"Secrets" finished

 The techniques used in making this piece were detailed in my last post.  But it is now finished, and I have entered it in the All Members' Show at Gwen Fox Gallery starting next Tuesday.  I am pleased with this piece, even knowing its flaws.

This is the first finished of the 30 pieces I started last month.  Two more are in progress, but will take awhile because of the very detailed FMQ'g.

The second layer

This week I've taken three of the pieces started last week, and planned out what additions I'll make in future.

This piece I decided that the changes will be made after it's machine quilted.  Then I will give it a layer of very diluted clear Gesso.  When that is dry, I will add a layer of Asemic writing.  It is quite small about 18" by 12",and will be finished as a very small hanging.

 To the second piece(below) I added a row of rubber stamping and then four lines, painted on by hand.  I used ultramarine blue acrylic paint with the addition of textile medium.  (I had to take this and the following pictures quickly this morning and didn't have time for squaring up, as I imagine is obvious. Sorry about that.) This piece was a previously LWI dyed cotton, to which I had attempted to improve, at some time in the past, by adding a leaf print  in one corner.  So firstly, I added another leaf print, from the same bush, in the opposite corner.  I had a Devil of a time mixing the same, or close, colour of paint for that. My next problem was in selecting a thread for machine quilting, and finally ended up going to my silk bin for Superior Kimono Silk, in a light gold colour.  This is the largest of the pieces, and I fully expect that it will be trimmed down, so hesitate to give a size, but figure that it started at about 26" by 40".

Then I wanted to try two new Thermofax screens, so found a plain piece of white cotton for the first one, a jumble of alphabet letters. Disaster!  The paint was too thin and crept under the screen, producing blobs.  I had created a mask of freezer paper for the hashtag, and that worked well, but the concept, of intergenerational miscommunication just didn't work out as I had hoped.  I have no idea what might become of this.  I will never display it, but it may work, cut up, for collaging.

The last piece is a pre-dyed piece, on which I used the other Thermofax screen, just works for me. I was immediately pleased, and plan to simply machine quilt it, and finish it as a hanging.

So next is the actual machine quilting, which will be free motion for the three pieces.  And then, I'll choose three more.  What fun!