Something is fishy

Week Four ART QUILTING

We will explore an Art Quilt technique by Susan Carlson from her book “Free-Style Quilts a “No Rules” Approach” We will choose from several fish patterns in the book.
Check out her website at www.susancarlson.com for inspiration before you come to class.

Supplies needed:
several fabric scraps and fat quarters mostly prints, batiks are nice
15" X 12" muslin or plain cotton
18" square of batting
18" square backing fabric
glue stick
small sharp scissors
regurlar scissors
pins
safety pins for basting or needle and thread for basting
sewing machine
variety of thread
light colored towel (I found this helpful to pin to while putting the fish together)

We will also be looking at the small quilts you did (You did finish didn't you?) in Exercises 2,3,4, and 5
As a reminder here is the assignment.


Exercise # 3 1 hour max.

1. Determine the subject you want to use. (You have made a collection of materials for three possible subjects) Choose A, B, or C from last session.
2. Consult your notebook and see what stands out to you the most on the page.
3. Determine the format (portrait or landscape)
4. What are the main elements of your design going to be?
5. Choose a fabric for the background (8 X 10) The choice of colors is up to you.
6. Fuse some “Wonder Under” to other fabrics and cut shapes that express the design you are creating. Do not fuse down until you have moved them around and are satisfied with the composition. Fuse.
7. Do some free motion stitching to outline the shapes and some quilting for added definition and texture. You can embellish as you wish.

Exercise # 4 Do Exercise # 3 with one of the other two themes but this time limit your color palette to only three colors, and simplify the design.

Distilling to the Essence
Too often we think in the most literal sense, and then get frustrated when our efforts do not “look like” what we had in mind. There are many ways to express an idea besides realism. We will be trying to move away from the real to something more abstract or suggestive of the subject matter.

Exercise # 5 Choose your last group of materials. Follow the guidelines of the previous exercises, but this time only suggest the subject matter. Look at the words you used and the materials you collected and create a feeling rather than a “look like”.

Work small so it doesn’t take much time and don’t stress over it. This is learning through FUN and PLAY.

Please have these ready for evaluation in class next week.

I'm offf now to tend kids for Sara, See you Wednesday