Comfort zone challenge

Steamroller. Yup. Steamroller. That's what we will use to print fabric in October. The next five weeks will find me at the Five in One Social Club workshop carving a 40" x 96" woodcut that we will ink and roll over. With a steamroller. Forty by ninety-six, big enough to be used as a banner, a shroud or a toga. Or maybe a quilt. Or two.

I've always wanted to design large prints, but never had access to large presses. This will be the first time I will carve a woodcut. It's a comfort zone challenge. There's no telling how much joy or regret I will feel during this process. Start thinking big. Yup. Big. No little stitch details necessary. (Oh...OK...maybe after I get the fabric printed I could add little stitch details...watch this space).

And of course it will be fabric. My medium of choice. Cotton, stretched delicately over an inked board, coming alive with pressure. Lots of pressure, watch your fingers.

Not sure what I will name this piece. All I know right now is that I'll be carving out all of the white areas. Final print size: 40 x 96.

So, naturally, I think about cutting it up and stitching swathes of yardage.

I could add batting and stitching to the print but if I cut it up I have some very interesting pieces of black and white fabric.

And then the decision making begins. Oh my!

It's probably a good thing that my sewing machine is in the shop for maintenance. Not sure how much distraction I need during this challenge.

Think big. Work big. Oh my.

As Jefferson Airplane says in their classic song, White Rabbit:

Remember what the dormouse said
Feed your head, feed your head

 

another what if? project

The wonderful thing about assembling fabric scraps into art is the variety of ways to approach it. After finishing the Shattered quilt I encountered my ever-growing Stash of Scraps.

I save all fabric and that requires some management skills.

With little else inspiring me and a frozen world outside keeping me from enjoying the garden, I decided to start another what if project. This time my query is: What if I assembled scraps without plan and separated each scrap composition by a slice of black for one row and a slice of white for another?
The rules of the game:

  • I can not fussy cut or design the scrap compositions,
  • I can not measure or calculate; and
  • I have to pull colors in a random fashion to create them.

Here's the first set:

The first round of random compositions, one row of black and two rows of white.

Of course, my motto is always More is More, creating quilts is often a study in multiples, so I continued without regard to success for a couple of more days. Make enough Log Cabin blocks and put them together and you get something pretty spectacular right? So I continued.

These sets measure about 50" across and 30" deep.

At this point I start to realize that the color sets are creating their own world. See that set of black legs in the lowest white row? Or the little white doorway in the third row from the bottom? The cat ears in the third row from the top? This could be fun when the stitching begins. What better way to use up those pesky accumulations. And what if I recompose the rows?

The composition phase will take some time. And I might have to inject some planning soon as I can see some pieces that are not pleasing me.  Serendipity is all well and good but not for a lifetime. And sometimes it feels like a lifetime till I finish one of these pieces. For now I'm having fun. I haven't run out of scraps, so this journey will continue. Perhaps the final composition will tell me something about the way my thoughts run rampant

And I have already reduced my scrap heap from this to this:

hmmmm … Now what can I do with those little strands of color with thread tails?

serendipity

Pile of scraps

This latest exploration has me excited about the possibilities. I start with a pile of scraps. Stitch them randomly together, slice and restitch, slice and restitch, trim, iron, trim to 4" squares. (oh such fun to use rotary cutter randomly, no measurements -- just the feel of the wheel on the cutting surface.....)

The resulting compositions of floating and jagged objects start speaking to each other when placed in groups. Like shards of reality exploding in a shattering space. The scraps in this case are from a linen table cloth and some black kona cotton.

linen squares

I created 49 squares and assembled them into a grid with more black cotton yesterday. Some of them are a little wonky and I had to trim overly thick seams down to size before the final trim. I gave up being perfectly flat a while ago in an effort to respect the character of the fabric. I may even intentionally unravel some of the edges. Or hand sew some suture lines when I see a wounded piece. I will probably battle some of the bias edges when I start to stitch. But I love their texture, and the randomness of the pieces and I suspect that the wonkiness will add to the character of the piece.

Now, another what if process...What if I create tangent lines next to all of the floating black objects? Let them travel across the piece to intersect willy-nilly with other floating black objects.....

You can see the start of that stitching on this shot. Many more lines to go. I am using a variegated thread that goes from black to white. Love how sometimes it looks like a little spark is ignited where the white threads hit each other.

You can see the start of that stitching on this shot. Many more lines to go. I am using a variegated thread that goes from black to white. Love how sometimes it looks like a little spark is ignited where the white threads hit each other.

It is cold and shattery outside this week. Lovely ice for inspiration. And such a good reason to stay inside and work on new ideas.

It is cold and shattery outside this week. Lovely ice for inspiration. And such a good reason to stay inside and work on new ideas.

Linen and black

Linen and black cotton. Crisp and contrasty. Layers upon layers. Then blown apart. 
Yesterday was spent controlling the explosion.

Now to assembly. And then to my favorite part....the stitching.

These tryouts didn't make the grade. But they did help me to understand the composition I wanted.

These tryouts didn't make the grade. But they did help me to understand the composition I wanted.

back to the beginning

Paula Kovarik, 2012.

OK, I admit I have found numerous excuses not to get back into the swing of working at days end. Too tired, too frazzled, too cold to return to the studio. Preparing for the Exploration show, going out of town, watching election results, crocheting Christmas presents, paying bills. Doing research, etc. etc. etc.

Is it that I am blocked? (maybe) Overwhelmed by the options? (yes, definitely) Intimidated by my expectations? (definitely) Am I being affected by the time change? weather change? mood change? (Yes. Yes. Yes.)

So today I browsed through some older progress shots to restart the engines. This simple black and white composition intrigues me. I may have to take a side street to experiment further with this meadering.