Quilted Journaling.....Extension of the Third Layer!!

When you say the word ‘quilting’, people generally think little old grannies sitting around, chatting, and sewing up some out of date bed cover.  That is not necessarily true.  I have belonged to a quilting group for close to eight years now.  I, along with 20 other women get together 3-4 times a year for a weekend, eat, laugh, and sew.  It’s a blast.   There are many women, and men, who create ‘art quilts’ and there have been many books and magazines written on the subject.  Once a year, in the Fall, Houston hosts an International Quilts Festival where you can see some amazing large art quilts hanging on their walls.  It truly is a sight to behold!

I am encouraged and excited to think about what has gone into making a quilt.  The work, the creativity, and the trials.  Go online and Google art quilts.  I trust that you will be amazed.

There are many materials used to create an art quilt.  You can use photo transfers, fabric paints (although I have used acrylics and watercolor paints as well), ribbons, buttons, paper, beads, lace, tree branches, metals, and on and on.  Whatever you want to use, you can use.  The materials you choose will depend on where you will use the quilt once you are done.  Will it be a wall hanging or will it be covering your bed or couch.  You wouldn’t want a piece of metal sticking into you while trying to get some ‘zzzzz’ if you know what I mean.Beginning with the quilted page I completed earlier on and considering my prompt for this week, I decided to start with a sketch of a women peaking out of her door wondering if she should make the next move. 

I just took an 8.5 X 11 piece of paper and drew with a pencil.  Once the image is complete, pin it to a sandwich of a layer of cotton fabric, a layer of batting, and another layer of cotton batting.  You can sew right through all layers using a sewing machine or by hand.  By hand you can simply use a running stitch.  Make sure that you use a thread color that shows up on your cotton.

I would suggest that the stitch length be short as it will help to make the paper come off easily.  Once you have pulled the paper off your sandwich, you can paint the image.  Of course you can use any paint or ink you’d like.  I used makers to color in my image.

The ‘Be Free’ wording was done with a letter stencil on canvas and then sewn around the edges.  I placed the girl image on top of ‘Be Free’ and sewed that.

You can see that the ‘step out’ sign was done using paper as well as the blue bird.  I sewed right on top of the paper.

As for the flower, I sprayed some white cotton with alcohol inks, cut the fabric in a spiral fashion, and then sheered (gathered) the edge of it using a basting stitch.

To attach it to my quilt, I could have sewn it, but instead I used ‘glitter glue’ (my best friend). 

Finally I continued to embellish the quilt with beads, buttons, stamps, and lace.  Again, check around your home and find things that you could add to your art quilt.

Flashback from last week's blog on printmaking

Loved the fish stamp from last week, so I decided to make a print on a dress for my grand baby.  I used a white and a pink t-shirt, printed the stamp on the white with fabric ink and added some pink and white for the neck and skirt.  It looks adorable on her. A unique one-of-a-kind creation!

PROMPT

Stop It Right Now:

Dear Friend,

There may be people in your life that hurt you either physically or mentally.  People who want to control and manipulate you.  They hurt you, belittle you, and treat you like a nobody.  Remove them from your life.  They have no right to do what they are doing.  Believe me when I tell you that you are better than this.  You were meant to soar and they are holding you back.  Release them.  This may seem harsh to you but friend, how can you become who you are suppose to be when you surround yourself with people like this.

Don’t think that it is your job to change them.  They need to change themselves.  They know that what they are doing is wrong and they choose to continue to do it.  It is not your job to change them.

I have experienced this is my own personal life, and I have witnessed the harmful rippling effects in other lives around me.  Remember you do not live in a bubble, everyone around you is affected by the way you feel, the way you think, and the way you act.  This includes your children, your friends, your family, your co-workers, and on and on.

Stop it right now.  Move in a positive direction.  Become who you are suppose to become.  What is holding you back, and how can you overcome this?

Believe it or not, we really do care about you.

Finally, brothers and sisters, rejoice!  Strive for full restoration, encourage one another, be of one mind, live in peace.  And the God of love and peace will be with you.
2 Corinthians 13.11