Square five

Square five finished. That might be enough for now. I feel like some "poly-clay-play" instead of more sewing.
This was the ugliest of the nuno-felt pieces I made....it had bobbly green and yellow fun-yarn, trapped in the wool.
It has provided interesting texture though, I'm much happier with it, since accentuating the bobbly bits with blanket stitch.

Wall hanging

Four squares completed, and working on number five. I think they might look good as a wall hanging.

Hung vertically, instead of horizontally though.

Square number five looks like this....so far.

Quilt Panels

I am working on 25x25cm squares, and adding a wool "quilt" backing. This will stabilise each piece...and I can decide later if they will become a wall hanging, or if each one will be made into a bag. I like the idea of not being locked in, at this stage. For the presentation....I could paint a cork board white, and pin the pieces on.

It would match the white house, and hopefully suggest a design board in a "home studio". I like to create art at home, with basic materials.
 I am really happy with the abstract quality of the ovals, I think they work much better with the fabrics than the "cane slice" shapes.

Tie-dye, muslin, polymer clay

Yes! I think I have got it, at last!  The tie-dyed fabric is bright, colourful, garish....the muslin is dull and a bit boring. The clay pieces disappear on the fabric. But.....what if I cut a window in the muslin, revealing a flash of colour; do some stitching on the fabric to create texture, and use the above as a frame for the polymer clay piece? I think it might work, and I will be using most of my materials, as planned.
I can play on the squiggly lines created by the elastics, in the tie-dye process.
The polymer clay blanks could either be made into brooches ( by adding a pin back), or a pendant (by adding a clay strip, and making a tunnel for a cord, on the back)  That way, I can remove them later if necessary, and also won't be detracting from the pattern, by making button holes.

Embroidery for texture

With all the focus on polymer clay, I have been missing out on textiles. Last night I tried some cross-stitch on a nuno felt piece, and was quite happy with the result.

Though I have been advised to let the clay pieces speak for themselves ("The fabric detracts from them") I still cant help wanting  to make fabric pieces, with  polymer clay embellishments. Maybe these pieces will work better, because they are more abstract or freeform than my other "cane slice" shapes. Maybe I could echo the dot, line and wavy patterns on the fabric?   The tie-dyed fabric is also a bit bright and garish....but maybe I could change the surface with embroidery too, or create texture with pin tucks or ruffles?

Mokume Gane experiment

Last night I found a Julie Picarello tutorial on You tube. I had seen the Mokume Gane technique in books, but hadn't attempted it yet. Julie uses a muted colour palette (adding ecru to her colours, instead of white, which brightens) She layers dark and light layers, rolls them flatter, and stacks them, at least four times. Then the stack is impressed or punched into, with various tools. Slices are cut with a tissue blade and can be used for decoration. She also uses what she calls the "Lazy river technique".....using a strip of aluminium, which she has bent into interesting wavy shapes, to cut outlines. This technique provides a dimensional effect. My experiments didn't end up looking anything like Julie's bold work, but I like the abstract quality of my ovals, and enjoyed trying something new.

Presentation of polymer clay pieces

At my end of term assessment, it was suggested that I could display my more brightly coloured Fimo pieces in a dollshouse. I knew I was keeping that dollshouse for a reason!  I bought it from a recycling depot, and painted it white, for an installation project, for my Cert 4 of visual arts. I will need to install backlighting in it.