fabric collage part 2

The collage is stitched, there were a couple of sections that stand out more than I want but they were eliminated after slicing & dicing. I find, like printed fabric, you really don't know a fabric until you take scissors or a rotary cutter to it.It was easier than I thought to cut it up into 2" squares. Made me realize how small those 1" charms really are.
I like how the squares look on black. Now to figure out what to do with them.

fabric collage

While going through my stack of Quilting Arts magazine for the billionth time I put in post-its of all the techniques I want to try. Tried a few on Friday. I'm really pleased with the painting with pattern stitches by Carole Redlich (issue 19 fall 2005 pg72) I tried. I prefer to call it fabric collage with my fancy pants sewing machine!
I'm working on a piece about 11" square. may cut it into smaller pieces for a journal quilt or it would be perfect for the fabric charms that have everyones attention at the moment.

first finished project of 2007

I finished a small journal quilt today January 1, 2007! I hope its a good sign for the year ahead. more finished than unfinished.
It is the opposite of the other which was for a fabric book round robin

shades of green

what a wonderful colour. a cool technique from this book by Elli Woodsford. no seams because the pieces are just butted against each other on a piece of totally stable, zigzag over edges slice & rotate & repeat.
sort of like 'shampoo, rinse & repeat'!! then stich over the whole think with a fancy stitch I used one I call chicken scratch.

another challenge piece

I made another piece from the 12 swap challenge from the Fabric-olics group. Fancy, shiny sequined fabrics are not something I usually use so it was fun playing with these types of fabric. There was a nice little collection of organzas & chiffons from the packages which were perfect to try a new technique. I bought this book last summer when I was on holiday with Lisa. Lots of techniques to fuel the imagination.
Irregular shapes of sheers & metallics are sewn onto a background - i used felt here but any fabric would do - straight stitch first to tack everything down then cover with fancy stitches. I alternated sewing on the blue then the pink background to minimize thread changes. These are the new fabrics created before cutting into diamonds.
I wanted to create an argyle pattern with the diamonds but they didn't fit within the fancy lines I stitched on the background.

These diamonds can be rearranged endlessly. I know I played for what seemed like hours and finally settled on this pattern which I like better than the original plan.