Classes/Quilt Retreats I’ve Attended

Stories about classes I’ve taken and quilt retreats I’ve participated in

Fusion I, Art Piece # 122

Fusion I, AP 122
| Cindy Anderson

In the fall of 2019 I had the pleasure of participating in a class taught by Sue Benner at the Woodland Ridge Retreat. The class focused on two techniques: monoprinting with textile paints and fabric fusion. During the class I was able to create a number of fiber art pieces. One of them is the focus of today’s post. Let’s examine the finished project.

Fusion I, AP 122
Fusion I, Art Piece # 122

Measuring 19 3/4″ x 29 1/4″ the art quilt was assembled from a variety of fabric shapes and sizes. Among the fabrics included are gauze, synthetic fibers, and cotton. Most of the materials were dyed commercially. The blue and teal leaf pattern was monoprinted by myself. Two of the items that were included were harvested from an article of clothing. You can identify them by looking for buttonholes.

A fusible material was applied to the back of each fabric. As the shapes were cut out and rearranged they were temporarily fused to a non-stick surface. Once the desired size and arrangement was achieved the entire piece was removed from the non-stick surface and adhered to the black cotton. A quilt sandwich of cotton batting and a fabric backing was assembled. The pieced center was quilted with a geometric pattern using a variegated thread. To the black cotton I stitched rows of straight line quilting using black thread. The fiber art quilt was finished with facings, a label and a hanging sleeve. Fusion I is currently on display in my home.

thank you!

Before closing let me thank you for showing an interest in my activities. I am grateful for your participation and look forward to your comments.

Best wishes for a wonderful day!

Rectangles and Squares, Art Piece # 167

Rectangles and Squares, AP 167
| Cindy Anderson

A learning experience:

I participated in a 2019 class taught by Sue Benner, a well-known fiber artist. The theme of the class was fabric fusing. Each project contains a backing, batting and of course a fabric layer. The top layer is created from fabric that has a fusible material adhered to the back. From those manipulated fibers shapes are cut. The shapes are overlapped 1/4” and fused onto a surface. Those steps are then repeated until a finished design has been achieved. Once finished the entire composition is peeled off in one piece and permanently fused to the batting.

My Project:

I used a variety of materials in my composition. Among them you will see hand dyed fabrics, hand stamped squares, and cheese cloth with raveling edges. Even the cheese cloth had a layer of fusible attached to it.

Once the layers had cooled it was time to add the quilting and other finishing touches. I quilted mine with a variegated thread. Using my sewing machine I stitched an all-over square-like pattern that emulated the shapes of my fabrics. I completed my composition with a binding, hanging sleeve and a hand stitched label. My finished fiber art piece measures 13 3/8” x 13 3/8”.

assigned identity:

Before creating the label for my project I needed to select a name. I chose to call it Rectangles and Squares because of the shapes that were used in the assembling of my piece.

Rectangles and Squares, AP 167
Rectangles And Squares, Art Piece # 167

a favorite:

I have used this process to create several other items. I am thankful that I had the opportunity to attend Sue’s class and learn her techniques. This process is one my favorite methods to use. Listed below are some of the items that I have made which use the same technique.

thank you!

Before closing let me thank you for showing an interest in my activities. I am grateful for your participation and look forward to your comments.

Best wishes for a wonderful day!

Fusion II, Art Piece # 123

Fusion II, AP 123
| Cindy Anderson

Fusing Fabric:

While participating in a Sue Benner class in September, 2019, I created this fiber art composition. Part of the instruction included learning Sue’s fabric fusing techniques. This small item contains a grouping of fabrics that were fused to a solid black cotton. The black fabric gives the pieced center prominence.

Contents:

To make the fabric collage I used small sections of raw-edged fabrics gathered from multiple sources. One of the fragments was from a polyester shirt and three other bits have fabric paint added to them. All were overlapped at least 1/4” to eliminate gaps.

Embellishments:

To embellish the colorful fabrics I added lines of quilting with a variegated thread. On the black cotton I used like-colored thread to machine stitch stitch straight lines in a pattern echoing around the pieced center.

The outer edges of the black material are protected by a facing. To aide in display a hanging sleeve was added to the back. Also attached to the back is a hand-stitched label. In its finished state, my finished fiber art quilt measures 12” x 15”.

The Finished Piece:

Fusion II, AP 123
Fusion II, Art Piece # 123
Fusion II, AP 123, Back
Fusion II, Art Piece # 123, Back

thank you!

Before closing let me thank you for showing an interest in my activities. I am grateful for your participation and look forward to your comments.

Best wishes for a wonderful day!