Not Quite Square

The inspiration for this small (17" square) came from an article in Quilting Arts mag a couple of years ago. Finally doing it was so rewarding! Makes me want to start another. 

Promises, promises

In May I posted a photo of a watercolor collage that I had done, and said I planned to use it as inspiration for a small art quilt. Well, I did it. This small wall quilt is 19"x32". For the background, I cut up a silk charmeuse scarf that I hand dyed. The koi and the greenery are hand-dyed cottons. Some parts are fused on, and all the stitching was done by machine. I'm quite happy with it, and have named it "Koi Dance".

Take a deep breath...

Finally, the semester is over. I enrolled in too many classes, in that I only had one day a week that was totally free. Not enough for this retired soul. The classes were all wonderful--Modern Dance, Feldenkrais Awareness Through Movement, Textile History, Fabric Printing and Dyeing, and Beyond Traditional Watercolor. Speaking of which, I am posting herewith one of the projects from that class. Take an old painting that is unsatisfactory in one way or another, cut it up, and combine it with another old painting or a new background... So I cut up my koi painting. I liked the fish, so I cut them out first, then chopped the poured and swirled background into strips and wove them togther. Pasted it all onto another practice piece, and voila! Something I like!

In fact, I'm thinking of using this design as the basis for a small art quilt, and I can hardly wait to get started. So I'm taking a deep breath, and getting to work on the things I've been neglecting while dancing and dyeing.... More to come, I promise.