Monday, December 15, 2008

Mother, Rejoice (24 x 27)

I finished this piece I've been working on. I think of it as a collage of fabric and embellishments more than as a crazy quilt. It doesn't have much embroidery, unlike "Little Flower." I think I am taking a break from heavily embellished pieces for now. (Or perhaps, this is what passes as light embellishment for me.)

I used vintage linens and lace, fabric, trim, and lots of beads. Most of the border fabrics are home dec samples.

This is my second time working with transfers made from holy card images. They have a lot of significance for me, as they call up my childhood in a very sentimental and innocent way. I like the way these images fit so nicely on vintage handkerchiefs.

I use plain old pre-made t-shirt transfer sheets from the fabric store. I make the photo transfers by running the sheets through my printer, and when I iron them onto the handkerchief, the print of the fabric shows through.

Allie Aller gave me this silk panel. I embroidered over the message and did a bit of had embroidery and beading.

This patch is from a handkerchief that I cut down and embellished.

The lighting was bad when I took the photo of the whole piece: the sky was black and stormy. The detailed photos came out better, however.

I cut the gold flowers from a trim and I used a lot of sequins and pearls. The beading did double duty in that it also hold the quilt layers together.

Most of the flowers in this piece were pre-made and I combined them with beaded accents.

In the middle of this photo you can see some small pearls from an old broken necklace.


I like the way this part looks like an apple blossom branch.

Click on the images for close-up views.

9 comments:

Vicki W said...

Barbara, it's stunnung! Thanks for all of the detail photos.

Anonymous said...

Barbara, your pieces always have such rich detail. Beautiful!!

Debra Dixon said...

Mother, Refoice is such a pretty piece! You certainly can work miracles with the humblest of fabrics and trims. One of my favorites.

Libby said...

So beautiful! Rejoice! is a great addition...a really lovely piece.

Judy S. said...

So pretty, Barbara. I love it and the details. Thanks for sharing!

JoWynn Johns said...

The details make for an exceptionally lovely piece. I'm so glad you showed us the close-ups of them. And I'm glad you and your family have enjoyed your birthday festivities.

allie aller said...

Oh I love this!
What's really nice to me, besides the beautiful work, is the idea of the Madonna rejoicing...often times She is portrayed as so sad, but not here.

Magpie Sue said...

Yes, thanks for the detail shots. What wonderful eye candy! Lovely piece overall. Kudos!

Rengin Yazitas said...

Gorgeous...It is fantastic project. Special thanks for the close-up photos.
Rengin, in Istanbul

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