I painted this silk fabric a a month or so ago . I liked it, but how to turn this fabric into an art quilt? As usual, I needed to run things around in my head for a while. What techniques to use? To applique or not applique? What style quilting to use? Lots of choices available, which ones to use.
I have found that using applique, a lot of thread painting, or dense quilting, tends to obscure the fabric design. Which in this case, I wanted to highlight.
I finally worked out the plan of action. Keep the focus on the painting itself, no fussiness to detract or obscure. I have found that the more I add to the fabric; applique, thread painting, dense quilting, the less the background is noticeable. It covers the design on the fabric. Since I’m dye/paint my own fabric, I often have this debate with myself going on.
What I liked about this fabric was it’s impressionist style, the way it resembled a watercolor.
.New piece of silk painted and ready for next step
I kept thread painting to a minimum, a little to add grass that faded off into the background, creating the “meadow”. With the quilting, although needed , keep wanted to keep it unobtrusive.
I finished it and posted on Etsy.
A nice thing happened. A rep for Pebeo Company, Setacolor contacted me. They need an art quilt which utilizes Setapaints for display at the Quiltcon show. They will have a booth and want a quilt to illustrate how Setapaints can be used in Art Quilting. This is the quilt that they want.
We’re still working out the details, but it is a done deal.. I am so excited that they asked me and it is such a good product that I genuinely love. The consistency is perfect for what I do, it is a permanent dye like paint, it can be diluted or thickened to suit the need. The selection of colors are great.
I generally paint my silk with a diluted form. I use Setapaint to create my silk “paintings”. For this quilt, I used watered down Setapaint, in a wet on wet technique, to create the impressionistic style.
I love how versatile they are..No they didn’t solicit any comments on my part, I am speaking from genuine appreciation for the product. So I’m jived!
SOLD
Barbara Harms Fiber Art & More 