Friday, April 15, 2016

Jane Hartfield's Doodle Quilt



Jane Hartfield’s Doodle Quilt

Doodle certainly speaks to your imagination. My first thoughts were about dogs: Labradoodle, Double Doodle, etc. I don’t own those breeds nor do I have photos I have taken of them.

Then life happened and I had a very difficult start to the year that included lots of time on the road. It was hard to even think about our challenge. However, when I finally got home and had time to look around my studio, I remembered a piece of linen I had dyed some time ago.

 It was a rather small piece that began as a “messy monoprint”. That is a fun process without a definitive end product. You paint thickened dye onto thin plastic. I probably used a Walmart bag. Next you lay the fabric on top and roll across it with a paint roller or brayer. When you remove the fabric there are many textural marks on it that would be impossible to make by intention.

On this particular piece I used turquoise and yellow dyes which produced many shades of green. I truly loved the piece. To further define the visual texture, I taped it to sandpaper and used a Sharpie to “doodle” around the tiny shapes and marks. I left it like that a long time. It was too small to use for most of my projects, and not one that I cared to reproduce in a large format.

Then our challenge came up. I took the piece and fused it to Eco Fi felt. Then I added foil using a freezer paper stencil for the letters and Bo Nash bonding powder for the sprinkles and fusible thread for more doodling. By the way, the freezer paper stencil was the wrong thing to use. Wonder Under would have been much easier.
This piece is not quilted.


I find it very difficult to photograph work with foil on it. When I turned off some of the light, I got a better shot. It must have something to do with reflections. If anyone knows more about this, please tell me.  


11 comments:

  1. OOPS, too many typos on my part--will try again! We all understand all you've gone through recently, so I find it amazing that you were able to come up with a piece to post! Great way to use something you'd set aside. In terms of the photography: Recently I learned that to take a photo of my new king-sized quilt on the bed, it showed up much better if I turned off all artificial lights, used no flash, and just opened the curtains wide and let in natural light!

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  2. I too am amazed you found time and energy for the reveal- but so glad you did!! I love the colors and textures you achieved with this technique. You always inspire me to paint something!!

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  3. Jane, thanks so much for thinking of the Material Mavens during this difficult time in your life. I like your colors and all of the techniques you used on this "set-aside" piece of fabric. And thanks for showing us how to use foil. You are so brave, if only I could learn to be so!

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  4. Graphic and fun at the same time!
    Love your colors!

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  5. Love the colors. The second photo shows the foil so well

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  6. From Rita: Jane – This beautiful piece is a testament to a strong person and a true artist. It is lovely and a delight to the eye.

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  7. Jane ... Our collective thoughts and prayers have been with you & your family during this very difficult time. I find that sometimes those projects that got 'put away' often turn out to be the cornerstones for new projects, and love that you were able to incorporate your hand-made fabric into this project. And foiling on fabric ... what a blast that is ! Many thanks for the great job you did and for the use of innovative techniques.

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  8. It is so very special to be a part of such a loving, fun, creative group. You have enriched my life in many ways. Thanks for the thoughts and prayers.

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  9. This is a beautiful piece of fabric and I am impressed with how well your foil worked (I've never been terribly successful with foil)

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  10. very interesting!! I like the colors

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