Urban Flower

Urban Flower
12" x 12" x 1 1/2"

This one is an unusual color palette for me, grey and white, but I really like it.  It is oddly soothing, or maybe not so odd?  Well, let's just say that it looks fantastic on my dining room walls which are a lovely shade of aqua!  Scroll down to see that one!
I am really falling for this technique and the way it looks. It is a paper laminate (for another sample click here).  It uses paper (in this case newspaper) and a sheer fabric (silk organza).  It becomes like a piece of fabric and can be stitched.  In this one I have machine quilted around the flowers in black thread about 5 times to get a thicker line.  I also hand stitched the stems in lime green embroidery floss.  It is subtle, which I also really like.   The border is made from that shiny silk with little nubs (someone help me here!).  I stamped it with black circles.  The centers are made from hand-dyed grey fabric that are hand cut and fused in place.  It is wrapped around a canvas frame which finishes up the edges ever so nicely!

I love the way these pretend tulips capture the essense of nature in their form, and are made from real plant material in the form of paper, paper that has been altered by humans in ink and in meaning, and it captures a moment and place in time when the paper was printed.  (sorry for the run-on sentence!)

It seemed too perfect to not surround them with a grid representing an urban life.  This one has been entered into a juried exhibit that will run in the Austin Area Quilt Guild's quilt show.  It is sponsored by Austin Fiber Artists.  Keeping my fingers crossed that it will get in!  :)

I would love to do another piece that is larger.  So far both of the pieces I have tried with this have been small (12" x 12").  However, it will have to wait.  I am busy hand stitching a large piece, and the quilting lines are rather dense....it may take a while to finish up!  Meanwhile, the little projects are a very nice diversion.