Rusted Fabric Quilts

"Guitar Hero" was finished in March and shown at the IQF Long Beach show.  It's "38  by 48"

 Manipulating the metal shavings is fun.  I can make pictorial shapes that yield an interesting quilt.  Putting the various color schemes with the rusted cloth has been educational.  There are colors I thought would look washed out with rust and colors I thought would overpower the rust.  So far, the colors have worked well with the rust -- at least I've been pleased.

It is difficult to quilt through the heavily rusted areas.  My sewing machine is about to mutiny.  I may try to hand quilt sometime to save myself some stress and sewing needles.  I heavily quilt these pieces so everything stays flat nicely.  I know that rusted fabric breaks down over time, but fabric also fades over time.  I figure it will last a fairly long time.  That's another reason I quilt so heavily, to keep the rusted fabric attached to the quilt if it ever does start to come apart.

Two-Faced detail shot

Two -Faced

Knee High to a Grasshopper  36" x 48"

2011

 For the bright green background grasshopper, I did bobbin work with Pearl cotton.  I first stitched the grasshopper on the front in regular black sewing thread.  Then I turned the piece to the back side and stitched over the black thread a few more times, with the Pearl cotton in my bobbin and regular sewing thread in my machine.  I do like his expression and "buggy" eyes.

Close-up of Kneehigh to a Grasshopper

"Reinvent the Wheel" 36" x 48" was my first rusted quilt.  I was very pleased with how it turned out.

2010

And the close-up.

I still want to get that red/teal complementary color thing worked out.  This is the closest I've come to nailing it, but I still have far to go.  Sarah Ann Smith did a beautiful quilt with this color combination a few years back and it had such beauty and impact.

2011