Sunday, September 15, 2013

Lois on being Green



Birds are the ultimate Green  recyclers!  Green housing is being promoted as a new trend but birds  have done it for millenniums,building their abodes with whatever they can scavenge. They are also a good measure of how well we are doing in protecting our environment. When there are less birds around, there is often  an environmental problem.
 For me the robin's nest is an iconic symbol of spring green, and new growth  As a child living in the Northeastern US spotting the first nest with those vibrant blue eggs was magical.

I decided my project this month would be done only with things I had or could scavenge. So my materials included a scrubber pad, old scraps of fabric that I ripped into thin strips. After dipping them in melted candle wax it gave them a crinkled form.  The strips held their shape as I randomly hand  stitched them together.

I also added yarn scraps, and did a bit of beading for the pebbles that you often see in the nest.  I debated at length including a tree limb for the nest to sit on. I decided it took away from the design,so I kept it simple.  I used a piece of found hemp rope that I attached with a decorative stitch on the machine using  a variegated embroidery thread, so it would look more natural. And the binding is just layers and layers of that same thread zigzagged around it.  The top quilting was done by machine in the most random pattern I could generate. I wanted the chaos of the random pattern to depict the unpredictability of the natural environment.

I thoroughly enjoyed this months challenge, and look forward to seeing the reveal today!

15 comments:

  1. Lois, you have taken the theme word green in directions I had hoped someone would take it--being a "green quilter" by using found objects!
    I enjoyed so much reading about all the objects you discovered that would work for this quilt, and how brilliant to think of birds as being the ultimate recyclers! I've never thought of that, but how true! In addition to its appropriateness, however, this quilt is simply beautiful.

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  2. Oh my gosh! How beautiful! This creation just jumps out from the screen. I love the idea of your using found objects and linking that to the idea that birds are experts in recycling. I say again, BEAUTIFUL!

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  3. So cool! You put lots of thought into this and found objects too. Great job!

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  4. I too hoped someone would use this interpretation of the theme, but I never thought of birds as recyclers!! Love how you did too! It is beautiful and well executed.

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  5. This is a wonderful concept and execution...beautiful 3D quilting on your part...i love the embedded wax.

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  6. This is a wonderful concept and execution...beautiful 3D quilting on your part...i love the embedded wax.

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  7. I love that you connected green/recycle/birds nest to create such a wonderful piece! Also loved that you chose to depict the scavenged nest with your own scavenged materials.

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  8. It was interesting to read the different materials you used, your techniques, and your thought process. The wax to coat the fabric sounds like fun. Very cool quilt! Would love to see it in person!

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  9. If you want to try the waxing, just set up a small clothes line outside, bring your wax and fabric strips, dip, let drip a bit then crinkle them in you hand when it's cooler and they really hold their shape. I would like to do something more complex with the technique next time, as I think it has a lot of neat possibilities.

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  10. If you want to try the waxing, just set up a small clothes line outside, bring your wax and fabric strips, dip, let drip a bit then crinkle them in you hand when it's cooler and they really hold their shape. I would like to do something more complex with the technique next time, as I think it has a lot of neat possibilities.

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  11. Oh WOW! Just love the fact that you created this beautiful quilt with various recycled materials. Very clever and so much fun to view! I, too, want to see this one in person!

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  12. I love the composition and your use of materials - I never would have dreamed of waxing the fabric - is that how you made the perfect little eggs? Can you stitch into the fabric after waxing?

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  13. Your composition has a nice organic visual feel and I agree by keeping it simple, you keep the viewer focused on the details. Waxing fabric ~ that I must try, along with hand dying it after the crinkles are formed. The nest and eggs are wonderfully formed. The couched recycled hemp rope edge treatment is adds a nice complimentary finishing touch. Beautiful.

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  14. The eggs are not waxed,but most of the nest is. Yes you can stitch thru it with a thimble of course. The eggs were just wrapped around a pebble, then re wrapped with thread. I didn't want them to perfect, just a more organic look.

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