misty fuse

AQ # 23: On The Fringe

| Cindy Anderson

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.

Art Quilt # 23: On The Fringe
Art Quilt # 23: On The Fringe

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!

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Life After Nine Days Away

| Cindy Anderson

Welcome Back!

Returning to reality, after nine days away,  can be exhausting. There’s all the unpacking and laundry to do as well as catching up on household tasks. Once those chores are taken care of it’s easier to slide back into your normal routine. For me, it doesn’t take very long to get that out of the way. Once I put my mind to it, I keep myself focused on the tasks-at-hand until each one is crossed off. After my list has been accomplished and tossed into the trash I’m free to move onto more enjoyable things.

Let’s Unpack

Re-establishing my presence in my sewing room meant unpacking and stowing away the supplies I took to my little cabin in the woods. It’s also a great opportunity to clean-up and reorganize my things to give them a fresh, new appearance. I especially had a great time unpacking the items I made while on my trip. Each one was carefully removed from the plastic tub and checked for wrinkles. The small art pieces were stacked, one on top of the other, on a shelf. The two quilts, Circuit and Teacup, were draped over a rod for safekeeping until I have the chance to long-arm quilt them.

Time to Sew

After unpacking and tidying up my sewing room I created the backings for Circuit and Teacup. Even though I don’t have time to long-arm quilt them now I like having the backs already to go. Then when it is time to quilt I don’t have to stop to do it. As soon as I finished the backings I could finally move on to other items.

One of the improv art pieces I made during my retreat was this little quilt.

Art Quilt # 22: Crossroads
Art Quilt # 22: Crossroads

If you remember from this posting the inspiration came from this random grouping of fabrics.

Option Two

These small pieces of material, along with the addition of several others, morphed into Crossroads.

A Backing was Added

After pressing the final seam I decided, rather than add borders, I would fuse the mini art piece to black fabric. The borders would have provided a smooth finished edge. This technique would have worked just fine but I really liked the look of the raw edges. I wanted to preserve as much of that appearance as possible.

To accomplish this I used a piece of Misty Fuse, a product I learned about at the Rayna Gillman’s class I attended in May 2016. I prefer to use this product because it allows my piece to maintain a soft feeling. Some of the other products make your piece feel stiff. This is how my Crossroads looked after being fused to it’s new background.

Art Quilt # 22_ Crossroads with Black Backing.jpg

Left to do on this piece:

  1. make a backing
  2. cut the batting
  3. quilting (most likely a simple linear pattern with gray thread, except in the black area)
  4. binding (I will create a facing for this)

Once I’ve added the finishing touches I will share the final outcome.

Moving On

Not much else to share on Crossroads for now. Once I’ve had the chance to make further progress I will bring you up-to-date.

 

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Cindy Anderson