To Art Quilting and Beyond - Week 2/Part 4

OVER THE BOX

Today we are taking a break from the Making Do and the Zombie Apocalypse and Power Outages.

Let's take another look at how we can take our art quilts to another place, tell another story.

You ready to embark on this new challenge?

OK...I gave you a hint earlier this week. This one is not only outside the box...it is over the box.

I love to think of/find other things to do with my art quilts. Different ways to use them, to present them.

This story started years ago really. There was a very interesting post of FreeCycle (You'll see later what it was) that, as an artist, I just couldn't pass up.  Had NO clue what I would ever do with it but I just HAD TO HAVE IT!! I'm sure none of you have ever succumbed to that particular temptation! I brought the booty home and it sat in a box in my studio and eventually in the garage...just biding its time.

It hit me a few months ago what I wanted to do with this wonderful acquisition and it all started to come together in my head. Now to find the time to figure out how it could work and the time to just do it! Well, when I finally decided on the topic for this month, I knew its time had finally come. So especially for you, never before seen!

Here is the fabric I started with. A pounded paint fabric that at the time I thought still needed some work. However, it is perfect for this project just as it is.

This is a small project so I could pick and choose just the right bit of this fabric for the look I wanted. The finished piece will only be 6" X 6". First thing I did was to quilt the 6" X 6" batting onto the fabric. It was cut just a bit over 6" square to adjust for the loss of size when stitched. (And YES...you can use electricity on this one!!) I kept the quilting simple for reasons you will see later. It's not going to show much if at all.

Now to the fun part...adding the next layer! The audition phase of the project. Here's where I ended up for the place to begin. Most of the buttons are from things like abalone. A couple are just plastic.

Now I would have stitched all of this on my machine before this month. But I am having so much fun hand-stitching, I decided for such a small piece that would be just right. Here they are all stitched down.

The next step also started a while ago. I wanted some art boxes to do some encaustic work on but never got around to it. But these little boxes are perfect for this project.  They are 6" X 6" X 1.5"

Next step is to wrap the "quilt" OVER THE BOX! I stapled it inside the back of the box. Unfortunately, I was having such a great time and was so excited I didn't get a photo of that step but I'm sure most of you have done something similar at some point so..... close your eyes.....see the quilt stretched over the box....turn the box upside down....get your staple gun....fold neat corners....staple!!  

Now for the new part. The FreeCycle things I captured. A box FULL of fancy, very unique glass tiles! And when I say I got a ton of them...I'm not kidding! I think that box weighs a full ton!! Here is one of them. Not the one I used on this piece because...again...I was having way too much fun to stop and take a photo! But this particular glass block will be used for the next one.

In the home stretch!!

The glass block was placed over the quilt over the box. I adhered it with quite a bit of  E6000 after I had done a test to be sure it would not show.  

This is the first of a series entitled "Distortions"  There will be three of this color way entitled "Water"

So the full title of this piece is "Distortions - Water 1"

You might notice that some of the buttons from the original little quilt are missing. Adjustments had to be made to accommodate the undulations of the glass block.

What do you think?????  The plan is to do sets of three in different topics....Water (I will be using shells with these as well), Trees (with twig bits), Rock (with pebbles), Landscape (haven't finalized that concept yet), etc. Like I said....I have a LOT of these blocks!! 

So the special challenge this week....think of different ways to present, incorporate or augment your art quilts! I'm sure there are ways no one has thought of yet. I look forward to seeing some of them on this sight in the future!! In fact, I have asked another artist on this site if she would mind posting her way cool way of displaying some of her small quilts tomorrow. Inspiration is everywhere........