Class Reflection....

...and my love of fireflies.

At end of the last lesson in "From Sketchbook to Wall" Tansy told us the course wasn't over....but the content was.  We would have access to the video lessons until the end August and I knew I would revisit them all again and get back to my class projects....and maybe start new ones. So I set my pieces aside for a few weeks to get some perspective and mull things over.  It was time to tend to other things.

The class was challenging and wonderful. Working with painted fabric was a revelation.....and I've embraced the charm of deconstructed post consumer textiles.  I may not love my pieces....but I loved the layering and storytelling process....and the techniques I learned can be applied in so many ways.

Tansy's name on her Instagram page is "Palimpsestparade."  Palimpsest means "something reused or altered but still bearing visible traces of its earlier form" ....and in our throw away society I'm loving this more and more.  (remember the coffee table?)

https://www.instagram.com/palimpsestparade/

As I've mentioned....the woods and the colors of my summer gardens were my inspiration for the class projects.  All through the course I pondered the reasons why I love living with woods right in my backyard. It seems like such a gift.

The first summer we owned the condo when I discovered fireflies in the woods....I knew I was home.  We always had fireflies on the farm in Wisconsin....and I didn't even know I missed them until I found them again here. 

I was worried about that stark purple strip on this piece on top of the pile....I had to figure out something to soften it. And just recently I thought of the fireflies.

The painted recycled sheer curtain reverse applique circles as a nod fireflies completely changed it for me. (Yes, I wanted the description of the circles to be that long because it tells a bit of the story.) 

The purple strip is a piece of a linen shirt I've had for years and never wore. After painting it purple I traced some images of ferns using carbon paper....then stitched the tree image over it.  You can barely see the ferns now but they are visible traces of its earlier form. And the ferns are always tucked in the woods so it seems to be fitting.

A second firefly story:

A few years ago when I was on a visit in Wisconsin I was driving to Becky's house in the dark. I went a different way than usual so I plugged her address into the GPS so I wouldn't get lost. It guided me to make a turn I was pretty sure I didn't need to make...but I did it anyway because I was confident the GPS would get me to her house. The dark country backroad actually creeped me out a little....I've always been a little afraid of the dark.  But I rounded a bend and there it was....the reason I I was supposed to take this dark detour: a large open field absolutely full of fireflies. I stopped the car for a  few minutes and just soaked it in.  

I had another idea for fireflies I wanted to try.

Angelina Fibers kind of looks like tinsel.  You can spread them out and iron them under a protective surface and they melt together into a shimmery textile.  You can make the fused piece as big or small...and as dense or as thin as you want. 

On another one of my class projects I used a very thin piece of the fused fibers and stitched little circles.  Then I snipped away all the extra leaving little bits of sparkle....or in this case...fireflies.

What better use for a 4 x 6 chunk of this piece than for Becky's round 12 card...I will always remember that gift in the dark on my drive to her house.  And...since she grew up in Wisconsin too....so most likely shares my love for fireflies. 

I'm almost done with Brenda's "From Sketchbook to Wall" card from another one of my pieces....but it features something other than fireflies.