Paper Quilt - The Queen Flees

Okay, I admit that I wanted to do a woman and the theme had to be floral, so I punted on the flowers and that seemed to work out okay. The Queen is fleeing, who knows why? She just looks great with tulips flying out of her hair. Probably ducking her many admirers. Fame is such a burden. This was a fun project and it allowed me to try for something a little more fun and funky. The handmade mixed media paper is collaged and sewn to a background and then quilted to batting and muslin.

Paper Quilt - Window View

More tulips--I know! Hey, I live in Holland MI, home of the Tulip Festival. This was my first paper quilt (12"x12"). The paper was made with the same process as in the earlier post (Tulipomania), which is detailed in CPS ish #1. Once you have a bunch of these papers in multiple colors you can't stop working with them! They are nice and flexible, so they take sewing just great. Anyway, a vase of tulips on the windowsill and a pretty little bird's nest out the window. I got to use some of my new fab papers from The Paper Source in Chicago. That place is like candyland for paper freaks. The quilt is sewn to batting and muslin.

Paper Quilt - Monoprinted Tulips

I read about monoprints in the current ish of Cloth Paper Scissors and it was addictive to try. Essentially, you go out and get some of that block printing paint (unless you're smart enough to already have some!), and you roll it out on a flat surface using a brayer. I bought a linoleum block and used that. Roll it out fairly thin. Place a piece of good printer paper over the ink and lightly draw a design on the back side with a pencil. Now, carefully lift up your paper and voila! A cool looking monoprint. Hey, I guess you could try a second color and make a what? Duoprint? Honestly, I know nothing about prints/printing, but my interest is growing. I took the monoprints of tulips, ironed them, then fixed with workable fixative and a light coat of gel medium, being careful not to smear. Then I collaged them with papers and inked the open spaces. I went over the whole thing with the sewing machine, over batting and muslin.

Paper Quilt - Tulipomania

The first of my paper quilt submissions for Make It U at the International Quilt Fest in Chicago. I couldn't stop making these crazy things. The paper is mixed media, involving tissue paper, book pages, maps, sheet music, sewing patterns and handmade papers attached to muslin with diluted white glue, then dyed, stamped, painted, written on and etc. These papers were then cut up and turned into a collage, which was sewn to a paper background over batting and muslin, using hand and machine quilting. I've added some paper beads for fun. O joy!

More Bead Crazy

More paper bead fun. I found out that you can roll the bead in angelina fibers while the UTEE is still hot, then recoat it with clear UTEE and heat gently.

My First Acrylic

I woke up yesterday and declared that I felt like painting. I have been inspired by so many of my friends and I have to start somewhere. So, without further ado, I give you my first ever acrylic painting/collage. This is a self-portrait of egg woman. Bill said the nose ring was on the wrong side and I said "duh!" I always see myself in the mirror! I have a lot to learn, but this first attempt was an absolute joy.

Artist Paper Swap

Here's what I created for the Raw Art Paper Swap. I started with pages ripped from a discarded atlas. The were loosely brushed with acrylics then stamped with letters, numbers and shapes in contrasting colors (including things around the kitchen like the potato masher). I glued snippets from a vintage life magazine here and there, then took my colored pencils to it and wrote random things in script. I added some metallic paints for zest. I am uber pleased at how these turned out and they were soooooo simple yet fun!

Another Sampling of Valentines Quilts

Valentine Mini Art Quilts

Here are some of the finished Valentine collages. The are about 5"x7". I made a totoal of 35!

Mini Art Quilt Backgrounds

For the local shaker shop I did a series of mini art quilts on the theme of love. The background is a piece of muslin which is hand-dyed with fabric inks. I keep some powdered dye in spray bottles. I got the fabric wet in the sink, then crumpled it up and sprayed with different colors of ink. I squeezed them dry and then ironed them to set the color. Then I grabbed some artists acrylics and began stamping. The fun part was mixing colors--I'd still have some of one color on my brush and then I'd go to another, creating a subtle change. I used some great handmade fabric scraps with old sewing patterns on them to offset the hearts, then found my favorite scraps to cut out for hearts. These were ironed on the background with fusible web. Then I embroidered and beaded a little bit for interest. The text is hand stamped in permanent ink on a small piece of muslin. The whole thing was then ironed on to a piece of stiff double-sided fusible interfacing and onto a larger piece of plain muslin for a border. Wheee! Here are the backgrounds ready to create with.