Thursday 1 November 2018

Tucked Away

I must confess that my heart sank when I read that Improv was this quarter's theme for the Group, I have struggled with Improv blocks in the past so knew that it wasn't going to be a straightforward process to create a piece for the theme.

This piece, which I have called Tucked Away, is my response to the theme.

I chose to take a technique, Chenille quilting, and use random stitching to reflect the Improv theme. I have detailed the differences between the blocks in my post here as I wanted to mention other aspects of the hanging in this post for the Endeavourers.

Whenever I need to come up with a project to fit a theme I always turn to photographs for my inspiration and this challenge was no exception. The photograph above was taken on our visit to the Benmore Botanic Garden a few months ago when I was on the lookout for interesting textures for an upcoming competition in the Camera club. The fungi are fabulous but the fairy door beneath was the icing on the cake :)

I toyed with all sorts of ideas - trapunto and matchstick quilting to name but two to emulate the tree bark for my blocks, but wasn't really convinced until I reread Layered Cloth: the art of fabric manipulation by Ann Small and realised that Chenille was the technique that I needed.


Using different widths of random stitching and different directions for the stitching I was able to produce a credible tree background.

I wanted to use Suffolk Puffs (yo-yo's) for the Fungi but realised that the traditional round shape wouldn't work for the frilly half-moon shapes that I needed, so I cast around in my sewing room for inspiration.


The oval lid from a long ago eaten box of truffles proved the ideal template!

Stitched with a running stitch around and padded with toy stuffing when the running stitch was gathered up they made ideal fungi for my tree house tree.

As you can see :)

Two pieces of pink wool fabric stitched together with a small piece of thick wadding in between and a button for the door knob made the perfect Fairy Door.



To complete the embellishment I added lengths of machine wrapped cord for tree tendrils and a few beads nestled in amongst the frayed edges.

As you can probably tell I had great fun with this project and I am loving the amazing directions that this group is pushing me into :)

Looking forward to seeing how everyone else has met this challenge.

12 comments:

  1. I'm loving the amazing directions this group is pushing you into, too! This is the cleverest re-creation of that fairy tree house. Perfect in every way. Your bark making is especially inspired :)

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    1. Thanks Janine, it is always a surprise to me when what I can produce is in any way similar to what I have imagined :)

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  2. You got amazing results with the chenille technique. There is so much creativity in this piece and it is a totally unexpected Improv piece. You say you were pushed, but I think it came naturally. It is so unique.
    xx, Carol

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    1. Thanks Carol, I really enjoyed working on this piece although I did have some concern throughout that the finished piece wasn't really appropriate for the theme. You were not the only one to find it unexpected :)

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  3. Wow! Your piece is amazing Fiona!!! The texture is incredible it perfectly recreates the texture of tree bark. And the little pink door so cute. Really catches the eye. Really beautiful.

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    1. Thank you Martha the Endeavourers themes are really challenging but also really fun!

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  4. I always love to see what you've come up with - you're so adventurous! This is wonderful. I love all that texture and am off to read more.

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    1. Thanks Catherine I never thought of myself as adventurous but being part of this group is opening up a whole new world of textile art that I am having a lot of fun embracing :)

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  5. I love the shots of purple and pink on the neutral bark colors -- I would never think to combine those colors. And I especially love the cords capturing the shape of the bark patterns on the lichen piece. A lovely, rich piece to study!

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    1. Thanks Gwen the machine wrapped cord is my new favourite thing to add to projects :)

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  6. I love your piece. I can't get over the texture and bark like effect you've managed to acheive. Great reading your thoughts on the construction as well.

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    1. Thanks Ruth, I was thrilled to bits with the pieces when they came out of the washing machine, they were exactly what I had hoped for! The first time that I read Ann Small's book I wasn't overly keen and couldn't envisage using any of the techniques outlined but it was exactly what I was looking for when I started to work on this piece. I shall not be so quick to dismiss ideas in future :)

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