TIFC - January - Finished

January TIFC is finished! Although it isn’t January anymore, I did finish this on February 2, which I think is pretty good (for me) given I was away on an overseas business trip for 20 days in January (and then had a week of jetlag after I got home). While I don’t expect so many overseas trips, I will be traveling a lot this year, so I do think that my TIFC output is going to be more closely aligned to weekends rather than strict dates.

Without further ado….

Take it Further Challenge
January 2008
Admiration

Design area: 5.5” x 7”
Framed area: 7.5” x 9”

Materials: Various silk fabrics with a small amount of cotton batik and printed muslin. Embroidery in a variety of silk threads, mostly Silk ‘n Colors and Silken Pearl. Silver jewelry motive in DMC Antique Effects thread. A piece of amber is sewn in the center of this motive, and the remainder of the piece is decorated with an assortment of beads. The words “courage” and “acceptance” are printed on silk chiffon. The lily petals are individually made from silk colored with craypas. The back of the piece contains an explanation of the design concept printed on PFD cotton.

For more explanation on the design, please click on the photo of the back of the piece, which explains the meaning of the motives and how they connect to my grandmother. I have removed her name from this photo. There is also more explanation on previous TIFC posts on this blog.

I plan to make all my TIFC challenges in this size and format and at the end of the year, I will make a compendium to house them, as I did for my PLOS samplers.

As far as “take it further”, here is what I learnt this month:

1) Regarding the design process – I did not find it too difficult to brainstorm my ideas and come up with a selection to use on the design. However, I think this was because this topic was so personal, so ideas flowed freely. I think it would have been harder with a more abstract topic. Let’s hope Sharon B keeps the TIFC topics personal!

2) For this design I think I managed pretty well to honor my grandmother, but I did not manage to really depict the qualities of her character than I admire. It is a subtle but important difference, which I need to work on……

3) Most of the construction of the piece was fairly straightforward, including the 3-D lily and the printed bark pieces. I like the choice of fabric, including the dark brown silk from Shandong that is dyed using a mud process (not sure what that is!). Overall the piece has some interesting texture and feels “rich” because of the predominance of silk.

4) The silver thread (DMC Antique Effects metallic) was a beast (other words could be substituted) to sew onto silk. I cannot imagine what they actually make that thread for, but it sure is not for this purpose. It was incredibly frustrating and I won’t be trying something like this again unless absolutely critical to the design (as this one was). I do like the final effect but it was a huge challenge to make it happen.

5) I have fallen in love with Mistyfuse! I bought some while on my business trip this month to the US and I have found it to be everything that the various reviews, including Sharon B’s, have said. It was marvelous for printing on silk chiffon. I fused a layer of chiffon to Mistyfuse with parchment paper on the back and it fed through the printer like a dream! I also used it to fuse the printed sheet on the back of the piece and absolutely as promised, I could sew through it like the Mistyfuse was not even there! So different from the Lite-Steam-a-Seam I used when finishing off my PLOS samplers, which I almost could not get the needle through. I have to admit I was a skeptic before I tried for myself, but now I will be using Mistyfuse exclusively!

In other news, I was tagged several weeks ago by Elizabeth of Quieter Moments for a “You Make My Day” award. I was very surprised and quite chuffed! Thanks Elizabeth and sorry it has taken me so long to respond, I haven’t been able to blog while on my business trip.

Now, on to February TIFC, but before that, I want to finish a couple of BAQ blocks that I have been working on before I leave for Elly Sienkiewicz’s Applique Academy on February 17! (Oh no, more jetlag!) Next week is Chinese New Year and we have a few days off so let’s see if I can get both things done. I already have an idea for TIFC February……..