On my design wall – Moonrise, part 1 – 2018.01.10

There’s a new art quilt taking shape on my design wall.  I’ve been thinking about this one for a few months, but I had other projects that took priority.

It’s for a new SAQA exhibit Dusk to Dawn.  I know I have a very slim chance of being selected – hundreds of SAQA members will be submitting entries, and Dusk to Dawn will consist of approximately 25 artworks.  However, I have been planning this art quilt for a few months and it fits the theme, so I’m going to enter it.

Inspired by my entries to the Fibre Art Network’s Botanical Reflections exhibit and my love of circle shapes, I drew the sketch below.  I’m thinking of doing a series of sunrise, sunset and moon scenes.

My working title is ‘Moonrise’.  It will be about 28 x 28 inches.

I drew the pattern on freezer paper (FP), then cut the sections apart.  For each section, I cut a piece of Pellon grid fusible interfacing the size of the FP template plus 1/2″ seam allowance.  Then I pressed the FP to the back (non-fusible) of the interfacing (covering the fusible side with parchment paper, to prevent it sticking to the iron or ironing board).  Then I placed the section on the ironing board with the FP down and the fusible interfacing up.  I cut strips of fabric (about 1.5″ wide) and positioned them on the interfacing, using the grid lines to ensure the strips were straight and parallel.  I overlapped the strips by about 1/4″.  Once I was satisfied with the arrangement of the strips, I fused them in place.

I selected mostly batiks to minimize future fraying of the raw edges of the strips.  I am going to quilt with fairly close horizontal lines, but there will be some raw edges.

I used strips for the clouds and the sky.  My initial plan was to use strips for the moon as well.  As it turns out, I didn’t have any white batiks for the moon, but I did have a piece of white cotton fabric with silver sparkles that was slightly bigger than the moon section – so I made the moon a solid piece instead of strips.

Below is a photo is the top half with the fabrics fused in place, and some water and reflection fabrics being auditioned.  The submission deadline is the end of this month, so I will be cutting and fusing the rest of the fabrics in the next couple of days.  Then I will sew the pieces together using my favorite freezer paper (FP) piecing technique, described in this post.

I haven’t decided yet how I will cover the raw edges of the seam allowances – with bias tape or with zigzag stitching.

Thanks for stopping by.  Today, I’m linking up with these blogs – click on the links below, where you’ll find many other creative and inspirational projects.