Too Precious to Cut....

Too Precious to Cut....

Last summer I had a fabulous time in my garage, making one after another new batiks.  I am not currently working as a fabric designer, mainly because I spend so much of my time making art quilts, instead of working on fabric collections.  However,  like I said, last summer I was on a roll.  The new ideas popping into my head were fast and furious, and hard to keep up the frantic pace of the joy of expression!

So, what's wrong with that?  Nothing, except that my ideas were a few steps beyond simple.  And each piece took quite a few steps (translate:  LOTS of time) to make.  Then after the rather small piece (fat quarter sized) was finally finished, I didn't want to cut into it.  I got stuck in that place where the fabric was just TOO precious, and I knew if I actually used it, it HAD to be in the best possible light.  Now, there's an expectation that is simple impossible to fulfill.  And, it left me unable to decide HOW to use it.  And as a fabric affectionado, I know that I am not the only person to go through this dilemma.

The crazy part was that even if I cut something wrong, or some project didn't turn out, I could still make more!  And, the making of the fabric is the fun part, even though it is tremendously time consuming, I LOVE it.  I thought of uploading the new designs to Spoonflower (which I have seen some pretty cool stuff!!).  So I did.  My work did not translate well to the printed products.  Sad.  :(

And so they positioned themselves in multiple layouts on my design wall, for many months.  Looking pretty just by being there.  Then a project came due and I pinned it on the board (on top of my fabrics).  A match made in heaven.!  You can see the finished quilt here.  But, even better, I have a lot of the fabric samples left to play with, and I will, soon I hope!  I am still busy trying to finish up another consuming project for SAQA's exhibit, Earth Stories.

More fabrics....

This last one exists only on my computer.  I put a photo of this fabric, and then changed the colors to the blues and greens.

I just love it in the new colors.  And so....I have stamped out the grey circles.  The piece is pinned to a frame and is waiting for to be bleached.  Then paint in the lime circles with dye.  Then cover that with wax, and then dye the rest with aqua.  Then boil out the wax.  It is fun to take a break some times from current projects to just play.