Deirdre Scherer, in Quilting Arts Magazine (April/May 2010, p65), said:
“From birth until death, we are wrapped in cloth — it directly stirs our sense of touch — which makes fabric an intimate and deeply associative language.”
She continued:
“My primary medium is thread on fabric. Scissors and sewing machine are my drawing tools.”
I like that!
My orange fish has been featured again in an Etsy Treasury. Everyone who’s seen it loves it — but no-one’s parted with any money for it yet! 😉 It’s totally unique — if I make another fish, it won’t be like this one as I used up the last scraps of some fabrics on it.
Thanks for featuring my fish, RogueMagnolia!
Michelle, our awesome teacher, took some photos of ‘the girls’ at the free motion quilting retreat I went on over the weekend. Here’s a couple to show our group and the amazing light we worked in — it was as bright at night too (yes, most of us also spent Saturday night at our machines…).
I needed to make a dent in my fabric scraps. Not my fabric stash — my tubs of scraps. Offcuts, little leftover bits that were too ‘good’ to throw out, but not big enough to create something new from them. I use bigger offcuts to make bookmarks or luggage tags, or as backings for bookmarks. These other scraps might only be an inch or two square, or are the awkward bits like triangles or odd shapes. Gorgeous fabric — too good to throw out, but not big enough to make something from.
Then I saw a fish in a quilting magazine, made by Susan Carlson! It was made from lots of pieces of fabric, and I had the thought that here was a project for my scraps! (Of course, I have enough fabric scraps to make a whole school of fish, but hey, you have to start somewhere…)
So I made my first fish, and after some 10 hours of creation here it is:
I had a lot of fun deciding on the fabric scraps to use, then laying out the fish and embellishing him with free motion stitching. And no, I have no idea if my fish is a ‘he’ or ‘she’, so I’ll go with ‘him’. BTW, if you like him, you can buy him! http://www.etsy.com/listing/48905308/fish-of-the-day-orange He would look good in a picture frame on a wall!
I think my next fish will be made of lots of individual scales. More work, but it should use up a few more of those little bitty scraps I have…
Update: Two days after listing my fish, it appeared in an Etsy Treasury of lots of fish (my 21st appearance) — that was fast!
(http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4c1126e878348eef6e48b942/give-a-man-a-fish#4c115fb30a5a6d91fc39652e)
Update: My fish went to Alaska! A colleague in Portland, Oregon purchased it as a gift for his parents who live in Alaska. So off it went, swimming all the way from Western Australia to Alaska (where you’d think they have enough fish!). His parents framed it and here it is in their home:
‘Solid Rock‘, one of my earliest fabric art pieces that’s still for sale (most have been sold now) was featured in an Etsy Treasury for ‘A land down under’ today — see the screen shot below. Thanks MonicaCarmel!
Rhonda Bracey: At Random 