Challenge 37-Nebula

Challenge 37-Space has been designed in my head for weeks. Finally got time to get the work done and photos taken.

Hubble's photos have long been inspiration for me as a friend from high school was on the original Hubble design team, not to mention the fact that I'm a "Trekky" from way back.

My embellisher seemed the perfect tool to accomplish the task of building my own Nebula right in my studio. Quilting with metallic thread was new to me. Critiques welcomed.

Blast Off

Challenge 37 finally fully finished. I spent days looking at marvelous photos from the Hubble Telescope. However, as much as I was in awe of the photos, nothing spoke to me. Finally I hit upon this theme = going into outer space.
I wanted to use dyes, but my past experience had been just applying the dyes on a piece of cloth laying on a table. It didn't work as I had envisioned. Lots of flow across the table; very little control. Therefore, my first step was to make an adjustable frame on which to secure my fabric. I recycled wood from some old shelf frames I had used when I lived in apartments and moved a lot. I used a textile maker in gray as I only wanted a little bit to show threw the 'dust from the blast off'. Then I applied dyes. It took several layers of dye to get what I wanted. Then I began with the paints. I ironed between layers to preserve what I had already done. Previously, I had skipped this step. Not happy when the colors moved. I learned from that mistake. Although my quilting is far from perfect, it is the best I've done so far. Horay! I'm improving.

Blast Off 17" x 37 1\2"

Detail 1 darkened to show the quilting.

Detail 2 darkened to show the quilting.

Meet Me In 2287: 60,000 years

Outer Space ...I posted Malacandra(Mars quilt description from CL Lewis bookPerelandra)an already finished quilt & fit the theme. My plan was to finish anew FFFC...well it's almost finished after a few distractions....I thought Iwould have it finished before the new FFFC #38 came out... very soon..The nameis "Did You See This?" or "Meet You in 2287" (60,000Years). The name aloneshould get some interest going!!The idea for this FFFC came from an e-mail telling me to watch the sky's for the month of August. On August 27th Mars will be close to the Moon and we could see it ...well we had a cloudy night. Well I did see this very bright "Star" Mars next to the Moon during August evenings. This will not happen again for 60,000 years...I printed the words from my computer onto fabric and next cut the large circles..the Moon and Mars...the Earth much smaller(only 34,649,589 miles from Mars) has a sketch of the United States..these were attached to the background fabric with an iron-on and various fringed yarn. The MilkyWay across the quilt is angelina fibers attached with Misty Fuse.A few silver stars attached with beads and quilted stars with silver metalic thread.I wrapped the front fabric to the back for the edge finish...edges not too streight...OK for the universe!!!

posted by Designs by Janice Simpson at 8:03 AM 0 comments

Labels: "Meet You In 2287" 60, 000 years

Astronomical Event

I have GOT to be the last to finish! Please take a look at my really fast entry (about 4 hours) – Astronomical Event. I decided to let one of my very first hand-dyed fabrics do the work. After quilting with several colors of metallic threads in a firey starburst design, I layered some holographic shredded cellophane under some sparkly dark gold tulle and again stitched over it with gold metallic threads. Then I melted this addition to give it a more lacey-spacey effect, floating through space. Comments welcome, even though this isn’t my best work….I got the urge to do this challenge and just sat down and did it. Hope to be a bit more timely next time!

Gail Myrhorodsky

Deep Space - WIP

Here is Deep Space. It is not finished. I am struggling with this. It is okay, but not wonderful. I used sequined and beaded fabric for the background which was not a Good Idea. When I finally got the bits under the planets and sun removed, they went flat and lost life. But I couldn't fuse them to the beads and sequins, nor could I just stitch them bumpily on there. I have put a facing on, although it needs stitching down in back. Because I already spent ages taking beads off the front, I didn't take them out of the SA when I stitched the facing on, and even through I was careful...I broke 3 needles!

So I am coming for advice.
I know how I want to quilt the sun, but any advice on how to quilt the planets?
Any advice on how to get it to be alive and not flat looking?
Shall I put it in the cupboard with the other space one from sometime back and hope I like it better in a year or so? LOL
Thanks!

Planet Wihet by Vivien Zepf

This is my first challenge with the group and I've been looking forward to participating. Unfortunately, yesterday was my first day in the studio for weeks, so I tasked myself to create something in a day. It's not the most marvelous piece ever, but I'm glad I did it. It was a good way to reacquaint myself with my sewing machine and supplies.

The planet is made from a piece of fabric from my stash that I had painted. I rubbed paint sticks over some sequin waste and raised paper to create the "glow" around the planet. I used a sheer (my first time!) to create the wisps around the planet and colored on them after quilting so that they had more contrast. For lack of a better idea, I free-motioned meander quilted the background; a mistake, I think, but I couldn't think of anything else to do. (It also looks wretched because I used some batting I had lying about that got all puffy and icky as I used it. ) I used metallic silver thread to augment the glow, along with some purple rayon thread. The finished piece is 14 x 16 1/2.

Thanks for looking and for your critique.

Vivien

Celestial Black Hole

New techniques that I used:

• painting over acrylic paints with a transparent black Setacolor. The acrylic acted as a resist so only the unpainted areas took the black paint. I love this way of working.
• adding Golden's mica chips in gel medium for some celestial glitz.

This also has a lot of foiling, which is not a new technique for me.

Here is a detail


I have another one painted, but it is not stitched as yet.

OK, I am ready for the next challenge.

Our Galaxy

This is my first Fast Friday challenge and creation. I used a photo from the Herschel telescope as my inspiration. The photo has an "open copyright". It can be seen at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8284650.stm. I was attracted by the layering and luminoscity and wanted to try using Lutrador which is new-to-me.

I used black Kona cotton, which was painted with a mix of Stewart Gill, Jacquard and Setacolor paints (I rapidly learnt that Setacolor transparent does not show up at all on black without being mixed with white.) I had black heavier weight and white very light weight Lutrador to work with. I painted the Lutrador with Mettallic Jacquard and Steward Gill paints, and then used both a textile tool and an embossing heat gun to melt the Lutrador to make it look "airier." I quilted the background with monofilament and metallics, and tried facing it (the first time I have done a facing) before stitching on the Lutrador. I wanted a slightly 3D look. I know I need a lesson on how to do facings. If you have any comments or suggestions I am open to them. I mainly did this to try the materials and to see if I can work fast. I found I still thought about the project for almost 3 weeks before getting down to it---something I need to change, which is why I joined the challenge

In a Galaxy Far, Far Away

This is my second challenge quilt and I really enjoyed this subject matter. I learned alot too. I discovered "Smart-ease" tm. and it really helped with the planet circles. I also got to try some thread blending which I learned about in a Carol Shinn class. This quilt is approx. 18" by 24" inches. The background is a hand-dyed batik. I loved playing with the embellishments of Swavarski chrystals, Angelina fibers and hand beading. I learned alot about composition and had alot of fun playing with my planets ! I was really inspired by the beautiful photos from the Hubble telescope. Donna of Sea Ranch

Pluto is gone

Here I am late with the very first one since I came back.

My piece is 22-1/2" x 24-3/4"

The planets are flying willy nilly through the sky.

Fabrics uses were: the old stand by - cotton, soft wool, a paper towel that I used to wipe up some spilled tsukineko inks a long time ago, netting, etc.

One of them was done on my embellisher and saturn's ring was made from a silver bag that was inside a box of peanut brittle.

The little dog is saying "They took Pluto away. WHY?"

Good to be back

Betty

Challenge 37, Pam Clark

This is my first fast friday challenge. I chose to use some new products that I hadn't tried before. I started with Angelina film. I layed strands of fibers between two layers of film and ironed to hold the fibers in place. I cut the film into a half moon shape and stitched it onto my dark background. I had never tried fiber painting before, so I painted around the planet to look like reflections coming off the surface. I also painted a small moon and a swirling nebula. I couched decorative fibers around the planet, across the planet and throughout the piece. I quilted with metallic threads to add glitz, added some Angelina fibers to the surface of the planet, and sewed on a few beads. I'm not really happy with the outcome, since I feel that my planet is too shiny, but I did learn how to use the Angelina film and how to fiber paint. Your comments are welcome.

Challenge 37 - Seattle Moonlight

OK - so it took a little bit - but I think you'll understand.

My piece is Seattle Moonlight - I had to do the Space Needle with a full moon. The final piece measures 8 1/2 x 13 1/2 - it is not intended to be an exact skyline - the windows are beaded.

Lisa
In Sunny Seattle

Challenge #37 - Blue Moon by Candy Farmer

Close to home and closer to heart, the moon has inspired the folklore and poetry of the ancients and helped us mark the passing of time and season. The full moon is especially potent and magical and speaks of the feminine.

The features of this moon were free cut from a remnant of polyester chiffon in hombre blues and applied to the surface with a single strand of silk sewing thread to keep it floaty and something of a suggestion. The background, or
black-ground, is cotton velveteen with black paisley jacquard applique. I used a polyester bat for loft and to add dimension to the moon. Everything was hand stitched.

This is my first larger-size piece, 16.5"x 21.5" approximate, and I would really like your feed back. Thanks, everyone.

Challenge #37 - full mOOn reflections by Wen Redmond

Photo that amazed me to create my piece 'full mOOn reflections'. Note the symmetrically of the centered moon. This is taken at sunset, North Pole. Just had to share it.

Going crazy getting ready for Fall shows and itchin' to participate in this challenge, I realized I have a piece that fits the 'bill'. I hope this isn't considered cheating but that's what I'm goin' do. My piece is called Full mOOn Reflections. I hope you'll give me feedback. Happy Fall All!!Full mOOn Reflections has several layers, and a circle was cut directly in the main piece. I used this elsewhere in the piece, repeating the circle motif. Medium was used on sections to see how it affected the transparency and texture. It was mono-printed, painted and dyed using silk noil, and organza. Mounted on painted rayon and poly stabilizer. Stitching

27hx18wx.50d

I wrote text in the bottom that I forgot to add, it says "Awaken! It comes to you, Extraordinary!"

WEBSITE http://WenRedmond.co
BLOG http://fiberartgoddess.blogspot.com

Genesis 1:16

18" by 8"
Painted cotton with Tempera Paint, sea salt
Commercial Fabric
Metallic, Rayon thread
Fusible gems

I originally created a background with Dyn-na-flow paints, but found it boring and too light for my needs. My 12 year old daughter, Tessa made this background at the same time using her washable tempera paints and sea salt. When I saw how great it was, I asked if I could use it for the challenge. She agreed as long as I gave her credit (grin). After heat setting and cutting up the background, I added a commercial print from Paula Nadlestern's collection and embellished with Glitter thread. Because I truly believe that less is more when it comes to embellishing, I just added a few fusible gems at the end to give it a little twinkle-twinkle. I finished the edges just with a free motion scribble of green and orange thread.

Cosmic Fire

This was inspired by the batik fabric background. I try to to use what I have on hand so it was copper Angelina and Misty Fuse. Also quilting and beading. There is so much inspiration out there. I find I am limited by my expertise in using some of the embelishments. Some things just didn't work! Thanks for the great challenge and a chance to try something new. Your comments helpful and welcome.

Elaine Koenig

Fires of Arnica

Ok my apologies, I could not get this posted as an edit and wanted to share. Thank you all for the critiques. In my hurry to do my 1st FFFC I forgot the very basics of art. So this is the result of cutting the 1st one down and I do like it much better.

PERSPECTIVE

12" x 16"

commercial fabrics

beads

angelina fiber

metallic thread

This piece is recycled from a couple of years ago. I've never posted an "oldie" before but I hope it will get me back in the swing of Fast Friday. I don't know why I stuck this piece away on the "experiments that didn't grow up into real quilts" shelf.

Now I hope to spend some time looking further at all the wonderful work I've noticed for this challenge. Your comments are always welcome.

Cosmos

"Cosmos" Is a Mixed media piece. I started with Black canvas and used paper towel with SPaint stick rubbings, decorative rice paper, cheese cloth, metallic paint, beads. I had fun playing with this piece and using some mixed media that I am not used to working with. I think it may be to crowded but still enjoyed the process. Coments welcome

Rita Legere

www.mooseandcrow.com

www.gracefulspirit.blogspot.com

Leaving Home

24½” x 16¼”, Satin, Polyester, Angelina fiber, beads

Update 10/13/09: I had comments that I should add some flame to the rocket, both in comments and from my husband, so I did. The new picture also has the border sewn on to the foam core so it's somewhat trimmer.
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There are only two fabrics that I used in this piece. The black satin shouted to me for the background, and the polyester piece, scraps from a blouse I just finished, had even the basic shapes which I only smoothed out. The rocket shape came from one of the copyright-free photos, and I used metallic foils for it. Then Angelina, with paper foil stars embedded in it, an experiment that only partially worked, because if the Angelina is thick enough, the stars don't show up, and if it's thin, they aren't held in very well. I added beads in part to help hold the Angelina on.

The earth came from another photo from the NASA pictures, and printed on photo transfer paper. It was when I put that in that the title became obvious.

I quilted the piece lightly with metallic thread. It is mounted on foam core, and I still need to sew down the edges and will probably stitch around the rocket, at least, to hold it down more smoothly. Comments welcome as always!