Restless

In the aftermath of the quilt show, I found myself wanting to PLAY!  The acrylic paints are still calling to me. That inspiration came in the form of a Quilting Arts Workshop DVD, introducing me to Alisha Burke and her improvisational methods (check her blog - GREAT!)

 These methods involve a lot of layering ... adding paint in many ways from brushing, to spraying, stenciling  and splattering.  FUN FUN FUN!  Often the first layer is just a little bit plain.

 

The layers that follow add interest.  I used a rubber stamp to add the diamonds.  After a drying period, the thin wash of yellow was added to take care of the plain white spaces.  I will add more, but I'm not sure what.

On this sample, I ironed on freezer paper flower stencils and sprayed blue paint. 

One REALLY fun thing to do is squirt different colors onto the fabric, wad it up into a ball and squish in your hands until the paint has saturated the fabric.  It creates a sort of tie dyed/batik effect.  That's how this piece started, then I added freezer paper strips (one of my favorite tools, can you tell?) and painted lines. 

 Here is the result, paper removed.  It will also have something more added later.

Trying to think of even more ways to apply paint and get different effects, I wrapped string around my rubber brayer. 

 That resulted in a great effect with wiggly lines.  I did this on two of my pieces.

Here is a sample that I really didn't like much after I added black lines with Magic Marker.  Then I went back with an individual diamond stamp and black paint, now I like it.

After I ran out of room to lay drying pieces of fabric, I switched gears and decided to make a spiral!  If interested, look WAY, WAY back on this blog to April of last year.  I had discovered a Canadian quilter named Kristin Miller and her spirals.  I made two at the time, now it was time to try it again.  I grabbed some fabrics from the miscellaneous pile and started in.  It will go until I run out of the chosen fabric.  Stay tuned!