145 – Stitched, Ironed and Ready To Return
A lot of free-motion stitching has been done using my mid-arm Handi-Quilter Sweet 16 machine. I’ve put in the details, like smoke…
Currently Browsing: fabric collage
Creative Chrysalis
142 – Toxic Spill
Progress is being made on big Fear Quilt, despite interruptions mentioned previously. Anyone who has tried to keep a blog going consistently…
Creative Chrysalis
140 – Laying The Groundwork
The sky has been composed above the “Not Yet Dead” attraction. Now to lay the groundwork. Again, I must keep in mind…
Creative Chrysalis
137 – Just Cut It Out
Precious creations are dangerous. Becoming attached to what you’ve made, either because of the look of it or because of knowing what…
Creative Chrysalis
136 – Tangent Awareness Day
Every budding artist should observe Tangent Awareness Day! The ability to spot this space killing compositional flaw will improve one’s art immensely…
Creative Chrysalis
134 – Spool Party: stitched fabric collage
How about diving into a little bit about thread? Do I have loyalty to any brand of thread? No, but I do…
Creative Chrysalis
133- Sewing Begins!
Thanks for your patience in awaiting an update on how the big Fear quilt is going. I switched gears from collaging fabric…
Creative Chrysalis
132 – Fun House Mirrors
I posted quite a mess of a picture a few days ago, and I wondered if anyone could guess what it was…
Creative Chrysalis
131 – Can You Guess What This Mess Is?
Have you guessed what the mess in the photo is? Doesn’t look that great now, but keep watching. I am teasing you…
Creative Chrysalis
130 – The Devil is in the Details
I’ve made graffiti artists in my fabric collage art quilt who were going to be spray painting on a mural, but now…
Creative Chrysalis
129 – Struggles With The Man
I’ve been hard at work, and near the give-it-up point. But I achieved what I wanted despite the struggle. I won’t needlessly…
Creative Chrysalis
128 – A Dog Comes To Life!
A dog came to life! It will be snapping at a child’s cotton candy, so it had to be menacing. I cut…
Creative Chrysalis
127 – Suggest Motion
A gesture, a head turned in a certain direction, or the suggestion of movement can “activate” a scene. When adding a person,…
Creative Chrysalis
125 – Two Bad Boys
Two bad boys are about to come to life. This should be fun! First, a hunt through Google images to find two...
Creative Chrysalis
124 – She’s A Character!
I do love when my fabric characters come to life! This sassy lady is someone I could easily envision on the Seaside…
Creative Chrysalis
123- Not Dead Yet
Amusement parks have some fantastic signage, especially lit up at night! My scene is viewed during daylight, so no glowing neon here,…
Creative Chrysalis
122 – Here’s What I’ve Got
You’ve seen many posts with unconnected sections, so thought you might enjoy seeing what I’ve got so far for the amusement style…
Creative Chrysalis
120 – Passive Observer
The amusement park dark ride that I’ve been working on has a large open front where people can get into the vehicles…
Creative Chrysalis
119 – Tiny Pieces
A wheelchair is a complicated form. There won’t be an easy way to represent one in fabric. I’ll make my best go…
Creative Chrysalis
114 – Taking Shape
The “dark ride” building is a large structure and I need to take care that the architecture doesn’t overwhelm the purpose of…
Creative Chrysalis
112 – Tickets, Please
I’m liking this group of people! I know my fabric collage people are working well when I think of them as characters…
Creative Chrysalis
109 – Ta-Dah!
Bet you’ve been curious as to how the separate elements of my amusement park scene will look together. Pinning the pieces to…
Creative Chrysalis
108 – From The Mouth Of A Snake
A smaller snake slide is a fine idea, but now to make it real. Usually, I don’t number my templates, but it…
Creative Chrysalis
106 – Steps of Instruction
My imagery of a funhouse with a rolling barrel entrance perfectly represents the inviting rabbit hole of the internet, but this amusement…
Creative Chrysalis
105 – Nailing the Roof
Does the house top seem familiar? I modeled it after “American Gothic,” an iconic painting by Grant Wood that has often been…
Creative Chrysalis
104 – Eyes Above
Above the swirling vortex/black hole/rolling barrel entrance to the funhouse of my quilt, I would like to have some eyes. This part…
Creative Chrysalis
103 – Vortex People
Excited to make my first people for this quilt. Upon starting this project, I challenged myself to improve both drawing skills and…
Creative Chrysalis
100 – How Good is Your Color Memory?
My color memory is such that I can go to a fabric store and quite accurately remember the colors and patterns that…
Creative Chrysalis
99 – Putting Reference Images into Place
Now I put my collection of reference images to work. Using the magic of Photoshop Elements, I make a quick photo collage…
Creative Chrysalis
95 – Let Me Get This Straight…
This design wall is made of two 4’ x 8’ Styrofoam panels covered with flannel. I won’t be able to work on…
Skirmish on Insecurity Hill
17 – Simple (?) Solution
Making it up as I go, I’ve decided to layer the air-brushing and batting onto the right side of the backing fabric….
butterfly
14 – Butterfly has landed!
It took longer to finish up this quilt than I expected, though it wasn't the quilt's fault. Life just got in the...
butterfly
13 – So much greenery
The assembled quilt has been loaded onto my A-1 longarm sewing machine. Not only will the stitching hold down the fabric collage…
butterfly
12 – Where will the butterfly land?
Before quilting, I need to play with the position of flowers (I’ve painted a smaller second one) and butterfly on the painted…
butterfly
11 – Soft as a butterfly’s wings
Added some paint to soften the edges between black border and fused color spots. I’m liking it! #butterfly #wings #fabriccollage #saqawip #fabricpainting…
butterfly
10 – Building a butterfly
Building a butterfly with fabric -the photo shows back and front. The black fabric has fusible on it, which made it easier…
butterfly
9 – The black of a butterfly
Flower painting has been put aside – now for something completely different, creating the butterfly. Hard to go to straight black after…
India quilt
36 – Done and Photographed!
Ah, I just showed my quilt getting loaded onto my long arm yesterday, and-TaDah! it’s done and photographed! Not a super fast…
India quilt
34 – All fused and ready for the next step
Composition is off the design wall! Ironing with a press cloth to make sure everything is fused completely. Next step: quilting. #indiaquilt…
India quilt
33 – Washing away the stabilizer
Going going gone – biggest section of stitching and wash away stabilizer in the bathtub. I put an envelope of netting to…
India quilt
31 – Marking outlines with pins
When I remove a section of my quilt composition to do some stitch work, I carefully mark with pins the space it…
India quilt
30 – Sewing in details before quilting
Sewing a section of #indiaquilt. This isn’t the quilting stage yet. Here I am securing bits of fabric(they have already been fused)…
India quilt
29 – The deadline is looming
I’m in the final stretch of making my complicated #indiaquilt for #neqmexplorations ,- it has to be finished and photographed by Aug….
India quilt
28 – Building in sections
After stitching a section and washing stabilizer away, I add it back to the rest of the quilt. #indiaquilt #fabriccollage #saqawip #neqmexplorations…
India quilt
27 – Quilt sections built from tiny pieces
A horizontal section of #indiaquilt removed to do some stitching. If you’ve been following from the beginning, you’ll remember that I didn’t…
India quilt
25 – Organizing fabric scraps
Small fabric scraps can get out of hand quickly when doing a complicated #fabriccollage like my #indiaquilt. I use a hanging organizer…
India quilt
24 – Not the typical way of fusing
I pin up bits of fabric that I cut with a freezer paper template or by freehand guesstimating the shape, but none…
India quilt
23 – The perils of liking your work
When work becomes “precious” because you like it, it’s difficult not to get caught up in playing it safe, but that sucks…
India quilt
20 – Fabric auditions
Fabric auditions. Worst part about this is putting away all the ones that don’t make it! #indiaquilt #saqawip #neqmexplorations #fabriccollage #susanpolansky
India quilt
19 – The biggest character gets dressed
Time to work on one of the bigger people, but I’m still using tweezers. #indiaquilt #saqawip #neqmexplorations #jaipur #fabriccollage #susanpolansky
India quilt
18 – Woman in the green sari gets company
I showed the green sari woman getting created, but here she is in position with some company. #indiaquilt #saqawip #jaipur #neqmexplorations #susanpolansky
India quilt
17 – A Sari made without sewing
Working on the little people; saris are fun because you can sneak in an unexpected burst of color. #indiaquilt #saqawip #neqmexplorations #jaipur…
India quilt
14 – Making some good guesses
Some fabrics might be replaced a few times, just as a painter would revise their colors, until the right balance is created….
India quilt
13 – An overwhelming moment
Beginning to put together a complicated quilt, when I am facing the actuality of the how many steps it will take for…
India quilt
1 – 6 months and counting
I’ve begun my next quilt, and as a departure from my usual method, I am making it specifically for an exhibit at…