Shall We Dance?

Shall We Dance?

                                                                            29" x 54"

Detail:  This is the second work I do in this way.  In this detail, draped over my cutting and ironing tables, you can see the first stage of the design.  I have painted over white cotton using setacolour paints for fabric.

Detail:  I have included this detail because if you look closely you can see some of my pencil sketch that I wasn't happy with.  I didn't know if I would be able to remove the pencil marks completely but I did manage.  I consider the cotton much like paper, and erased the pencil marks with an eraser.  However it is easier to use the erasable marker that can be erased with ironing.

Detail:  In this photo you can see the big difference between when it is quilted and where it is not yet quilted.

Detail:  Highlighting the negative space;  not sure if there isn't too much.

                                                                               

                                                                         

Details;  Having always been interested in the animal kingdom I was motivated to create a piece that highlighted animals in a whimsical way.  As I started the design I realized that they were moving around and about, as if they are dancing and having fun.  

Detail:  This work is slightly wider than the previous work that is barely 26" wide.  

I am wondering if the narrower shape is better.  

Detail:  The echo quilting emphasizes the movement of the animals and suggests the dance.

                                                                         

                                                                          

                                                                

Details:  Some of the animals received hand embroidered embellishments such as this goldfish.  But I didn't feel it was necessary on all of them, and sometimes too much is really too much.

Details:  This was a lot of fun to make and went much faster than the first one because I felt more confident using the paints.  I used more than just the opalescent collection and they were very easy to blend and apply.  I proceeded in a slightly different way this time.  For example;  I outlined each subject with free motion stitching through all the layers before doing the hand stitching but the product is the same.  I found it better to stabilize the layers earlier.  I am not sure how many of these I have in me, but I plan to carry on for now.