Dec 13, 2014

CHEATER FABRIC

 A long time ago when I first started making art quilts,  I used a lot of what is called "cheater fabric"  when making scenes.  This is fabric printed with trees or grass or fruit etc.  At some point I realized the difference in a preprinted tree and a tree made from scratch with your own bark etc.   However, I still use this fabric in some cases.  Here is an example.  I have this fabric of grasses in the snow.
Just what I am looking for.
 So I cut it out in order to just get the naturalness and shape that I like.  I can also move the shapes I cut out around to decide exactly where I want them and how much I want in an area.  Once I make those decisions I snip the top edge to loosen it up ...all done at random just snip snip snip.  Once that is done I fuse them in the locations I chose. 

Then I thread paint them......the fabric fills the gaps between the lines of thread and blends it all together with it ending in a nice natural look.   I always add a few lines before and after the section to blend it into the background and add small "tufts" of grass here and there around the area of the large piece as it would be in nature.   Most would not know there is any fabric behind it.

4 comments:

Jacqueline said...

Very clever. I look forward to seeing the progress.

Rian said...

I have a stack of that kind of fabric...river rocks, brick walls, etc. Same as you, when I first started. I don't even go there now. But you know if I got rid of I'd need just the right piece!

WoolenSails said...

That is a really nice choice for the ground grasses and looks great with the stitching over it.

Debbie

Libby Fife said...

A creative use of materials. Very nice!

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