This weekend I got a chance to do more work on the large patterns-in-blue quilt that’s in production.
(This involved completing some other projects and making space. Aaaah!)
I use my easel as a design wall – a place I can tack up work in progress, rearrange, and get the big picture. Generally, I use Styrofoam insulating panels as my backer. They are lightweight and I can easily pin into them. I placed a piece of dark felt over the Styrofoam just so the blue of the panels wouldn’t distract me. And look what I discovered! The felt backing of my individual pieces stays in place without pinning against the felt covering of the panels. Just like Sunday School flannel boards! What a great discovery this was. (Sometimes. It’s the little things.)
As I’m looking at the arranged squares, I’m trying to envision the overall pattern. I decided I wanted to add some semi-opaque white squares across the surface to add a little brightness and to unify the design. I marked the squares to be stenciled, pulled them off the easel (helpful hint: number the squares so you know where they go back) and stenciled on about six squares.
Mixing up some white paint w acrylic medium, so it will be semi-opaque. On the right, the fabric section within the tape box is what I’ll paint.
Rolling the mixed paint onto the fabric with a paint roller. I have masked off the areas to paint with masking tape
Pulling off the tape to reveal the painted squares. (I love this part!)
Here’s the piece with the squares added. I like it more. It’s subtle but worth doing
I have one square with a splash of color. I tried it out in several spots. I think I like the top location better.
Next: Going back to the small view. I’ll be stitching different kinds of lines within each square, and maybe adding a small amount of additional shapes and values on select squares. So, instead of thinking about the whole work, I’ll concentrate on each individual square for a while.
I should have this further along, but still in-progress, for the DeLand-Area-Studio Tour February 22-23. If you are in the Central Florida area, I hope you’ll visit. DeLand has a great downtown, and our tour has 17 stops and 21 artists to visit. What a great day trip!
Map and tour information HERE
Thank you for reading. I always enjoy questions and comments.
--Bobbi
bobbibaughart@gmail.com
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