Fused Fantasy
Been looking for me? Here I am. Trying to do a million things at once, as usual. Last month I mentioned that I had gotten a bunch of fabrics from Melody and was going to try her fusing method. Well, I did!
I started with a sketch I had made a while back. Each time I'd flip through the pages of the sketchbook (thanks, Laura!) this design would pop out at me and beg not to be forgotten.
I marked each of the sections with a letter from A through F indicating placement sequence to make sure I added *seam* allowances where necessary. I also used the number key to indicate value - F being dark and A being light.
The next step was to prepare the fabric - fusing WonderUnder to the underside. One of Melody's tricks is to cut out the shapes after removing the release paper - this provides for a cleaner edge since you're not pulling against it.
The next part was the trickiest - figuring out which fabric to use where! Melody's fabrics are a riot of color. I traced one of the diagrams onto parchment paper so I could place each piece and then fuse as a single design element. I tried not to layer whenever possible, knowing that I was going to want to do a fair amount of embellishment by hand.
I didn't get everything right and ended up with an extra layer because of the background *frame* but was still able to seed stitch the background using Laura's 12 perle cotton in a matching colorway! I then used some 5 perle cotton around the border to enhance the frame.
For a larger close-up click here. Caution - may take a while to download on a slow connection.
Lots more embellishing to do (on the main design) and I'm really loving this piece! Overall it's about 14" x 16" I think. I may end up doing some machine work after all - we'll see.
I started with a sketch I had made a while back. Each time I'd flip through the pages of the sketchbook (thanks, Laura!) this design would pop out at me and beg not to be forgotten.
I marked each of the sections with a letter from A through F indicating placement sequence to make sure I added *seam* allowances where necessary. I also used the number key to indicate value - F being dark and A being light.
The next step was to prepare the fabric - fusing WonderUnder to the underside. One of Melody's tricks is to cut out the shapes after removing the release paper - this provides for a cleaner edge since you're not pulling against it.
The next part was the trickiest - figuring out which fabric to use where! Melody's fabrics are a riot of color. I traced one of the diagrams onto parchment paper so I could place each piece and then fuse as a single design element. I tried not to layer whenever possible, knowing that I was going to want to do a fair amount of embellishment by hand.
I didn't get everything right and ended up with an extra layer because of the background *frame* but was still able to seed stitch the background using Laura's 12 perle cotton in a matching colorway! I then used some 5 perle cotton around the border to enhance the frame.
For a larger close-up click here. Caution - may take a while to download on a slow connection.
Lots more embellishing to do (on the main design) and I'm really loving this piece! Overall it's about 14" x 16" I think. I may end up doing some machine work after all - we'll see.
posted by Mary at 10:40 AM
5 Comments:
Mary;
This is quite wonderful. Love the design and your use of color. Did you tell Mrs. Mel to look? I'm taking worshops wiht her on Thur and Fri ant PIQF. Can't wait to hang out with her again.
It looks great, Mary. I can't imagine all the work of sketching and numbering and designing that went into it. Wouldn't be me - but I love your results!
This is wonderful! Won't take you long before you can doodle up your own design! Good job!
The colors are beautiful, but the embellishment makes it! Jen
Yummamente--which is my highest compliment.You are now a graduate student of the Chicago School of Fusing.
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