Like many of you, I have many irons in the fire. I did work some this week on the 'cut dots' idea but have not made the progress I would like.
I began by cutting a nice container full of dots from some hand dyed fabric. I selected a 43 x 43 cut of hand dyed yellow fabric as the substrate and began to sew. I thought this size would allow me to experience working with this process at a larger scale but not too large.
I worked for about and hour before I decided that I did not like the way the dots were laying on the fabric. The dots were not a deep black, they had a navy blue look and they were not interacting well with the shade of yellow I had selected for the background. Oh, did I mention that I had also made the decision to sew them on with neon pink thread. It had seemed like a good idea....
In addition to those facts, I had left a bit more space between the dots than in my original sample. It just was not working and I had found it difficult to manipulate the larger piece of fabric so I stopped and regrouped.
I made the decision to experiment with making small units that I would then assemble. That is what you are seeing in the picture. I choose commercially dyed black fabric for the dots, off-white fabric for the ground and white thread for the stitching. I cut two 15" x 15" grounds and sewed the dots on. Notice that you can already see a pattern developing. I looked on the internet to read about "lap quilting" for construction ideas and assembled the two units.
I did manage to get them neatly joined but I don't like the physical seam and I don't like the visual seam where the pattern of the two units touch. So now I'm back to thinking about one large piece. I just have to come to terms with the things I didn't like about handling a large piece like that under the machine. The piece could actually be hand sewn but I'm not sure I'm up for that.
I have this 2 piece unit hanging in my studio and I have determined that the dots would also make a wonderful panel in a larger composition with larger elements....hum.
Please check back in on Monday as I will have an Artist Profile on New York State artist Pat Pauly. Have a wonderful weekend and thank you for dropping by.
