Leftovers

I love the bright colors I've been working with this month. I had some great scraps that were too little to use for the free-form quilt pieces I've been working on for And Then We Set It On Fire. I don't know about you, but it is really hard for me to throw any fabric piece (no matter how small) away. Does that make me a "fabric hoarder?" Anyway, I decided I could put them to good use by making some collaged fabric. I used a method shown in Quilting Arts Gifts magazine (Holiday 2011-2012) in an article by Jennifer Solon.

So you'll have an idea about what this type of fabric might be used for, I'll show you some leaves I made for a challenge. I belong to a fiber arts group in Louisville called LAFTA. Last fall, LAFTA issued a challenge to its members to create pieces of art from unsold paperback romance novels which were donated to the group from the Friends of the Oldham County Libraries. The books were leftover from the Friends' first book sale. My friend and I decided to make leaves using fabric, some pieces of pages from the old romance novels, paint, thread, ink, etc. These are some of my leaves that did not go into the piece we made for the challenge.

For the challenge, my friend and I made a mobile. We each picked our favorite leaves to include in the piece. More than 16 artists from LAFTA ended up making pieces for the challenge. The items included our mobile, bowls, dolls, album covers, flowers, boxes, and other things. The items will be on display at the Luecke Room of Gallery 104 located at 104 E. Main Street in La Grange, Kentucky, from February 7-March 10, 2012. If you like art AND CHOCOLATE (and who doesn't), you might want to check out the exhibit on Friday, February 10, or Saturday, February 11, 2012. On those days, visitors will pay $5 for a ticket that will let them sample chocolate in shops all over town. Friday's "crawl" will be from 5-8 p.m. On Saturday, you could attend the opening reception at the gallery (beginning at 1 p.m.) AND take part in the "crawl" which continues until 4 p.m. If you'd like more information, contact Kathy Dowling, executive director, 502-222-3822 or email her at execdiraaooc.org. Visit the gallery's website here.

Now that you have seen the fabric collage used, I'll show you the fabric collage I made from my leftover scraps.

I haven't done any painting, stamping, or thread work on it yet. I have several ideas of things to make with this "fabric," but I haven't decided on anything definite. I really do love the bright colors, though. So far, all I have done is sew a grid over the scraps of fabric to attach them to the acrylic felt and backing fabric. I think it will be fun to play with. Stay tuned to see what I decide to make.