But at night, I happily stitched away on the Green Man- are you tired of him yet? I wanted him to look organic, and just could not bear to enclose him in a traditional binding. I concocted this binding made from fibers I got in a $3.00 card of "Adornaments" at Michael's. First I zigzagged the edge of the quilt several times, then zigzagged the fiber to the front and back. Now I am going around and hand-stitching the fiber to cover the zigzags. I think it looks sort of like moss! I also left some raw strips hanging off the edge.
I also got out my Fabrico markers and Tsukineko inks and worked on some areas where I wanted to enhance the quilted motifs, such as the frog, the flower, and the text.
My favorite embellishment is on the eyebrows. I wanted prominent, projecting eyebrows, but they were looking very flat after quilting. Again, I used the "Adornaments fun fibers and some shaggy yarn I already had. I twisted and crunched them together and added in a few beads. The little white flower and green leaves are from an arrangement of my grandmother's. She had given me a little Victorian lady's shoe figurine with these little artificial flowers.
Can you see the hidden lizard now? He still needs a little paint to bring him out some more. I gave him a yellow glass bead for an eye.I can't decide on the nose. I have added some fibers and have tried using a big wooden bead with a small wooden bead to make his nose stick out. It is not looking quite right. Maybe I can find something else.
To finish him, I am thinking of adding some botanicals, like dried sticks or moss. And I am thinking of adding tabs at the top and hanging him from a tree branch. I went looking in the yard for a likely stick that would enjoy becoming a quilt hanger. Could not find what I wanted, but am considering a crepe myrtle because of their reddish wood and the shaggy bark.
3 comments:
Jeanne, he is coming alive! I really like the binding, the shagginess of it all really fits the piece. The quilting that you have done adds so much to the piece. The evolution of the Green Man is amazing.
Jeanne - Green Man is amazing in this picture -- but he is UNBELIEVABLE in person. What an awesomely cool project this is -- and what you have done with his nose, etc. really, really bring him to life. I love him -- and I would, without a doubt hang him in my classroom. The kids would go nuts over him. And what a good writing assignment that would be -- to have the kids write a story about the Green Man.
Your Green Man is wonderful. I enjoyed reading a bit about the background of this creation. He is really something!
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