Tag: turtles

Posted in painting, quilting

Update on Turtle Fiber Object

Posted on by Laura Kate

The past five days have found me in a creative slump. Having got my turtle idea started, I am mulling ideas and fiddling with techniques for the next steps. As a reminder, here is my inspiration photograph.

There are two tricky parts for me: 1. How to portray the reflections, and what other elements should be included.

I did get the subject-turtle painted onto to white fabric, in two pieces.

I also added more wash to the background. My goal was to achieve some depth of color and depict some of the swirls and waves in the pond. That didn’t happen but I did achieve some nice shadows. Next I fused the turtle in place with Wonder-Under.

After practicing on scraps, I decided that I have enough skill to machine quilt the reflections. The advantage of this technique is that the thread can be very light colored, even shiny, against the dark background.

For additional elements, I may go with pond grasses….

… and damselflies. Maybe a willow branch or two. But I have yet to work out the specific images and techniques.

This morning when I entered the studio, I felt momentary pleasure at seeing my recent work. Maybe it’s a sign that today I will get my mojo back.

Posted in painting

Spring Creations – Watery Images

Posted on by Laura Kate

Lately I have been so inspired by the fresh green-ness of springtime. I am eager to make fiber objects that memorialize what I see. While viewing some of Bill’s photographs from our recent camping trip at Lake Montgomery, I was amazed by his images of red-eared slider turtles. They were paddling around in a quiet inlet. The colors of the surrounding trees were reflected in the water and bent by its ripples. That water surface reminds me so much of silk moire. I would love to re-create the image in fabric.

To get started, I reach for my old stand-by medium: Jacquard Dye-Na-Flo.

I’ve mixed up a leafy color by blending yellow, green and a bit of orange. Black will be dabbed on in small quantities.

I think that I can manipulate the paint into ripples by sewing the fabric into pleats – much like a Shibori technique. Studying the photograph, I organize the pleats by direction and number to match what I see.

The fabric is wet thoroughly. I don’t want any of the fabric inside the folds to remain white. Then I sponge the green paint onto the top and bottom sides of the fabric. A little extra paint, including dabs of black, is applied to the edge of the folds. Here is my piece after the painting is finished.

The fabric will need to remain tied up until it is thoroughly dry. This technique works because the parts of the fabric that dry fastest hold the most color. The slowest drying sections will be the lightest in color.

And here is the finished, pressed cloth:

It may be difficult to tell from the photograph, but yes, this fabric is completely flat. I was pleased. There is an uncanny resemblance to the lake water in the photograph.

My next step will be to imitate the ripples by brushing on thicker textile paint. It will be interesting to see if I can do it.

Posted in quilting

Slightly Stuck

Posted on by Laura Kate

It’s been a while since I wrote about the state of “stuckness” For me, this means that the project is not flowing very well. Over the last few days, I have been toying with a technique called “Stitch and Flip”. I learned it from a BluPrint.com class on how to piece improvisationally. The instructor is Jacquie Gering.

https://shop.mybluprint.com/quilting/classes/improvisational-piecing-modern-design/35410

Basically, you sew a piece of contrasting fabric across the corner of a square, then flip the piece over to cover the corner. You can cover one, two, three or all four corners of the square. I was struck by how much the finished squares resembled little fish. This drove my desire to give it a try. Here is a sketch of what I envision:

And here are the fabrics I have chosen. The batik is the front half of the fish sewn over corners of two squares. On two more squares I am sewing triangles to represent the belly and tail of the fish.

Then the whole block is assembled. A four by one inch rectangle finishes the block.

I had hoped to easily make a several “schools” of these little fishes, with five or six in each block, ultimately creating an underwater scene on a lap quilt. Cute, Fun – right? But somehow I kept screwing up the assembling. Much ripping, muttering and re-sewing ensued. My completed blocks are not lining up right! I can’t seem to square them properly! In addition, I don’t have enough background fabric to proceed! And of course, the fabric I need is in Hobby Lobby, which is closed indefinitely!!!

So this project is in limbo. I did sketch a few sea turtles, which might get included in this project, if I can figure out how to get them there.

So sadly, I will set the fish aside while I ruminate on the process. It won’t be the first or last time that I got stuck in the middle. Meanwhile my paint order from Dharma Trading has arrived. So I will play with paint until the lightbulb goes off in my brain.