Friday, September 21, 2018

Art Quilt

My art quilt is finally finished!


I wish I had a plain wall to hang it on.  But, that wallpaper will be gone someday.  Until then, it is what it is.

HOW MY ART QUILT CAME TO BE
It all began sometime in 2012.  Text fabrics were in their early stages of showing up in quilted items.  I immediately was drawn to them (and still am).  But I couldn’t find much locally and online shopping required a minimum of a half yard or more.  I didn’t want that much at the time.  That could quickly add up to big $$ that I didn’t have.  I wanted a largish variety of text prints.

Being a scrapbooker, there was more of an endless array of papers with words on them.  So I ordered several yards of Miracle Fabric.  I began printing my own text fabrics on my printer for a quilt.  Even then I began running out of different text papers.  I didn’t want to keep using the same ones over and over.  I had those four rows done when I decided it was never going to get four more rows.  I set it aside.

I had printed the little girl you see in this section for a postcard.  I printed her twice.  I made the postcard and mailed it.  The extra little girl got pushed around on my table for awhile.  I didn’t want to loose her so I set her on top of this quilt (that was probably never going to get finished).


Well, wasn’t she cute on there.  If I ever get this quilt made, I think I’ll sew her onto it somewhere.  Then I thought, she would need another little friend on it somewhere else.  

I processed that idea for awhile until finally concluding that I was going to switch  my plan from a regular quilt to an art quilt.  And turn it into an ephemera collage art quilt.  It took my little pea brain a long time to figure out how to accomplish this. 

When I got the itch to sew again, I wanted to finish this art quilt first.  I finally figured out how to get to the finished quilt.

I first decided to quilt the blocks before adding the ephemera pieces.


Not all of the blocks are printed miracle fabric.  Some are regular cotton text fabrics.  But the majority are printed on my Epson Ink Jet printer.


With the quilting done, I decided to also bind it before spinning it round and round in my machine appliquéing the ephemera.  There was no need to leave that for last.  Binding it first would save me the trouble of raveling edges during appliquéing.

It was finally time to applique the ephemera!


There are 45 pieces of ephemera printed, backed with Wonder Under, cut out and raw edge appliqued onto the quilt.  I did not make them recently.  They had been pinned to the quilt for all the years it lay dormant.




My daughter looked at this art quilt and said “this is so you”.  And it is.  It’s full of things I like, things I find interesting and things that speak to me.  I have a bicycle postage stamp that I need to print and add to my quilt.  I like that I can continue to add to it if I choose to.

The quilt measures 41” X 55”

I’m really happy to have this quilt finished and I’m really happy with how this art quilt turned out.


It’s a little wavy on the bottom in this photo.  It was hanging oddly on the stick across the top.  It lays nice and straight and flat now that I’ve fixed that little mystery. 

I really love paper collage and I’m really enjoying this fabric collage.

TADA! 

14 comments:

Tera Callihan said...

This blows my away! What a beautiful quilt♡♡♡♡ it is definitely a piece of art!😍 I love that you printed your own bits too .... so cool and crazy! This is just so artistic and beautiful! I'm drooling!

tink's mom said...

This is stellar. Love it. I've printed a piece of fabric here and there over the years for a pouch or 2 but would never have thought of printing in any quantity or with such variation. Great that you can add to it if the inspiration comes upon you. Congrats on the finish (?).

jenclair said...

What a creative solution to the problem of text on fabric! I love the quilt and your ideas for additions to it. A journal quilt in a sense, with all the things you love--including postage stamps! I enlarged the pics to get a better view of the details. Just Fabulous, Annie!

Ruth said...

What a wonderful and creative way to express yourself in your art. I think that adding things to your quilt after it is finished is fantastic, over time it will become even more well loved.

Daryl @ Patchouli Moon Studio said...

I love your quilt Annie! I too love words/ text on fabric. It is like a jumbo sized postcard of the things you love. Nicely done.

Judy1522 said...

That is such an amazing art quilt. I love that you are still going to keep adding to it.

Lin said...

That's a great finish Annie - lovely. xx

Createology said...

WOW! This is amazing and so totally your style of wonderful art. I love how you created it and that you can continue to add ephemera to it as you choose. Truly Inspiring and Swoon Worthy Annie Dear...<3

Snoodles said...

This is stunning! Love seeing the process you went through, how the piece evolved.....wonderful!

sheila 77 said...

I am so massively impressed with your fabulous quilt. I must investigate the Miracle fabric as I've never had much success with fabric printing. I love the photo of the pieces of ephemera sitting on a little pile on the quilt waiting to be joined in and I think it's terrific how you have placed them on the quilt. Printing your own text fabric? - a brilliant idea and very effective, and I love the choice of low-value fabrics you've used, so easy on the eye. Great idea too to maybe add extra bits in the future. Nice subtle edging, just there and doesn't interfere with the quilt.
Really well done, Annie, top marks!

West Michigan Quilter said...

Glad you got the itch to sew again. This quilt is fantastic. I'm amazed at how you print fabric and manipulate your materials to create such a stunning quilt. Hold on to that itch!

Carol Swift said...

This is an amazing process with a beautiful outcome...love it! I don't know what Miracle Fabric is, but I'm sure I need some. I love when your itch to sew comes out! :O)

Barb said...

This quilt is totally you! I love reading about why you did this or that....just perfect!!

quiltingbydawn said...

Oh my, Annie! Your daughter was right when she said this was totally you! I could pick it out of a stack and say Annie made that! Wonderfully made and the story and process behind it...so creative!