Last week I had the privilege of traveling southwest (50 miles) to Decatur, IL to take a class with Laura Wasilowski, dean of correction of the Chicago School of Fusing! I have taken a class with Laura before, follow her blog, and love to stop and say hello when I see her and Frieda Anderson at the big shows! Laura does beautiful hand-dyed fabrics and threads, which she sells through her webstore ARTFABRIK.
In the morning we were entertained by Laura who presented: Art Quilts: The Musical. Laura sang, and shared her beautiful artwork!
In the afternoon Laura taught Colorful Leaves. We were giving 2 pieces of Laura's beautiful hand-dyed fabrics. Then Laura taught us the principles of fusing, building a fused collage, and design. Then we were told to sketch a leaf design. I had decided before going that I would make my design based on a gingko leaf! As you can see, I really got some creativity unleashed!
Here we are at the end of the day with what I had gotten accomplished! All that is left is the hand embroidered elements that will take it from ho hum to spectacular! Laura had advised me that I should use either #8 or #12 Perle Cotton rather than the #5 that I had fallen in love with.
Being the rebel that I am, I went ahead and did an outline stemstitch around the elements with #5 Perle Cotton. Yes, it was difficult to get through the fused layers, but I liked the heavier, bolder look that it gives. I need to figure out what embroidery work that I want to do in the borders, then I can quilt it and bind it!
In the morning we were entertained by Laura who presented: Art Quilts: The Musical. Laura sang, and shared her beautiful artwork!
In the afternoon Laura taught Colorful Leaves. We were giving 2 pieces of Laura's beautiful hand-dyed fabrics. Then Laura taught us the principles of fusing, building a fused collage, and design. Then we were told to sketch a leaf design. I had decided before going that I would make my design based on a gingko leaf! As you can see, I really got some creativity unleashed!
Here we are at the end of the day with what I had gotten accomplished! All that is left is the hand embroidered elements that will take it from ho hum to spectacular! Laura had advised me that I should use either #8 or #12 Perle Cotton rather than the #5 that I had fallen in love with.
Being the rebel that I am, I went ahead and did an outline stemstitch around the elements with #5 Perle Cotton. Yes, it was difficult to get through the fused layers, but I liked the heavier, bolder look that it gives. I need to figure out what embroidery work that I want to do in the borders, then I can quilt it and bind it!
