Fiberactions: September 15

Fiberactions time again! On the 15th of very other month, each member posts the results of her challenge to create a 16" x 20" piece inspired by a particular word. This month the word was 'stretch'.

Pictured here is a detail of "Time to Go?" my offering. I chose to stretch myself by creating limitations and, in so doing, challenge myself to stretch my imagination.

The limitations were: one piece of fabric, one color of paint, one embellishment and thread.

I cut a freezer paper stencil, painted with charcoal grey, painted the distant birds from an antique Japanese stencil with greatly darkened grey, machine stitched and embellished with antique, silk covered buttons.

Bloggers' Quilt Festival

Blogging Quilt Festival! What a good idea! Check out the link: http://parkcitygirl.blogspot.com.

This should be a ton of fun...and inspiration.

How do you pick your favorite piece? It's similar to picking your favorite child. You can understand, begrudgingly perhaps, that others may find one or the other "better". Well, it is tough.

Trying to make a choice gave me the opportunity of seeing the last few years' work in a larger perspective. What became clear: most had pieced backgrounds, most featured elements of nature, the palette overall had lightened and brightened and there is a gradual use of embellishments, stitching both by hand and machine to extend the design and use of other media.

Tide Pooling was created last summer. The background, "leftovers" after creating a large bed cover on commission, reminded me of walks on the beach. I cut a stencil, ironed it on, screwed on my courage and painted the plants.

An egret had recently visited our garden koi pond, devastating our fish population. No doubt, that was in the back of my mind when it occurred to me that my piece needed a focus. I decided to create an egret filling the space ala James Audubon. I used a heavy damask tablecloth and water soluble crayons. His legs and the crab are from a single hand dye...using both sides.

The work is roughly 40" square. I'm estimating because I am not on my own computer. I'm on holiday in Victoria, Australia.