Carolyn's Modern: Argentinian Ice Sculpture

When the word, “modern,” was announced, I decided to use one of the canvases that I painted in a Katie Masopust Pasquini  2013 Quilting Adventures class called “Painted Stitched Canvas.” 

In that class, we used acrylic paints to create designs on light-weight canvas, then cut the designs apart and sewed them back together in a complex design using zig-zag machine stitching.  The next step was to use Acrylic Flow Release to add fabric.  After drying, batting was added to the recreated canvases and our painted canvases were machine quilted. 

But, for “Modern,” I chose to use a blue and green canvas to which no fabric was attached. I wanted to see if I could use typical fusing products to add fabric to my canvas. 

My painting reminded me of the deep blue and turquoise water that my husband and I saw on a trip this past November to Patagonia, the lower range of the Andes in Chile and Argentina.  One of the highlights of our trip was visiting two massive, 180 ft. tall glaciers.  The giant glaciers sparkled with irregular spikes that resembled pieces of broken crystal.  When the glaciers calved, a large piece of iceberg broke off and floated in the turquoise water.  They looked like blue sculptures bursting forth with towering mountains in front and behind.

To create my quilt, I first decided to try adding a piece of patterned, pale green tulle to the entire canvas using Misty Fuse. I lightly ironed Misty Fuse onto the back of the tulle.  After about 15 minutes, I pulled the backing off of the tulle and laid it on top of the canvas right side up.  I covered it with a pressing cloth, and carefully ironed it.  Much to my surprise, the tulle adhered to the canvas!

Next, I tried laying a shimmering silver piece of fabric in the same tulle pattern onto the design, but when I placed it on the quilt, the silver faded into the background.  So I decided to fuse the silver onto 2 pieces of regular blue tulle.  This added the color and depth that I was looking for.  I fused them together with Misty Fuse, cut out the “glacier” and “iceberg” and fused them in place.I prepared the batting and backing with Timtex and began quilting.  I outlined the glacier and iceberg with an icy green Aurifil thread.  Then I used zig-zag stitching to highlight the jagged lines in both “sculptures” and added simple free motion quilting to the “water” areas.  I used a blue and green polka dot batik in a wavy, water-like pattern for the back and binding.  This was an experiment, but one that I enjoyed!