Wednesday, 6 January 2010

Recycling Failed Quilts

Like Margaret, I have yet to find the perfect cross- body bag and like her have been forced to improvise! In this case I wanted a simple protective bag for my sketchbook and paints that would slip into my rucksack when not in use. It got its first outing in Tunisia and proved its worth as well as being admired.
What I used was the last of the offcuts from when this disaster of a quilt top (above) got turned into this quilt (below) after a lot of stitching and painting.
This quilt, with nothing to lose , was my first venture into painting with acrylics on densely quilted surface. I cut off the bottom both to get a better composition but also as I'd overdone the paint. That thick paint layer has proved to be an advantage in recycling into other objects due to its water repellency! I'd already made myself a camera case , a spectacles case and a memory stick holder for Ian before using up the rest in this 'portable studio'. Time will tell whether the zig zag stitching holding it together is sufficient. All that's left now of a reject quilt is a 3cm wide strip - not bad eh!!

3 comments:

Clare Wassermann said...

wow it's true that unintentional happenstances are the best!!

Dee / Cloth Company said...

before and after quite amazing -- love the finished piece.

Linda Cline said...

Wow! You've completely transformed the old piece into something new and vibrant. I love the colors and texture in your new piece.