Thursday, March 24, 2011

Parrotpalooza is Finished!


"Parrotpalooza"
12½" X 14"
Acrylic inks on cotton with cotton threads, wool batt


This is my journal quilt for March.  I wanted the parrots to "spill over" the edge because the March Journal Quilt Challenge theme at the Art Quilt Blog for this month is "spilling over".  The trouble is I liked the background so much I couldn't bring myself to cut off much more than I did.
I faced the edge with some really fine black Egyptian cotton because I knew that this fabric would make it easy to get a clean edge.  I did trim a little too close to one edge and had to add some fray stop liquid and then wait for it to dry so I could restitch it.

I did a little quilting around the eyes and on the beaks, but I left the parrots mostly unquilted so they would remain puffy. I'm considering doing just a little more quilting to provide a bit more depth -- especially under the parrots' heads.   

This was primarily an experiment with the acrylic inks.  I wanted to see if I could paint fine detail and not have it bleed all over.  The only part that bled was the background -- and that was because I mixed a lot of water with just a few drops of ink.  So it was more of a wash.  I'm really pleased about how dark the color is with the tiny amount of ink I used.

13 comments:

Barb said...

totally amazing!!

Anne Huskey-Lockard said...

I love it---those parrots can spill right into my house/studio ANY DAY!!!!
Parrotpalooza....perfect! ;-)

XXOO~~♥
Anne

Judi said...

WOW you did an awesome job.

Marcia - Crafty Sewing and Quilting said...

That is so cool!

Chris Daly said...

Karen, This turned out beautifully. I love the way you finished the edges and the detail on the parrot faces in perfect.

Beth@IHaveANotion.com said...

Wonderful!!! I see some real life in the parrot faces. I used to have a parrot, 'Rodan', and you have captured the 'look'.

Whats next?

Quilt Rat said...

I just knew this would be wonderful! Love the added texture the stitching brought. Don't you just love it when "experiments" look like this?

Unknown said...

Oh my gosh Karen, this is fabulous! LOVE the hand painted fabrics and the gorgeous black background.

Cathy

Jan said...

This turned out gorgeous and I love the uneven edges. I have a feeling you will be doing more experimenting with the inks in the future. Well done!

Anne Marie - Toronto said...

Your parrots are just fabulous!!! I never thought to use the acrylic inks on fabric. I don't know why, because I do use the tube acrylics. I guess it's time for me to play!!

Karen M said...

Nice work. I love how their faces came out.

Shirley said...

Just love what you made, I think it looks great with the greyish background, black's not a natural colour.

Quilter Kathy said...

Love how the parrots pop right out!