land sea alchemy

the fourth challenge quilt for the art quilts around the world group and for me the most straightforward - all of its major parts were former experiments that came together to create the triptych. i was trying to capture the feeling of borders and transitions - the alchemical spot where the water meets the land - where coastlines change and magic is washed up

the base is indigo dyed recycled blanket

the land is rust dyed silk - the silk salvaged from an old shirt

the sea is a felting experiment which includes silk and wool roving, yarn offcuts, sequins and heat treated painted tyvek felted onto a piece of old sari

the middle section is my handspun yarn knitted with copper wire (a gift from my Mother's cellar and probably belonged to my dad back in the 30s).

i layered the silk and felted piece over the blanketing, put a thin layer of appropriately coloured synthetics and organza and then free motion quilted over the top, breaking four needles in the process on the sea part which is quite thick - (don't read this bit Mum) this alarmed my 14 year old so much he moved out of range as there were bits of needle ricocheting around

then i sewed the knitted section down and added a number of glass and pearl beads and bits of paua shell. there would have been more beads but i was holding some in my mouth (never a good idea) and swallowed some - which rather put me off beading.

roll on the next challenge :)