We have just restocked our inventory of Hoffman Dot Batiks – one of my favorite collections that I use quite often in my artworks. Check out all the beautiful colors and pre-cuts in stock now!
This week I thought I would share something different – a small quilt I made in one day as an experiment! This quilt will be sent to SAQA for their fundraiser auction later this year. It started out as a test piece for a larger artwork that is under the needle now. Sometimes it helps to try out a new idea in a smaller sample piece, before making the commitment in a larger final piece.
This started out as a drawing of a face, which I transferred to a 12″ x 12 piece of Evolon. (a nonwoven which I often use as a painted background in my art quilts) Then, with the detailed drawing under the Evolon, and a piece of clear plastic over my lightbox, I proceeded to ‘paint’ the face with Inktense blocks and gel medium.
My stash is mostly made up of batiks and hand-dyes that I have found in our eQuilter scrap hampers at the end of each week. In other words, after all of you place your orders and we get to the last small piece at the end of the bolt, that is what goes into our scrap packs. Many of you are fans of these scrap packs! And of course, we always have a *fabulous* curated selection of batik and hand-dye pre-cuts.
I have accumulated quite a collection of batik and hand-dye scraps with a paper-backed fusible attached, sorted into piles and bins of colors. After I choose the color story for a project, I pull out those bins, start to cut out shapes, and then fuse them to the background. So in this image you can see that I fused the green batik background, then the hair.
Finally I used various colors of Aurifil 50 wt cotton thread, to freemotion stitch on my Bernina Q20 which is a sit-down midarm with a 20″ throat. (I love that machine!) Because this piece is small, I gave it a matching green zigzag edge. It can be hung as is, or matted and framed.
Hopefully this will raise a lot of money in the auction later this year.
“Hope” – 12″ x 12″
Emily Dickenson’s poem “Hope is the thing with feathers” was the
inspiration for this piece. She compares hope to a bird that sings
continuously, perched in the soul, not asking for anything in
return. Her words describe the resilience of Hope, staying with us
in even the most challenging chaotic times. This image is a
reminder to always look up for Hope, to see the possibilities that
lie in the future. During the darkest of times, Hope is our
companion even when it is logical to remove our Rose-color
glasses. Hope comes with Faith, whether it is faith in our own
abilities, or a higher power.
Have you ever made a quilt for a fundraiser, a raffle, or a comfort quilt drive? It can be very freeing to try something new in a piece that will make someone else happy!
Sharing our passion for fabric,
Luana
Subscribe to my artist website.
www.luanarubin.com
Travel/Exhibit Dates:
July 27 – Aug 6 – Festival of Quilts, Birmingham UK (Kubota’s Dream)
Sept 12 – SAQA “Camouflage” opening – Arizona Sonora Desert Museum – Tucson AZ
Oct 9-12 – Houston Quilt Festival – Soul Stories
Nov 2-6 – Art Quilt Tahoe
Nov 7-10 – Sacred Threads – Indianapolis – Art & Activism lecture
Visit eQuilter’s Instagram, Pinterest or TikTok pages for Color and Design ideas.
See Luana’s Flickr Photo Pages for travel images, comment on our blog, or follow us on Facebook.
Check out our Video pages for interviews and show reviews.
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