Mandalas

After the frustrations of putting together my piece, " The Old Summer Kitchen", I wanted a bit of a break before starting the FMQ'g and thread painting on it.  I also thought it might be an idea to do some warm up of my FMQ'g, as it's been awhile.  So I did the basic preparation for a couple of mandalas I'm interested in.  Getting these quilted, will give me some take-along hand work for when I volunteering at a local gallery.  The gallery is often quiet for periods of time, --an excellent spot for some quiet hand work--and the gallery encourages its volunteers to be doing something creative while they're on site.

The two pieces were created by placing wet fabric over a bas-relief ceiling rosette, and then pushing the fabric into the crevices with a paint -covered ( Pebeo Seta-Color-well diluted) brush. Then allowing it to dry, in place. This is a technique I've played with a few times, with mixed success, but it went fairly well this time.  The secret, I think, is to find the perfect depth of relief.  Here is the plaster rosette I used.  It is just about an inch thick in the middle and about 3/8-7/16th at the edge. The rosette is 12" in diameter. I bought is at a garage sale for $1.00.

The first piece I did was in red, yellow and blue.  Depending on how well the paint is diluted there is always some blending between the colours, and I think this is desirable.  I quilted loosely along the lines of the image, with Superior Kimono Silk, trying to match the colour of the thread to the colour of the paint. I plan to bead this with clear crystal No.8 beads.

Figuring out how to quilt the last border area was challenging, as none of the features of the bas-relief were imprinted.  My first thought were something geometric, but then I decided to continue the "soft" feel of the piece with curves, and used a modified McTavishing technique.

The second piece was done in blue and yellow, which, of course, blended into shades of green.  Again, I tried to match the colour of the thread (polyester, this time. I have no idea where it came from). Some of the quilting is done with silver metallic.  The imprint of the bas-relief is much clearer this time, and, I think this shows in how detailed the quilted ended up being.  But the final border was still not clear, and I was happy to use the modified McTavishing again.  This will be beaded with either the same clear crystal as the first one, or, maybe, smaller silver beads.

I'm considering the titles "Tiara", and "Tiara Too".  I plan to exhibit both of them later this year.
I plan to link this with Nina Marie Sayre's "Off the Wall Friday", and The Needle and Thread Network".