What I'm Working On Lately

For the past couple of weeks, I've been focusing most of my creative energy on a quilt that is destined to be one of my largest to date.  Because I tend to work extremely small, the dimensions (roughly 17 by 22 inches) will seem laughable to most quilt artists, but it seems impossibly gigantic to me after nearly five years of making almost exclusively quilts that are 9.5" by 13" (a size I arrived at because it is half of a dollar-store place mat - more on that in a future post!).

Beads, paint, free-motion stitching, oil paint sticks...

This new quilt is composed of a lot of existing elements that I have created mostly through trying out various techniques and materials.  There are free-motion stitching samples, oil paint stick rubbings, leftover bits from old projects (some of my favorite things to use!), plus beading and hand embroidery.  This is going to be a LUSH quilt! 

triangles filled in with ridiculously sparkly silver paint

Lately, I have been in love with texture, and I have so many new texture-making options available to me! I think this may end up being the primary focus of my quilts for a while as I explore all the possibilities and materials I've discovered lately.

So many textures, hopefully they're coexisting peacefully!

One sad thing about no longer working at a costume shop is that I will no longer be able to raid the trash for extra bits and scraps, such as this string of giant Swarovski crystals fused onto sheer gray ribbon.  We created hundreds upon hundreds of these for the Diamonds Rockette costumes that we made for four years.  Each girl had a lovely, swingy skirt made from these strings of crystals, and the effect when thirty six gorgeous ladies were twirling around in perfect unison was pretty amazing!

Swarovski crystals on a sheer ribbon. These were leftover from working on the Diamonds Rockette costumes.

This quilt is pretty close to being finished, so either there will be more progress photos or it'll end up here as a finished work very soon!