This weeks project

I have thoroughly enjoyed working on this project this week. Again, the influence came from Beryl Taylor, I just love how she combines fabric of different weights and textures together to create interesting areas on her work. With this in mind and a mission to use up a lot of small scraps of fabric, I set about making a collage on a backing piece of calico which of course got the paint treatment. I actually dug out some of my old Glimmer Mist sprays to tint the fabric, giving it a more aged look, then added a touch of Mermaid Fresco Finish paint, mixed with a tad of Chalk to add highlights of pale turquoise. 

I made the centre panel out of pelmet interfacing, it's strong enough to withstand a lot of wet stuff but still flexible, making it easy to stitch through. The arch and the doors were also made out of the pelmet stuff, I die cut those with the arch die by Tim Holtz. I added some wadding, covered it with fabric and painted it with nearly every brown/orange Fresco paint before stitching it. After stitching, I added the turquoise colours....again, many colours were used plus some Treasure Gold to achieve an aged look.

For me, the fun of a project like this is searching for all the tiny elements that finish a project. The detail elements are key for me. Over the years I have accumulated rather a large stash of stuff so generally, I have the elements but you can bet they are not the right colour!! That really isn't a problem though. Since I have been using Fresco Finish paint, I discovered that I can paint pretty much anything, so I just give everything a coat of paint. Sometimes it needs to be watered down or mixed with one of the glazes but how amazing is that to know that you will always be able to colour match to your project!!!

I'm not entirely sure if this piece is completely finished yet. Quite often, I will walk away and leave it for a few days. Looking at it again with fresh eyes sometime tells me if I need to add anything else to achieve the completely finished look that I want.

I do hope that the weather in your neck of the woods is better than it is here today......it's not exactly what you'd hope for on a weekend but it is a good excuse to stay home and create something beautiful.