15 Minutes of Play
I recently purchased a book written by Victoria Findlay Wolfe called 15 Minutes of Play. This book teaches how to turn leftover scraps into new fabric. The new fabric is used just like any other fabric.

How Did I Use It?

After working with patterns for days on end 15 Minutes of Play inspired me to shift gears and try my hand at improv once again. 15 minutes turned into hours and hours into days. The first piece of newly crafted fabric was sliced into multiple sections. Each of those segments are being transformed into individual works of art.

The First Section

The first section of new fabric along with an old curtain, denim from the leg of an old pair of jeans and hand-dyed burlap were merged together to make this quilt.

Fringe
If you look closely at the photo above you will notice the edges have been intentionally unraveled. The exposed threads add a rustic appearance. The idea to unravel the edges came from the old pair of jeans. The tattered jeans along with a childhood memory provided the inspiration for the art quilt’s name, Art Quilt # 23: On the Fringe.

Flashback

As a child I remember wanting a new pair of shorts. My family didn’t have a lot of money to purchase clothing so I decided to improvise and create my own pair by cutting off the legs on an old pair of jeans. The raw edge of the jeans, or should I say my new shorts, was left as is. Needless to say the fabric eventually began to fray. The fringe created from the fraying was therapeutic to play with. I also found the act of encouraging additional threads to unravel entertaining. The more threads I removed the longer the fringe became. The longer the fringe got the more I removed additional threads. Thankfully I stopped before they became too short.

More Details

In the center of my piece you will notice a denim section. This addition is currently just resting on top. I won’t stitch it down until after the quilting is finished. Waiting until then means I can sail right across the top without interruption.

Surrounding the art piece is a layer of black fabric. Rather than cutting and adding borders I used Misty Fuse to sandwich the two pieces together. I like using Misty Fuse because it doesn’t add a noticeable stiffness.

Time to Wait

My AQ # 23: On the Fringe is now ready for quilting. As soon as the quilt is finished I will post an update.

Thank you for your visit!