Embroidered Collage

Today we worked on narrative quilts.  I'd never actually tried to tell a story in quilt before, so this was something a bit different for me.  I listed some options and then picked the day that we brought our new kitten home a few years back.  I'm not quite sure if I'm done or not, and want to talk about all the technique details together when I present the finished work, so no pictures tonight.

What was different was working on one piece all day and not doing anything but that, with breaks for food and such.  I think if I was a full-time artist I would need to have more than one piece going at once, so I could move between them.  Of course, if I was a full-time artist I wouldn't be able to spend all my time doing art anyway because marketing would be a major factor... 

Another problem was that I desperately wanted my acrylic paints to make the background.  What I did with the fabric worked well - it even fit the definition of a quilt.  I machine stitched and fused and used the techniques well - but I would have preferred to make the entire piece more mixed media instead of all fabric.  It still has texture variations and I think the result is effective, but I don't think this is a direction I want to head on a regular basis. 

I won't forget, though, that there is a slightly different approach in creating a work this way.  It might be something I'll repeat in spurts to practice technique and push my brain one way or another.  And learning things like that is part of why I'm at QSDS, so that's good.

We have tomorrow to complete our piece, so if I'm done I'm not sure what I'll be up to.  I'll see if Wendy has suggestions or maybe I'll just do more of yesterday's caught fabric improvisational work. That would be cool.