I did this piece with something else in mind but I cannot bring myself to cut it up ! It will stay as it is! …another piece just to look at !
I reworked this piece in 2023 and named it “Underwater Garden”
There is an Australian quilt artist who uses similar techniques I used creating this piece .Her name is Michelle Micshulnig .
Here is a pdf of research I did on her work . She is incredibly inspirational !!!
Jane Sassaman is a designer , quilt artist and business woman .Her work is based on large florals and she mainly uses solid coloured fabrics and sewing machine techniques to enhance her work. Her work is vibrant and graphically exclusively her own .
She has a specific method to creating her fabulous quilts and I will take you on that journey !
I have been looking for a project to teach Janes method using an app to create individual designs . Many students need a pattern before they take on work so in order to push them to be a little more creative without too much fear of design and the drawing board. I have developed a way for each student to create their own organic design using this Kaleidoscope App and therefore each piece is different .
The project begins by uploading the Kaleidoscope app and drawing a design on it .This is easy as you just make some simple colour and pen selections and drag your finger on and around the screen of your device .It can be filmed on the app itself and then by taking a screenshot of the app in motion many different designs can be “screenshot”!
You could ,of course just work with the screenshot and use it as an appliqué design or as I have done ,you could extract floral or organic shapes and work with them to make a new design .
If you watch the video clip on Instagram you will see how it is possible to take a screenshot of many different designs .
You can never really appreciate someones work until you have tried the techniques yourself and realize how much effort has gone into it and why it works. It is so with Janes work ! I have always loved her work , the boldness of the colour and the design as well as her use of the sewing machine and its decorative stitches but also its tools. Jane is the master of machine tools . She uses the machine to its utmost and I appreciate that as Bernina Machines are expensive machines but have superb tools , so why not use them well. For instance, when using decorative stitches you must always begin at the beginning of the stitch process .Bernina have a tool for that – the pattern begin button ! You must always make sure you secure the starter threads and the final threads – securing function button . Using the speed control always helps as does the needle down position . Using the thread path you can move your needle to the easiest position to sew , while using the presser foot designed for your needs .The open toe appliqué presser foot is a great foot to have and also the open toe walking foot . The mirror image button comes in very handy so you do not have to keep turning your work around . And last but not least , the free hand system which allows you to lift and place the presser foot by knee actions keeping your hands free to control the work.
I always try to get the use of these functions over to my students and this is most certainly a project for anyone who wants to master the machines tools. Make the best of your machine ! This is not to say you cannot do this kind of work on any other machine , you most certainly can … but it may just try your patience a little !
It is impossible to turn on these apps and not play ! I am messing around with ideas of how to turn this technique into a Mini quilt …30cm x 30cm
… making fabric containers for my favourite things .
I have chosen to make containers for the three small pomegranates.These dried pomegranates were collected in a beautiful , old ,derelict, Jewish house in Kashan , Iran .
The Pomegranate is called the Heavenly Fruit in Iran میوه بهشت or the King of Fruits شاه میوه .It is used in cuisine , juices , healing purposes and for dyeing wool and silk …. and of course it is eaten in abundance especially on the Yule Tide Festival ‘Yalda’ which is the Winter Solstice … the longest night.
I dried pomegranate skins and ground them to a coarse powder. I made a dye bath by adding cider vinegar and the powder bringing it to the boil stirring the solution well. I added pieces of cotton muslin , wool fabric and silk thread . I let them simmer for over two hours . It never ceases to amaze me how natural ingredients never cause blotches or spots on the fabric and how the residue just washes away leaving in this case a gorgeous earthy pink on the wool and yellow/ browns on the cotton and silk .
Pomegranate skins and alum mordant are used to dye yarns in a variety of yellows for carpets , kilims and handicrafts. The colour achieved will depend on the quality of the fruit and the combination of mordants used . Vinegar acts as a mordant and a Ph modifier helping the fibers to absorb the dye . A weak vinegar solution also helps to stop some fibers like wool and silk from degrading . If no mordant is used the colours are more earthy browns than yellows and pinks .
This is a design project inspired by Christine Chester for the Lockdown Stitch Challenge http://www.textileartist.org . I really enjoyed it .I took the opportunity to use it as a continuation of my research on embroidery on wool and would like to explain the colour choices! Pateh Doozi , an Iranian needlework / folk art uses these 8 colours in certain combinations …. blue and red = purple etc…. I used them in the same way but with a modern twist.
Why the orange ? I always get asked at my workshops … well… you should see it without the orange ! The orange brings it to life!
The yarns and the fabric are sheep and goats wool . They are also traditionally used in Pateh Doozi .
I have taken photos of the work and used App.Ology to create new designs . Amazing stuff this App.Ology!
https://dzignpatch.com/2019/02/11/digitally-designed-textiles/
This is a project inspired by http://www.textileartist.org during the Lockdown Corona period February to May 2020 and also an extension of my original project studying folk art on wool . I used the tradition wool arriz shawl from the Pateh Doozi and hand dyed yarns . I made 6 samplers originally using stitches that are used in Pateh Doozi and then used App.Ollogy to create more intricate designs . I cannot put it down ! I usually need to feel the project has exhausted itself and comes to a natural end …. this is still on going!
This project is for my City&Guilds students hoping to encourage them to use mixed media in their work . I have used can rings, foil tops, pins ,paperclips etc…. in the sampler . Line and Texture are values that need to be explored and students are encourged to use the stitches they have learned to create both of these design values . The prints were made by App.Ollogy after finishing the project .
The weaving was done on my little 8 Shaft Designer Loom a long time back . Now I have been revisiting the work and revived it with App.Ollogy . A Whole New Look! Illustration drawings and woven fabric photography put through App.Ollogy can create gorgeous prints and a more updated fashion statement.
Experimenting with ideas for 3D Embroidery . These are once again photos of work translated with apps on my ipad .
I need some floral designs to translate into a quilt project so I am playing with coloured paper ….
Using photos of my work and ‘App.Ology’ as I call it , the amount of designs I can create is endless!
What is App.Ology ? It it the name I gave to the process of using various apps in sequence to achieve different effects .
I had to choose a topic for a course I am doing and kept having to explain the process so I named it App.Ology so the assessors would know what I was talking about . I am trying to work out a formula to use but the possibilities are incredible! The combinations are infinite and the visual effects depends on the original source, which Apps they go through , which filters etc… Chance and coincidence play a big part in the designs and the introduction of new apps makes for even more exciting effects. I have been successful at harnessing the outcome to a certain extent and use ideas to re design from.I think I will be busy with App.Ology for some time….
I use App.Ology as part of the design process. I have a source, a drawing or piece of work , photograph it … and play with combinations of Apps . I can then derive various new designs from the result …and then repeat the process till I feel I have exhausted the creative process and patterns begin to repeat . It never fails to amaze me how far I can go with each source.
Here are the icons of the apps I am using . The majority of these apps are free and I have limited myself to the free versions so far . All the photos or prints that are named ‘Digital’ are a version of these apps.
This is a Contemporary Pateh Sampler . I have derived over a hundred new designs from it ! It uses the same fabrics and yarns with the traditional Pateh Stitches but has a modern twist .
Dzignpatch 