Creative Quilting techniques used: Photoshop
manipulation and printing on fabric (p. 164); burning with a soldering iron
(p. 220); foiling (p. 257)
In the last year, I have been concentrating on
a study of the human face. I work exclusively with hand-dyed fabric and
one commercial black using machine appliqué techniques. I finish using
contours of quilting lines that highlight the planes of the face. So when
I began thinking about what I wanted to do for a journal piece, I decided
to focus on a face – but from
a different angle.
I took a digital picture of a face in Photoshop and
placed it on a new background – a bank of shells. I then added
a very light transparent layer of blue glass behind the face to change
the light and add a dimension of mystery. I then printed out the picture
in sheets & stitched them
together.
My goal was to make the little girl look as if she were a water
fairy that had just sprung from the water and would be gone in the
blink of an eye, so I set about to make the piece as ethereal as possible.
I first embroidered greens through her hair. Then I burned her a tiara
from Kunin sparkle felt and added foil around her profile.
I typically
quilt faces but was very surprised at how it changed this piece. It usually
brings forth detail and personality – but in this piece,
the quilting made the face less realistic. However, the overall look was
still whimsical which added to the theme of the piece.
I finished with
some sequins and a net of pearls for her hair, a sparkle of sequin and
bead in her eye, and beads and crystals in her tiara.
International Quilt Festival/Houston: Journal Quilt Exhibition (non-juried),
October/November 2007
Other quilts from the Journal Quilt Exhibition can be seen on the quiltart
website.
