Art Quilt: Folding Birds

Since I've been crumpling and folding cloth to dye, I began wondering how an origami bird might look when dyed. I did three samples of a "garden bird" as described in a children's origami book, then unfolded them. The colors were a bit pale; my dye was leftover. I set those pieces aside and tried a different approach. This time, after folding my garden bird, I used Decolourant (formerly known as discharge paste). I liked the variegated tan color on the black, but when unfolded, the pieces didn't look like birds anymore. So I created a stencil to resemble the folded birds, and incorporated the unfolded pieces as well as a decorative stenciled pattern.


Folding Birds
24.5"w x 35.5"h (62 cm x 90 cm)
Hand-stenciled cotton, woven cotton, sashiko thread, embroidery thread; hand and machine quilted



California Towhee, perhaps?


Comments

Alisa said…
Thanks Velma. I suddenly feel re-energized.
Maja said…
As a bird lover, this piece really speaks to me. Once again, you have made a wonderful little art quilt!
Maja
Alisa said…
Thank you Maja! So many birds to watch right now, too.
Liz A said…
making an origami cloth butterfly has been on my mind of late ... an interesting coincidence to see your variations on a similar theme ... thanks much for the process notes
Alisa said…
Liz A—how funny! maybe you already know how to make one, but there was one in the book in which I found the "garden bird": Origami Birds and Butterflies by Lisa Miles. I liked the look and was momentarily distracted by it, too. With cloth, an iron is your friend.