Wednesday, July 08, 2015

The making of RED, machine needle felted textile art

starts here
"RED" in progress ~ photo by Jane LaFazio
As I prepared to make this quilt, RED, I gathered roving, burlap, tulle, cheese cloth and yarn, in every shade of red and machine needle felted them to create my own, completely original red material to work from.

I thought you'd be interested in my process. It's quite labor intensive, as most of my work seems to be!
unembellished
"RED" in progress, just needlefelted. ~ photo by Jane LaFazio
First, I create the pieces with felted wool roving and ribbon and cheese cloth etc, using my Babylock Needlefelting machine, with pre-felt as the base.They are about 14 by 8 inches, but not always.
un stitched
"RED" in progress, just needlefelted. ~ photo by Jane LaFazio
stitched
"RED" in progress, hand stitched with embroidery thread ~ photo by Jane LaFazio
Then, I hand embellish the pieces with a variety of colors and weight of embroidery thread.
stitched 5
"RED" in progress, hand stitched with embroidery thread ~ photo by Jane LaFazio
stitched 4
"RED" in progress, hand stitched with embroidery thread ~ photo by Jane LaFazio
After they are stitched, I sew on beads, again, in shades of red and pink.
stitched 3
"RED" in progress, hand stitched with embroidery thread and beaded
 ~ photo by Jane LaFazio

stitched and beaded
"RED" in progress, hand stitched with embroidery thread and beaded
 ~ photo by Jane LaFazio


stitched and beaded 2
"RED" in progress, hand stitched with embroidery thread and beaded
 ~ photo by Jane LaFazio

stitched and beaded 3
"RED" in progress, hand stitched with embroidery thread and beaded
 ~ photo by Jane LaFazio
almost there
"RED" in progress, the stack grows ~ photo by Jane LaFazio
11406871_10205774123423903_7846447073312424350_n
"RED" in progress ~ photo by Jane LaFazio
BeBop loved this quilt! Felt is his thing, I guess!
red in progress
"RED" in progress ~ photo by Jane LaFazio
So, after I created a bunch of these, I laid them out on a piece of 40x40 inch paper, to see how it fits. (The required size, for this quilt, was 40 inches square. It was a juried exhibition.)

Once the red manufactured felt arrived, for the batting/background, I laid out the pieces to decide on the arrangement.
how to fill the holes
"RED" in progress ~ photo by Jane LaFazio

@bebop posing
"RED" in progress ~ photo by Jane LaFazio
Then, I hand stitched the pieces together, through the backing.
hand stitching full shot
"RED" in progress ~ photo by Jane LaFazio
bebop and dining room table
"RED" in progress ~ photo by Jane LaFazio
new header
"RED" in progress ~ photo by Jane LaFazio
bebop and red book
"RED" in progress ~ photo by Jane LaFazio
And here is the finished piece!
RED by Jane LaFazio measures 40x40 inches
"Red" by Jane LaFazio, fiber art, 40x40 inches. (© 2015)
RED, by Jane LaFazio
I love red, always have. It’s my first color choice. Always. I’m attracted to any product that comes in red. A red bucket, red mix master, even red tractors. I stop myself my purchasing these, but I am helpless when it comes to red shoes. Or red sweaters. Or red purses. Red notebooks, water bottles, ipods, and paper clips. I drive a red Beetle convertible and everyone who sees the car remarks that it is totally me (even if they never met me). I have an ongoing affinity for anything red.

Materials used: wool roving, organza, ribbon, cheesecloth, yarn, burlap, tulle, beads, embroidery thread and felt

Price: $2000. 
(I hope this post helps you understand the price of this piece! It took me a couple of months to create.)
bebop and thread
"RED" in progress ~ photo by Jane LaFazio

7 comments:

  1. An incredible piece! And it is so you! I always love to see your process, as well as the results... thank you for sharing them with us!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Unbelievable the amount of work this must have taken with such amazing detail! Lovely piece. I was just in RB for three weeks visiting my sister and my daughter who lives in La Jolla. I didn't see your red bug though :( I would love to see the exhibit in Balboa Park. I hope your work receives all the accolades it deserves.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Gorgeous colors. Texture is fabulous; to me that is so important. The hand stitching is scrumptious. You do it well, Jane, and you do it right!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Wow! Absolutely beautiful! Funny how all cats love our quilts.

    ReplyDelete
  5. This is such a beautiful piece of art! Red is definitely not my color, but you made me think of something similar in blue and tourquoise....

    ReplyDelete
  6. Fabulous! it's the different textures that I love. Please let us know if it's accepted into the juried show. If I were the judge, it would be.

    ReplyDelete

Thanks so much for visiting JaneLaFazio.com!

Related Posts with Thumbnails