Free motion Embroidery

The Mattress Pad: Dealing with Public Perception

| ellenanneeddy

When I started to use my own dyed fabric, it changed my work forever. I began with pieced gradations, but my piecing was never my strong suit. I soon discovered that a dyed background that offered a light source and a world within it was a lot less work and a lot more effective.

That doesn’t mean everybody got that. I was at some show where a well-meaning fellow asked me where I found a mattress pad in all those colors.

Yes, it was dyed in many colors. Yes. it had bugs embroidered all over it. It was very early in my career. I explained it carefully to him. He left, shaking his head, presumably looking for the store that carried hand-dyed mattress pads.

We can’t control public perception. No artist can. We can document, do videos, demonstrate, and teach. Some fool will still want to know where you got the mattress pad.

Lately, I find people asking me what computer program I use for my embroidered images. I don’t. Everything is hand drawn and the thread is added one color at a time, layer after layer. Hand guided.

There’s the issue of their perceptions, and then there’s how you respond to them.

I’ve discovered both are worthless endeavors if they’re drunk or inherently mean, I remind them that the bar/gallery/party has the refreshment table over there. Not in a mean way. Just, “Have you tried those yummy shrimp things over there.” No one wants to listen to that.

Crowds of people create a crowd atmosphere, which is usually not as smart, as perceptive, or as kind as they would be as individuals. I tell them what they can hear, and I let them tell me what it means to them. If the large raven in the setting sun is a raven swallowing the moon for them, I usually don’t correct their assumptions. The piece will tell them what they can hear. The meaning they bring to it is real for them. I don’t need to adjust that.

What matters is what I take to heart from the experience.

This can be how you define situations you never want to be in again. I pray God I never have to do a craft show again.

They may give you a lift of confidence that is fabulous. Take that home, put it on your emotional shelf, and dust it off when needed.

But at your heart you need to hear that each piece you did, whether perfect or not, whether salable or not, whether pretty or not is a part of your journey. You couldn’t get where you need to go without walking over this ground. Your art is the byproduct of your becoming an artist. It’s perfect this time if only different next time. They don’t get a say.

So what was the best thing anyone said about your work? The worst? And how has it changed your work?

As an aside, I have come back to the idea of a mattress pad. Now that I do component quilting, I find it’s easiest to complete the background and then add the subject and components. So it is kind of like a mattress pad, if you ignore the fact that it’s been dyed, stitched, had sheers appliquéd to it, and been texturized with oil paint stick.

Just because the person is an arse doesn’t mean he doesn’t have a point.

Take the good stuff. Leave the rest. Be true to you.

Business stuff. The saga with Facebook goes on. It’s tiresome, but they want big bucks for me to add links to my article. I’ll post information about the current posts. If you write Fiberwild, in the comments, I’ll send you a link for my sites.

In my mind, they have condemned Facebook to be more commercial, more out of touch, and much less interesting by shutting out small artists and industries. I’ll still post on the different pages I’m involved in. Usually, googling Ellen Anne Eddy will get you to my sites. My apologies for the chaos this causes.

You really should check out the Patreon Page. It’s free to join, We have a Show and Share Chat. And I’m doing multiple art attack and technical talk articles each week.

Visit my Patreon page

Color by Contrast and Cast: Adjusting Your Tone

| ellenanneeddy

Whenever I work in beiges, I get in trouble. Perhaps I’m not in well enough with St. Kim the almost-virgin martyr, who is the patron saint of beige. It’s off my map. Perhaps I should light a candle.

When we think of color, we think of hues. Red, blue, green, yellow.

But color is so much more complicated than that. Which is the frustration of kindergarten crayons in a box. Too simple to be of much use. Hue alone is only a starting point.

Color is defined by many factors. What matters sometimes is not the hue, the raw color itself, but the contrast between the other factors. Extreme contrast sparks our interest and makes the definitions clear.

There’s a quilters’ tradition for this. Log cabins and shade and shadow quilts have always been built on a dark side and a light side. You separate your fabric, not by color, but by value, how dark and how light the fabric is. This quilt is divided dark and light, but the cast of the colors is a soft beige. It’s defined by what they left out as much as what they included.

This trick works for a million and one quilt designs. But all color is color. It works in thread work as well.

I’ve been working on the next octopus, which is striped in black and white. I could have done that. But it’s dull past hope. Shading black and white is a great exercise, but I didn’t want it for this piece.

Here’s where I got myself into trouble. Those somewhat pink tentacles are a bit disconnected from the sand-and-gravel colors of the octopus’s outside. Pretty but wrong.

The background surprised me too. I had been looking at some murky colors. But when I put up this piece, it was it. I didn’t even pin up something else. But it was loud.

I quieted it with some soft elemental seashells in neutrals. Pretty, but not enough.

I dulled down the yellow fish. I stitched several colors of purple over them to give them some depth and to dull them. Again, not enough.

I made some fish to match the under tentacles.

Of course, I missed the idea of changing the octopus. I gilded the octopus. This odd green-gold thread has become a favorite shader lately. It shifts the tone of the piece. Big change.

Anytime you go off your map with a piece, you’re in for an adventure.

I have high hopes for this piece, but it’s taken a bit of maneuvering to get there. We’ll see how the pieces go together.

I Need Your Help

| ellenanneeddy

I’m starting a Patreon Page.

Many of you have probably had classes with me. God bless you for that!  I love my students for their enthusiasm, their creativity, their generosity and their company. We’ve all been on this journey together. I’ve watched us reach for stars, and sometimes catch them too. We grow with our art, by our art,  and through our art.

But time catches up. I don’t really teach at guilds anymore. The travel is too hard. That doesn’t mean I’m not growing through my art. I’m still finding new things to do and new ways to do them. ‘And I always want to share them with you.

There’s another downside to not being able to travel. I’m in danger of losing my studio. Because I’m not teaching on the road, I don’t have a steady source of income.  I understand it. We’re in a tight economy, and there isn’t always money for art.

So it seems we need to find new ways to do that. I do have a blog. I share on Facebook and Instagram, but I want to give you access to more. I want a place where you can get class booklets that are currently unavailable. Or look up a technique and see it demonstrated step by step. I’ll offer small projects that make a big difference in your skill level. I’ll feed you lots and lots of eye candy. I want to welcome you to where I live, in my studio.

If you’re unfamiliar with Patreon, it’s a platform where you can support me and I can share with you. You become my patron in whatever level is comfortable for you. There is a free tier as well. It’s a small and more regular way to keep art going and to be part of that art.

I’m currently working on a book called In The Studio, which is about the process of creating fiber art. Not the cleaned-up version. I want to show the zigzag process of design and creation. I’ll be offering this book live as I write it so you can see it first.

As a community, quilters have supported me in ways that still stun me. And when I come to you with a need, you’ve all responded so kindly. I would not have become the artist I am without your kindness, care, and support.

So what would you like to see? I need to know. I’m offering books and articles that have become unavailable, project and technique articles and videos, early access to In The Studio, my current book project, live question-and-answer sessions, mentoring, and quilt points where you can purchase a quilt with your Patreon contribution.

I want to honor that support by starting a quilt point program. Every dollar you send me through the Patreon Soar tier goes toward any quilt you wish to purchase. In love with a special quilt? Tell me, and I’ll hold it for you.

Are you interested? What can I offer you? Will you join me?

Join Now!

1211-26 Drifting

| ellenanneeddy
1211-26 Drifting
44” x38″
$ 4,080
Materials: Hand-dyed cotton, felt, stabilizers, commercial sheers, polyester, metallic, nylon threads, oilpaint stick
Techniques: Machine pieced, machine embroidered, embroidered appliqué, quilted, texture rubbing,  hand dye, cord binding, direct appliqué

Purchase this quilt on Etsy!

Am I Biased? Making an Angular Border

| ellenanneeddy

In working on the Octopus Roclets. I’ve felt a need for angles. They just do’t stay still. And the easiest way to make something feel like it’s in movement is for it to be at an angle.

Which angle? They do read differently. I want to try an isosceles triangle, made from an elongated rectangular strip. I think it will add to the movement of the piece.

Angles mean bias. We talk about fabric being on the straight of grain. If you tore a strip off the fabric, that strip is the straight of grain. That’s a fairly stable piece of fabric. It will stretch very mildly across the width and not at all in the length.

Here’s the definitions of bias from ai on Google.

Fabric bias is any diagonal direction across a woven fabric, while the “true bias” sits at a precise 45-degree angle to the lengthwise and crosswise threads. Cutting or binding on the bias gives the fabric natural elasticity and a fluid, body-hugging drape. [1, 2, 3]

Understanding Bias

True Bias: The diagonal 45° cut between the two; this is where the fabric is most stretchy and flexible. [1, 2, 3, 4]

Lengthwise Grain: Runs parallel to the finished edge (selvage) and has almost no stretch.

Crosswise Grain: Runs perpendicular to the selvage and has slight give.

If we cut our borders across at an angle, that edge will stretch because it’s bias. We really don’t want that. Bias stretches out and makes for wavey borders and seams.

Controlling Bias

Accurate cutting will help. I need to square up my center and use my rotary cutter to make clean edges. But the secret weapon is starch.

Starching your fabric makes it stitch better. And it makes it stretch less.

Here’s the mock up I did to try this out.

Making angled borders

I used:

A center rectangle or square.
A strip of fabric twice the size of your border and a bit longer than your center piece

Liquid spray starch,I’m using Linet Starch.


Tools:
Rotary cutter, ruler and mat
Sewing machine with straight stitch and quarter-inch foot
Iron or rolling seam presser

I starched the two fabrics with a solution of 1-1 starch and water

I cut the yellow strip in half and then cut the strips fro corner to corner diagnally.

For more information about starch, see Getting Fabric Straight.

I pressed my seams with a rolling seam presser

I trimmed my edges square to make

a slightly angled background.

I’ve added shell and rock rubbings to the bottom

Here’s where we think the octopuses will go.

I’m still deciding about that. But I’m happy I tilted the background. It creates the motion I wanted.

More Pop Octs: Dancing with Design

| ellenanneeddy

This has been a rough week of a lot of medical appointments. Nothing bad. Just exhausting and demoralizing.

I’ve stitched the rocket octopuses. I started with a background that reminded me of confetti yarn, bright bits of color on a soft background. So my octs had to be bright where the background was softer. I’m thinking of calling them the Octettes.

But now we’re at the fun point. We get to create the design.

This is the first pin-up. I do several pin-ups with each piece. The first pin-up is just the background and the creatures. With that pin-up, I’ll know my colors, my path and where the creatures interact with each other and the viewer.

The second pin-up is after I add the elemental bits. Usually these are sheer unless they’re rocks. Water, rock, air currents, sunlight. It’s also where I add small elements that help establish my visual path. I’m thinking gold and orange fish.

The third pin-up is my final design. After I do the third pin-up, I’m ready to stitch. And my options are in stone.

So now I can try it all out. Different backgrounds, different octs.

If it’s just one or two possibilities, I pin it up and shoot photos. Here I had a bunch of choices so I photoed the elements and put them into photoshop. It’s a cheap thrill, but it’s much less aerobic.

Here are the ones I like best. I really like the ones swimming in opposite directions. The ones weaving tentacles work best on the larger pieces of fabric. I’m still not sure.

I’ve done this before in a blog called Pin Up Girls: Family Planning for Octopuses. There I was trying out a number of different quilts. This is just one. But it is a good way of looking at options, without having to pin everything up physically.

What do you think?

Popping Up: The Pop Art Element

| ellenanneeddy

I’m not a very abstract person. I’m not good at reducing forms or working without a visual reference. Of course, I’m not always wedded to reality either. I believe that when we stray from a photographic reality, who we are, what we mean, and what we see have a way of coming out to say, “Hi!” And a lot of other chatter as well.

For a long time, reality was the task of art. Up through the Renaissance to modern art, we’ve lauded the ability to make something that looks real. I find that wearing as an artist. If you want complete realism, you probably want photography. You’ll see your image just as it is. Once we had photography, realism stopped being a goal and became something accomplished.

Photography works for the surface. It fails me for movement, for mood, for expansion off the canvas, and for the feeling it gives me. I have nothing against photography. But it usually leaves me a little cold.

So once we left realism as the only goal, there was room for all kinds of experimentation.

One of the experiments was Pop Art. There were many versions of this. One was to repeat an image in rows or patterns in bright colors. This is Andy Warhol.

Andy Warhol, Converse Tennis Shoes

I’m not interested in tennis shoes, but I do want to see what happens if I put repetitious octopuses in bright colors together. This is the first octopus. The plan is to put four together. I’m not sure if I’ll use rows or weave their tentacles together.

The colors on the octopuses echo the hand-dyed fabric I’m using. They have a light source that shifts the colors through the tentacles.

Here are three more in different states of completion. When we’re done, we’ll see what pops up.

Lace Jellyfish, Step by Step

| ellenanneeddy

This is not the first time I’ve done three-D jellyfish. But I’ve tweeked what I did this time and I’m happier with the results. If you’d like to see the earlier attempt, they are at Jellyfish 3D Transparency

I wanted three-dimensional transparent jellyfish with opaque areas.

This technique depends on the stabilizers. But there are a number of different stabilizers that will work. They are made for very special purposes.

Stabilizer Sandwich

This time I made my stitching sandwiches out of a layer of Totally Stable for my drawing, Paper Solvy, lace or organza, and Badgemaster, All the stabilizers except the Totally Stable will dissolve out of the work. What I want when I’m done is a clean outline and edge, with some white areas and some transparent.

You can make an image just with your stitching. But you have to make sure all of the stitching connects with itsself or it will fall apart when the stabilizers are gone. Instead, I used commercial nylon lace and organza as the fabric

What do those stabilizers do?

  • Totally Stable: Iron-on, tear-away. Good surface for drawing a pattern
  • Paper Solvy: Paper-like, tearaway that provides stabilization without a hoop that will dissolve in water.
  • Badgemaster: Heavy-duty corn starch topping that dissolves in water.

The order of the sandwich was, from top to botton, Badgemaster, organza or lace, Paper Solvy, and Totally Stable. Snce we’re working upside down, Totally Stable drawing layer is on top where we can see it.

The threads I chose were a polyester white top thread and a Cristalyn white metallic in the bobbin. The metallic is more fragile, and that is why I have it in the bobbin. I chose white because the background is so dark, and I wanted them to shine out. All of the stitching is done from the back.

You’ll notice that I used 2 different magic markers for my drawings. That was an error. Even with all the stitching, the marker colors showed through. I don’t mind either the blue or the orange, but they don’t work together in the same piece.

The Stitching

These are all stitched free motion from the back.

Stitch Process

Outline the image. Freemotion zigzag.

Remove any of the Totally Stable parts you want to be see-through. Score them with a pin and pull them out.X

Use a straight stitch to texture the jelly.

Remove the excess Paper Solvy and Totally Stable from around the pieces.

Stitch around the edge with a zigzag to stabilize them.

Cut away all the excess stabilizer

I edge-stitch again just to give them a more solid edge.

The Paper Solvy and the Badgmaster need to be dissolved in hot water.

Badgemaster is starch. So I took the trimmed off scraps,dissolved them in water, and dipped the jellies to give them that hard starched edge. I dried them on freezer paper. Notice that the orange jelly is the one that was drawn in orange. I need to rethink my mmarkers.

We’re ready to roll with the 3rd pin up on Octopus 5. I believe we’ll call it, Rock, Paper, Shark.

Why My Art Isn’t My Hobby

| ellenanneeddy

This has been a week of downtime. Don and I have both had the flu, and we took off studio time. I’ve progressed on 3 octopus quilts, taking them from the pin-up into sewn-down reality. But those two states don’t look very different. So I don’t have much show and tell this week.

Years ago, a mentor of mine told me that when you are young, you pick up everything like you’re in a candy shop. What defines us in the end is not what we take up, but what we put down.

Don wearing my crocheted wing. Don is a good sport.

I have a rotating hobby selection. I tat. I crochet. I play ukulele. I garden. I tweak recipes. I’m rarely on one thing or another for very long. I do cycle back to hobbies when I need something fresh.

crocheted Cthulu head mask

All of these things are artistic. They’re fun. They fill up time. None of them is art.

I believe in art. I believe everyone is an artist. I believe it to be inherent to being human. Art is how we make sense out of our experiences. It reaches way past media. We work it out in music, in painting, in sculpture, in fiber, or in writing. We retell our stories. Within the retelling, we craft our world into something we can live with. We recraft ourselves. If one path closes, another opens to carry this on. I balance between writing and my art. In purpose, they are essentially the same.

Hobbies are about filling time. We entertain ourselves, we learn, we grow. They are a pleasure if we’ve chosen well. Distraction at worst. I am never all that good at my hobbies. I never engage enough to become good at them. But they bring me joy, entertain me, and get me through bad spots. I think everyone should have a bevy of hobbies as a coping mechanism. I keep telling Don, yarn is cheaper than therapy. Hobbies may not be necessary. But they do spread oil on the gears.

Art isn’t optional. It’s a day-to-day struggle to understand what’s going on.

I cant say I understand my art. I sometimes do in time. I know an image gets in my head and I have to work with it. Once I have, something in me settles. I’ve changed myself by engaging with the image.

But before that, I crammed in all kinds of art experiences. I did batik, clay sculpture. I sewed everything I wore except my shoes and my bras. I made stained glass. At some point, Mary Annis gave me a quilt she rescued from our trash can. I’ve quilted ever since.

That was it. What defined me after that was what I put down. Nothing mattered like quilting.

When did my quilting turn into my art? Like most things, it’s hard to see the source. I really don’t know.

At some point, I started taking my quilt to my therapy appointments.I think that probably defines it.

What do the octopuses mean? I think I’m talking about the ability to multitask, think in different ways, and move like smoke and ocum, all of which I desperately wish I could do.

Is it my work? Is it my vocation?

Everything eventually turns into work. There’s the day you have to bind something. The day 6 small quilts are due, and none of them finished. It may be fun. It may not. But you need to get it done.

Also, if you’re going to live off your art, it inevitably becomes work. There’s a lot of perspiration and much less inspiration. You are producing a product. Often, that’s smaller, less exciting pieces. They are worthy. They pay for bread and butter. It’s what you love, but it also has to get done.

Why should people buy art? Because it changes the buyer, too. It makes you laugh, or hope, or cry, or giggle. It opens your heart and your mind. It also supports artists, so they can continue to create the things that change them, change you, and change the world.

So the lines aren’t that strictly drawn. My hobbies are my entertainment. My art, I do for my soul. I love it all, but at some point, you just need to get things done. Work may be a four letter word. But it’s not the worst of them.

So don’t tell me I have a nice hobby. Welcome to my art.