to a size I thought I could stitch, ~20” long for a single wing. I'm thinking maybe I'll just do the wings as a mobile. By Sunday night I had finished tracing both parts of a single wing onto a sheer paper so that I could just turn it over to get the other side. Taking a break, I got something to eat. When I picked up the spoon to eat my soup, a horrible pain went through my fingers, hand and arm. I could not pick up a spoon without horrible pain. I took some Ibuprofen and sat down at the computer to read; just rocking and holding the arm I had stupidly injured myself. I definitely was not going to trace these again. Of course I was able to eat using my left hand. Not much keeps me from putting food into my mouth.

The next day I took my drawings to a copy place. 4 to 5 hour wait. Nope. I just could not do that. Luckily I didn't do that because when I tried to stitch my sheer fabric over the paper, I could not get the paper out of those little bitty spaces. HMMM.

More research for a winged thing. I was now loving the idea of a mobile. As I surfed, I saw a GREAT plane with a man inside running across the ground. The wings were 3 high and the tail had lots of interesting pieces. I can now imagine this could really have a lot of movement. As I started drawing and planning, I realize I really didn't want a plane. How about a butterfly; hours later that was not working for me. I started looking at birds and mobiles. I did not want a flock of birds. Rather, my vision, was for one bird that I would fracture.

I used one fabric on one side and another on the opposite side. I sewed with a clear polyester in the bobbin and a silver thread on top. As I researched fabrics, polyester is the most resistant to sun and age deterioration. This is what influenced my fabric and thread choices.
Finally, I have something I really like. Luckily, I decided to do a small study instead of a LARGE piece. Balancing the pieces was tricky for me. I used thin black wire and bent my shapes and attaching rings. Because normally these things are done using heavier materials then soldering a ring at the balance point, I added weight [extra wire] when I did my balancing. The beak is really lots of wire, wrapped, then painted. I sewed a layer of sheer fabric to each side, stopped the fray with liquid stitch, then purposefully frayed the edges, ie feathers.

Remembering the goals of this group: “it is through doing that we will learn.” Yes, I learned a lot. Plus, the end of the challenge always states something similar to , “remember to have fun”. Please note it is the Fast Friday Fabric Challenge; not a quilting challenge.

I earned a lot [by doing] + + + I had FUN! I must have inadvertently or subconsciously had the rules in mind all along.

Egret flat

Egret in flight as seen from dining [studio area]

Egret in flight; view from kitchen

Yes, “I did it my way. . .” Ann E. Ruthsdottir aka designerann