New Direction Samples

Remember the new (or rather recycled ) piece I started  to meet submission deadlines when I forgot to read the rules? I cut a section off this old quilt of mine from the 1990's 'Which Way Now?'

I applied gesso (above) and then acrylic paint (below) to some samples. Inspired by Gerhard Richter I even used a squigee to move the paint around. Originally I thought of painting the whole thing white and having a simgle painted red arrow ,'New Direction'. Now I've gessoed the whole thing and am summoning up the courage to just paint and see  how it develops, covering some arrows over, emphasising others.

Not this weekend though - been  getting up to date with washing after delivery of a new machine (the old one ground to a halt 2 weeks ago) and sorting out packing for a few days in Weymouth . The owner has just emailed to say it's very cold but we'd already seen the forecast and packed thermals and hot water bottles. Looking forward to some brisk walks and cosy pub lunches. 

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!!

Colour Catcher Holes

I've often recycled scraps from previous projects into new work - my last TIF challenge JQ of 2008 was one such piece. I think I'll be returning to this subject in another post, sometimes these pieces seem to work better than the originals and I need to think why that is. I like the idea of honouring the traditions of quilting and scrap quilts while experimenting with new materials and techniques.Starting off the New Year recycling Colour Catchers in the BQL Calendar Challenge, I was left with fragments of CC backed with bondaweb where I'd cut out the circles so decided to use the 'holes' up too in this 12 x 12 inch piece

Searching for a suitable background to apply them to , I decided to use this acrylic painting of Gordale Scar that's I'd done on a piece of old tatty Durham quilt- it had been an interesting experiment but not going anywhere.

The circular shapes reminded me of the stones at the base of the rock but the overall effect is looking through leaves or perhaps a waterfall towards the landscape (the original sketches at Gordale had been done sheltering under an overhanging rock)

Interesting possibilities in exploring further the use positive and negative shapes. I'll also be experimenting more with Colour Catchers - my stash has been considerably enhanced with the generous donation of more of these, including some very dark and colourful specimens.