FAILURE

I'm still playing part-time nurse during 'the husband's' surgery recovery period, obviously there's not much creating going on here.  

For lack of current project news, I decided to share my recent disappointing failure.  The picture doesn't show the eyesores of the creases, wrinkles and bubbled fabric and paper map....what a mess.

It's extremely rare for me to give up on a project.  I don't know if this is a good or bad thing, but I can honestly say there have been less than a half-dozen projects I've given up on and trashed.  I usually do not surrender and somehow find a way to make it work....but this is beyond repair.

Our son is an avid bicycle rider, pedalling for pleasure and often from home to work. (Makes a mother crazy thinking about all that traffic, distracted drivers, and those narrow streets.)  The idea of this piece was to feature an enlarged silhouette of a bike on a map of the San Francisco/Bay area where he lives.

I didn't just jump into it.....a lot of testing went on before I stabilized the paper map and applied the fabric bike.....clearly NOT enough testing!!  Small sample tests don't always translate to larger scale projects.  

It's human nature to show our successes and avoid mentioning ones that don't work.  But, the instructor in me still likes to share process dilemmas.  We can all learn from each other. Unfortunately, this one has no solution.  I have a couple of ideas how to begin again, one being a Spoonflower fabric map.....but I may be 'over it'.  One-of-a-kind fiber art takes work.....and I love waking up each day to more challenges.

LUNARIA ANNUA - COMPLETED

Awhile back I blogged about an unusually challenging piece I was working on. It was one-half of a very flimsy linen/lace table cloth that I had ice-dyed.  

While the design itself came easily, implementing the hand stitching was time consuming, yet very enjoyable.  Since three of the four edges were already finished, common edge treatment such as a binding or facing wouldn't work.  Mounting on a rust colored silk noil canvas covered frame seemed like the perfect solution....unfortunately it just wasn't the right 'feel'.  You know what I mean, right??

After more thought, it was sandwiched with batting and a backing and machine quilted around the motifs.  Considerable time was spent turning a small seam allowance of the backing to meet the finished edges and hand stitching in place.  The top edge was a little trickier since two tabs were also incorporated. It now 'feels' right!!  I hope you think so too.

LUNARIA ANNUA  21" x 27.5" (as hung) 

Available here (larger photo)

Vintage linen, ice-dyed by the artist, hand embroidered and machine stitched.

Detail

Check out these blogs to see what other artists have created this week:  Nina-Marie's Off The Wall Friday, Sarah's Whoop Whoop Friday, Crazy Mom Quilts.

SaveSaveSaveSave