A Happy Mess

Yesterday I spent the entire day in my workroom. I pretty much have no idea what else happened around here, except that my wonderful DH cooked up a pretty tasty hot chicken dish and I showed up in the kitchen in time to make the salad.

You are looking at some of my fun. I cut a nice hunk of silk, backed it with Deco-Bond and painted away using Dyna-flo and Setacolor. Somewhere in the back of my mind I knew I wanted to do a lot of thread work later. Let me just say I LOVE painting on silk. It handles quite differently than cotton and looks so shimmery later. I bought a whole bolt from Dharma, so I expect to learn a lot more as I go.

After it was dry I couldn't wait to get it under the machine. The paint had soaked through both layers, and I thought the Deco Bond might actually make a nice backing. It peeled off easily, so I added some batting in between the layers and used a little 505 adhesive spray to hold it all together. 505 is pretty nice for non-stickiness and non-stinkiness, but you still need good ventilation when you apply it.

Dove into the thread and found a nice electric blue pearl cotton for the bobbin. Did some thread drawing on the front for a guide, then flipped it and started the bobbin work.

The element of surprise when you look at the front is really fun (well, it's not a complete surprise, you kind of know what to expect, but still...). I just love the strong lines you can make with heavier thread.

I also love the shimmer of Superior Threads Rainbow trilobal poly. I have in mind to do more thread work on this piece. I have so many wonderful threads, have I mentioned that they are my new addiction? I don't know if I will add some solid fabric pieces as applique, or go paint on it some more or?. It lacks focus now, so it has to go up on the design wall. To be continued.

Oh my, I hope the rest of the house doesn't look this bad!