Fences

I grew up in a suburb of Sydney that was still considered bushland. Full of eucalyptus trees and mysterious creeks (which were probably sewer outlets) and lots of places for adventurous kids to play. By the time I left that area in my early teens it had been slowly but surely gentrified and fences and gates had become the norm.

This quilt reflects some of the joy I had playing in the bush and watching the changes over the years.

The eucalyptus or gum leaf fabric was sun printed and then printed with a thermofaxed screen created with one of my photo images of a tree in my garden which has sadly died. The fabric was found in my stash already basted and quilting started. But it had no life of it's own but perfect for this piece so reverse sewing ensued. The other fabrics were also left over from previous projects and were the results of deconstructed screen printing. I love using my own fabrics and get even more joy if they are already in my stash. I used a simple pieced method to create the background

I have recently started using a Silhouette Cameo digital cutter and after a very steep learning curve I think I have managed to perfect a fabric cutting method.

I use a fusible non woven interfacing which I paint with mat gel medium tinted with concentrated fabric paint. The paint concentrate from Prochem has been hanging around my studio for at least 10 years so I am thrilled to be able to use it and it still works!

The fences and gate images were purchased digital files which I manipulated for size and fit. As they are on fusible - I was able to temporarily stick them in place before quilting.

Of course it was quilted on my Bernina Q20 by outlining first the leaves and then the fences and then filling in the rest with leaf like patterns.