This first challenge took me on an unintended journey. When the challenge topic was announced I had just purchased the book Out of the Box by Mary Lou Weidman. I envisioned my challenge as a folk art quilt with a dog digging up a bone. That might have been fun to do, however my thinking took a drastic step in a short time.
At International Quilt Festival in Chicago I had the opportunity to take a mixed media collage course from Rebekah Meier. Painting, stamping embossing, quilting – what fun! I decided that my challenge project would use some of the techniques I had learned in the workshop. What a great way to reinforce the learning and tweak it a bit by trying some different materials.
My ‘hidden treasures’ are things that ‘hide’ something that is soon to be revealed – mother-to-be, egg, cocoon, shells and a locket. The hidden items are fairly apparent, except for the one in the locket. The locket symbolizes developing love. I printed the picture on silk using Photoshop Elements. It is a picture that my husband took for a photo essay display in one of the conferences rooms at work – used with permission.
In completing this project I dry brushed fast-2-fuse with metallic paint and dabbed on a textile paint. I stamped sayings on organza and fused them to the painted base. I did a little stamping with colors and small stamps and added quilting to the base . Then I cut the base into the sizes I wanted to mount my treasures. These pieces were mounted on a small quilt . Angelina was placed between the treasure bases and the quilted piece.
Will I ever do the folk art dog and bone quilt? Maybe. Will I do more collage work? Absolutely. My 25 yr old daughter saw the piece and has requested a similar one in blue, with a picture of her that she selects. Another project to add to the list.
Gayle
