Fabric Collage

"Study in Contrast"

After I had been making my “Shabby  Chic” scarves for awhile, I decided to try using the technique to create a fabric collage.  I love mixing textures and fabrics and layering them, as I did to make the scarves, so why not use the same technique to create a wall hanging?  I could see that there would be some slight modifications needed.  For instance, instead of sandwiching the fibers between layers of Sulky solvy, I started by using fabric for the bottom layer, and then I placed other fabrics, yarns and ribbons on top.  Then I pinned a piece of Sulky solvy on top.  Then I grid stitched the layers together, rinsed out the Sulky solvy, and dried the collage.  Once it was dry, I pressed it with a pressing cloth (didn’t want the metallic fibers to melt!), then I fused it to a heavy weight stabilizer, bound it and suspended by yarn loops on a piece of Juniper wood from the wood pile.

I have done a couple other pieces using this technique:

"Meandering"

This one is very similar to the first.

"Study in Copper"

This one is larger, and I suspended it on a Café rod.

I really love this technique, and I’m sure there are many ways to use it for other fun projects.  I have one more to show you, so be sure to check my next post!

Collaged Background Step 1

These fabric collage pieces all begin with some kind of background or support. Using Valerie Goodwin's technique, I'll show you how I began with fabrics from My Pink House, seen in my last post.

Selecting my fabrics for this technique is pretty easy and a lot of fun because any bloopers blend in so well in the later stages. I generally start with a range of lights, mediums, and darks in the color or colors I have in mind for my finished piece. It is easiest to assemble the collage if the pieces are cut into smallish rectangles, although with a little experience you can use any shapes you want, as raw edges ARE allowed. Above, I assembled my cut fabrics on the crinoline to which I will attach them. (Crinoline was discussed in a past post this month - nice firm backing and easy to stitch through by hand later in the process.)

 I start by stitching one fabric piece to the crinoline by machine, then adding the others, folding each piece over the seam. I often press the pieces down as I go but that's not essential.

 Once my fabrics are stitched onto the background, I begin stitching on the surface to ensure that each edge is surely attached. Decorative stitches can be fun and/or helpful here. Use any color you wish. We used black top stitching in Valerie's class and it looked great.

To finish this stage, I trim the edges.

Next step - making all those different colors and patterns look unified.

Lasting Lessons from Valerie

Last summer I took a terrific workshop with Valerie Goodwin at the annual Quilting by the Lake event held in Syracuse, New York. The title of her work shop was Design with Color, but it was so much more than that.

I have admired Valerie’s work for several years and saw it first in Quilting Arts magazine. Her art quilt maps just knocked me out! Maps?! Fabric?! Geographically-placed visual stories?! Right up my alley! She constructs beautiful fabric collage to tell her stories, and I bought her book Art Quilt Maps to learn more. But the thing that got me to the workshop - in spite of all kinds of complications - was seeing her work from 12 inches away at the Cartography: Artists as Map Makers exhibit at the Schweinfurth Memorial Art Center in Auburn, NY last June. Her materials and narratives were so inspiring, that I went home, rearranged my schedule, and send in my registration for the second week of Quilting by the Lake.

I’ll start with the finished collage backgrounds I used for a couple of my recent pieces using Valerie’s technique. Then I’ll explain how they were constructed in the next couple of posts.    

   

Jacaranda

The piece at the right is one of a group of works I made using Valerie's techniques for my backgrounds. This one, Jacaranda, is based on a photo I took in Oaxaca, Mexico of a doorway in an ancient stone building. As I walked past it one morning, the sun was hitting a brilliantly blooming jacaranda tree back in the courtyard. I wanted my background to convey the texture of  the old building with its somewhat crumbling walls. You can see many intentional imperfections and its rectangles of stone blocks.

My Pink House

You may have seen this piece on the left before. It is my Pink House fabric collage, an embellished version of my new studio, gallery, and home. This time, the collage using Valerie's technique makes up the house itself, which is then the background for more collage work. The house is 115 years old, and I wanted the siding to have a somewhat random look (although it doesn't appear that way, at least not on the front of the house). 

Below is an under-construction detail of the addition of the door and windows on top of that background.

If you like the look of this technique, I highly recommend Valerie's book. Even better, track her down at one of her workshops.

Next post - how to get started.

Getting the Work on the Wall ... or in the Hand

There are SO many ways to use your fabric collages! Besides making them in sizes to fit into an art vending machine (if you’re lucky enough to have one in your community), you can hang these little ones from ribbons or give them away in your studio or gallery. The purple square in the photo below is the piece of mat board cut to the size of the collage. I attach these to the backs of the little collages with soft gel medium. It makes a great backing for your business information or a short note, as well as making it a finished piece.

 Frame your work in traditional or shadow box frames.The collages in the deep white frames below have spacers between the art work and the glazing, in this case plexiglass.

The art work below is framed with a mat but without glazing, so that the texture is conspicuous. Many of my fabric pieces are framed in this way, and those seem to appeal to more buyers that the unframed pieces. I also frequently use a frame with glass, especially when my work is being exhibited in shows dominated by other other media, such as paintings.

One of my favorite display methods for my collages is to mount them on prepared canvas, almost always painted to coordinate with the art work. (An example is on the right.) This method is also appealing to potential buyers, as the canvases are very easy to hang. I attach the collage to the mat either with large but invisible stitches or with soft gel medium.









My Pink House collage to the left is hung with a wood slat in a sleeve on the back of the piece with a small holes for nails on each end, all hidden on the back. It is a more traditional way of hanging a fabric piece, and just right for this piece with its irregular edges and homey feel.

These last pieces were hung with simple tabs and small branches, in keeping with the forest theme and natural look. It's a bit tricky to hang a piece with these uneven branches. I had to try out several before finding the right ones, and then made small holes in the branches that the nails slid through.

Just a few of many ways to show off your fabric collages. I'd love to hear about your favorite methods.

Posted by Cris Winters.

Adding the Fun!

SO MANY choices of texture, color, thread, paper, silk, cotton, linen – the fun part when adding the surface layer on fabric collage is choosing the scraps for a particular piece. I like to dump out my scrap bin on the table and rummage through it to find some initial scraps that seem to relate to one another, either by contrasting or coordinating with one another. Then I start adding to the pile. In general, I don’t limit either thin or heavy weight fabrics – a variety is great in most work of this kind.

This scrap selection includes cotton, rayon, and wool challis. I wanted to emphasize pinks that coordinated with each other.

The two collages above include silk, polyester, commercial cotton, inkjet-printed cotton, and threads from upholstery fabric.

You will want to consider the fiber content. Many synthetic or silk fabrics require a lower iron temperature than some of your other fabrics. You have choices: eliminate those fabrics; add them but remember where they are and be very careful when fusing; or go to town and love the melting and distortions that might occur. You can always cover a blooper with another scrap.

Melted synthetic sheer on crinoline backing.

Above is some sheer polyester fabric included in my collage of an old stone building. I included it because I loved the pattern on that fabric. The iron was bit too hot for it, but it melted beautifully to expose the crinoline backing, enhancing the aged character I was looking for.

In addition to fabric, I sometimes include papers and threads. In the piece below, I used a page from an old book that I had stamped with pink flowers, yellow-green paper with stamped ginkgo leaves, and a piece of scanned hand-written text that was inkjet printed on cotton, along with a variety of cottons with interesting shapes.

The process of constructing fabric collage in this way is a real creative challenge with lots of latitude and a huge learning component.


Next time, I'll share some of the numerous ways I've used these fabric collages.





Posted by Cris Winters.