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
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"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!

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  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.

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  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!

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

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  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....

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  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.

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