Trio of Magical Mandalas

One of the Craft Napa festivities planned by host extraordinaire, Pokey Bolton, is the Stay Pawsitive! fundraiser.  Artists are invited to make one or more postcards measuring 4" x 6".  All postcards will be available for purchase for $20, with all proceeds going to Wags and Whiskers, a Chico-based pet rescue organization that takes in animals displaced by the Camp Fires.

For my postcard creations, I started by pulling several remnants from my own hand dyed fabrics to provide a backdrop for wholecloth quilted mandalas.  Pellon 809 Decor Bond was layered between the batting and the quilt back to provide some structure and support for my postcards. Blue painter's tape was used to outline the areas for each postcard, prior to pin basting.

Mark Free Magic

As always, I enjoyed the meditative nature of improvisationally stitching out my mandalas, ring by ring with very little planning or marking!

Once my mandalas were trimmed to the 4x6 size, I used one of quilted remnants to experiment with painting the edges in lieu of finishing with a traditional binding or facing. I saw this edging technique somewhere online or at a guild meeting, but cannot for the life of me remember where!  Since I had no reference source, I experimented with four different textile paints (left to right: Tulip brand Puffy paint, ProChem ProFab Pearlescent Paint in Indigo, Gunmetal and Lilac,which I brought home after taking Sue Bleiweiss' Screen It, Stamp It, Stencil It, Foil It, Use It workshop at Craft Napa 2017!!  While the Puffy Paint had its own applicator tip, I used a small paint brush to gently dab the ProFab paints along the trimmed edges.  I was careful not to distort the edge and used the brush to smooth out any bumps, before propping each postcard up on a spare jar of paint to air dry.  All four paints were easy to apply, concealed the batting layer, and added a nice finish to the edges! Since they each performed well, I chose the Gunmetal Pearlescent paint to match the silver metallic threads used to stitch out the mandalas. I could have easily stopped at one coat of paint, but opted to add a second coat for good measure.  I am not sure if I noticed any significant difference, but figured it couldn't hurt!

Painted Edges

So for those attending Craft Napa, you can bring home one or all three of these Magical Mandalas, while helping to provide homes for the animals impacted by the Camp Fires.

Trio of Magical Mandalas, Each Finishes 4" x 6"