Finishing

“Finishing” is not my favorite part of fiber art design, but I know that if I haven’t finished my piece well it signifies I don’t care about it. Just as a scratch on an album or CD (remember those?) can interfere with potentially beautiful music, so can a poorly finished piece interfere with a viewer’s appreciation. Here are three new pieces in various stages of being “finished”:

This one (above) is actually “finished,” that is, it’s quilted and “bound,” using hidden binding, also known as face, or art binding. This is my go-to binding for art quilts. Unlike the binding for traditional art quilts, you can’t see this binding on the front side. I could make a hanging sleeve for this quilt but since it’s not very big or heavy (about 18″ wide and maybe 46″ long) I think I may be able to get away with inserting a small dowel into the space left between the facing and the quilt. Going to try that first.

This quilt was made using hand-printed fabric.

This one, not yet finished, will be put on a canvas, a new process for me. I’ve been experimenting with stretching pieces on canvas, like painted art, because it’s so much easier to hang. I’m still learning how to do it.

The fabric was painted with earth minerals–deep wrinkles in the fabric made the fascinating texture on the piece. I didn’t want to iron or stitch the painted strips as I felt it would take away from the texture already there, which I loved–you may have to see it in person to appreciate it–. Instead, I glued it to black canvas, allowing some of the rough edges and stray threads to remain. I have stretcher bars that will fit this piece, but I haven’t decided if I’ll actually wrap the quilt around the stretcher bars (which means I’ll have to add more black canvas on the edges if I want to keep this size), or if I might just attach the piece to a larger canvas, maybe a deep brown or tan…or black. I’m also thinking I might add some light stitching to the black canvas, though I don’t want to take away from the minimalist design. Will have to leave this up on the wall for a bit to decide.

This one, improvisationally pieced using fabric I painted and printed with earth minerals, is not yet quilted or finished. It’s large, about 2.5 feet by 4.5 feet, and I’m considering stretching it on canvas. Will write more about this process in another post.