After stitching Tidal Wave VIII, I still had quite a stash of random things leftover. It looked like there was more than enough for another Tidal Wave. The only way to know "for sure" was to prepare another surface and stitch layered buttons in a tidal wave outline.
Sure enough, the wave was covered and the stitching began. For this piece, I used a totally different substrata. It was just a hexie quilt top ... never actually "quilted". I layered it on top of another old quilt. That quilt was "vintage" only if you think the 1980s qualifies as "vintage". It was also tattered and rather ugly. I would never have used it alone for a Found Object Mandala or a Tidal Wave. Using it under the pretty quilt top, however, gave it a "second life" while preventing me from using brand new batting and backing. Win-win!
Because I position a piece of sheer netting over the surface before stitching down any of the objects, it becomes important to "quilt" the areas without objects. (The netting protects any threadbare areas and the fragile old seams.) The quilting integrates the netting with the quilt top. Lots of people are surprised that there is this extra layer because ... once quilted together ... it is barely visible. For this piece, I simply stitched a six pointed star into the center of every hexie. It looks great!
I am now snapping photos after hanging each piece on a screw that Steve installed on the side of our home/church/studio. This wall is north facing and never gets direct sunlight. Yet it is also beside a very wide open yard. There are no structures or trees casting shadows. The indirect light is nice, even, and bright. My only recent problems were ice and snow! Two weekends ago, the sidewalk directly under this piece was covered in three-quarters of an inch of hard, slippery ice. The following weekend, we got almost four full inches of snow! It's still cold outside but the pavement is finally free of ice and snow. The pictures turned out well!
No comments:
Post a Comment