Ready For the SMQ Guild Show

I finished sewing the buttons in place ... but not outside on the deck because the weather turned a bit cool.  The yarns look a mess as a result of working on the piece while it lays flat.

I flipped it over to hand-stitch facings to the three raw edges.

A hanging sleeve was also stitched in placed on the top edge.

Unraveled IV - 24" x 48"

Last evening all the clothing tags were over-painted with a mixture of gold metallic pigment and acrylic gloss medium.  This coating lessened the contrast between the bright white ones and the background.  In the photo above a light is reflecting off the surface of some.  In reality those reflecting the flash of my camera appear like the ones at the top of the piece.  All the labels have a soft sheen as well as a glaze of gold to give them a commonality.  They are now truly secondary to the loose yarns on the surface.  The initial reaction is no longer, "Wow! Labels."  The lettering draws attention to bring the viewer in for a closer inspection.  The buttons add visual "punch" as well as a more regular rhythm to the compositon.  I knew they belonged on this piece, because I missed them after they were removed in preparation for sewing them on.  The one thing these photos don't show is the depth of the loose yarns.  In the lower half the "hanks" extend an inch and half out from the background fabric.

I'm pleased with the resulting piece and look forward to it being in our upcoming guild quilt show.

PS: This piece was awarded 1st Place in the Art Quilt Category.

       Woo Hoo!