Shimmering

springtime flowers reflected in clear water

creating the fabrics

All of the fabric in this Art Quilt is discharged, dyed and/or painted by me.
I used a technique known as “arashi shibori” – wrapping fabric on a 4” diameter piece of PVC pipe, winding that with cotton crochet string, and scrunching it tightly. Some dark solid colors were discharged with bleach, some with thiox. I added vat dye to the thiox paste on some- to add and subtract color at the same time. Other fabrics were bleached and rinsed, then I used liquid acrylic paint to add color. And although I am fascinated by the wrinkled texture, I ironed out all the scrunching.

designing and sewing

Most of the dyed fabric pieces were 10”-12” wide, and I knew I wanted to use them in large rectangles. I began by arranging them in large sections on my design wall. Then I sliced skinny strips and inserted them into contrasting fabric sections. I wanted repetition and rhythm, but not regularity.

adjusting and finishing

The original set of fabrics were mostly dark and muted colors. I wanted more pastels, more pink and lavender- so I created more fabrics and added them to the mix.

I arranged and re-arranged the pieces and sections until I had something that pleased me.

And then I changed my mind completely- the lines needed to flow horizontally instead of vertically. Much un-sewing and rearranging! But this felt much better to me.

quilting

I used several colors of thread to free-motion quilt more rippling lines across the surface of the quilt.

I gave this quilt to my mother and step-dad for Christmas, because it looks just perfect in their living room!

Posted by Adriene Buffington