The Undesirables

I’ve never met an artist without a stash. This trend of collecting transcends art and extends to all passions. I have spoken to friends in all arenas: fishermen who have their special stash of lures, triathletes with their stash of equipment, surfers with their “quiver” of boards.

As a novice art quilter I was thrilled by all the things I saw. As my eyes opened to new techniques, my stash of “tools” expanded. I confess, at the beginning I was more of an acquirer than an artist, but the fire of technique is born of the flame of passion. And so my passion for all things quilting led me onward.

Unfortunately, and inevitably, the process of collecting favors some items and leaves others behind: the undesirables. For art quilters it may be a fabric or tool or component or technique. Something that seemed perfect in the moment but not so perfect later. It may have been tried and discarded or never used at all.

In cleaning my closet recently, I came across many items that caused me to ask “What was I thinking?!!” I had beans – yes, dried beans that someone said made nice beach rocks – and thread waste – yes, discarded thread that someone said would make a nice bird’s nest – and…well, you get the picture.

What are the undesirables in your closet? Fabric? Rubbing plates? Embellishments? I challenge you to dig deep into your early days of learning and acquisition and unearth something you previously cast aside. Use the undesirable to stretch yourself and to create something you’ve not imagined before.

The vertical dimension (height) should be 30”. The width is your choice.

Rummaging through Drawers

by Lin Hsin-Chen

It seems justifiable to rummage through drawers for creating. It is so much fun. Which artist does not have a stash of long forgotten materials in the closet? The long forgotten materials are quite possibly the undesirables. I would like to take this opportunity to challenge myself. It is also a perfect chance for me to clean up my cabinets and put things in order. By doing this, I know what are available for my next work and what shall be discarded. Thank you, Lisa-Marie, for the topic.

I found some synthetic fibers and buttons. They are gorgeous, but being forgotten. It would be wasteful to throw them away. Although I have no idea how I will use them in my work, I would like to give it a try.

I wish you all have a wonderful time creating.

Attack of the killer fuzz-nado

Loved this challenge of Lisa-Marie's to use up items that we had put aside.
Several years ago, I did a series of pieces based on the process of wet felting- I was very interested in the patterns the wooly fibers made during the process- here are some finished works-

Fuzzy Logic

detail

Synapse

And then I took a class from Ann Vickery Evans, and found out that felting is really really hard!

So, I felt (ha,ha) that I had said what I wanted to say with it, and moved on to other things.

BUT

Of course I had accumulated a big bag of gorgeous roving, which I will dip into for this challenge...

stay tuned!

Upcycling

by Misik Kim

I have participated in public projects since last June as an artist.

This is a part of urban regeneration project.

I must have classes for adult and children, not quilters.

I think it is so interesting to me.

Nowdays  upcycling  is the trend.

"Upcycling is taking an item that is no longer needed or wanted and giving it new life as something that is either useful or creative. This seemingly basic concept has sparked an exciting revolution with this generation.”

I have  many materials,  fabrics, threads, and ..........

I try to use thest things for them.

There are already a lot of materials have been donated.

I will try to use them.

It will be new experience for me.

Undesirables?

A thousand pardons to my V-9-3 teammates !!  One of my personal undesirable traits is a poor memory unless I have written information down. When I am holiday far from my home, I actually have to remember to read it..which is what happened.  Totally blanked, Martha had to nudge me.

We are visiting good friends in Northern California.  Friends who introduced me to Mid-century modern design among other things.  We often go 'thrifting' together where we find other peoples undesirables that, for us, are treasures.

Pictured above is beautiful red West German pitcher, paired with a classic Eva Zeisel pitcher bought for $10 at a flea market.

I shot this photo to take in the painting behind it.  It is a collage using discarded magazines, blue flat plastic bottle rings, a bit of fabric, buttons and paint.

All of us find beauty in some things that others find undesirable.  Knowing this, when I return I am going to rent a tent, fill it with my own undesirables and invite all the local guilds to come find something beautiful for themselves.

What was I thinking!

Oh dear! I seem to have a lot of, what I would class as undesirables! These are synthetic fabrics bought for workshops or just because they were shiny and sparkly! They have been carefully stored, but no more- out they go! And hopefully a small part will be used to make a beautiful quilt!

Enhanced with fabric paint, ready for quilt construction. It is a journey into the unknown as I use these. Hoping my idea translates into an acceptable final product.

 

The Unused Desirables

For this challenge, I looked inside my cupboards, and I found lots of things I don’t use regularly.  But I cannot call them undesirables – I loved them when I bought them - they are all desirable, it is just that they have not been used – yet?!

There are some beautiful commercial fabrics, including interesting batiks, and some really old fabrics I bought in the US when I was still making dolls, bits of which I have used for making dolls’s clothes, like 20 years ago.  

There is a shelf full of silk organzas and painted silks, which I have used at some point, a long time ago.  Some of them were used in the couple of bojagis I made.

I have also a collection of fabric paints, and colourful pens such as Sharpies, which I always mean to use, and then I don’t – except occasionally for printing text with Thermofax screens.

I have gorgeous Inktense colour pencils and blocks – which I don’t know how to use, and no idea of what to do with them.  I have Markal sticks, which I do know how to use, but haven’t found a way of employing them in my work.

And other things I haven’t mentioned here….

So plenty to choose from, for this challenge… decisions, decisions…