Project Quilting 17.1: A Clean Slate

Project Quilting Season 17 kicked off with A Clean Slate challenge theme, fitting for the new year.

I've been reflecting over the word Direction with a focus on the direction of my art, my teaching, and my personal relationships. In many ways, I feel like I am all over the map with my art practice and teaching, so I am hoping to focus on where everything is heading artistically, professionally, and personally.

I always draw inspiration from quotes and found several that resonated with me at this juncture:

"Direction determines destination." - Jim Rohn, American entrepreneur/author
"The direction of your focus is the direction you life will move. Let yourself move toward what is good, valuable, strong, and true." - Ralph Marston, American Football player
"Each step in the right direction allows you to see further in that direction." - Tom Ziglar, author and son to Zig Ziglar
"Walk in the direction where your peace is found." - Steven Aitchison, Scottish Author

With these quotes in my head, I brainstormed some related imagery (arrows, compass, stars/star chart, map, and Peace sign) that I then sketched into a few quick thumbnails.

I took a few days to let these ideas (and any others) percolate. I was especially intrigued by the star chart and constellation.

Friday evening, I started with a clean slate: a postcard size of C&T's Fast 2 Fuse Heavy stabilizer. From there I played with adding layers of prints, sheers, bling, and stitched textures to create my starry sky.

One of the first fabrics I pulled was the black sheer with stitched swirls. I kept trying to find a way to make it work through repositioning it, potentially adding a few star sequins. The scale and the placement of the swirls continued to pose design challenges and so I set it aside. As I was going through my stash of sheers in search of alternatives, I found a brilliant ombre that I experimented to create the northern lights via a solid strip and pleating experiments before layering a few skinny wavy strips to create the Aurora Borealis.

An older sunprinted fabric was pulled for creating a mountain range in the foreground. And then I tried to sneak that swirling black sheer back into the mix! This seemed an optimal time to hit pause and revisit my design the next day. I even left myself some materials and notes so I could dive right back in and finish. Overlapping gentle curved lines were stitched throughout the northern lights and background sky.

And then it was time to add a bit more bling to the sky by hand stitching on sequins and beads for the moon and stars. Once all the sequins were positioned, 1/4" painter's tape was used to mark their placement, making it easier to complete the hand stitching.

The postcard was trimmed to 6" x 4" before stitching around the perimeter. The edges were finished with Tulip Dimensional Fabric paint and I was delighted to find a bottle of dark grey paint labeled Galaxy which I took a Definitely as a positive sign that my stars were aligning!