Encouraged by my testing I made a further stitched sample. I marked out the crude shapes I wanted to keep and bleached out the areas I didn’t. Using wading and a piece of fabric as a back I then stitched outlines and some of the quilted area.
I am really pleased with this sample. This gives a more organic feel to the idea, unpredictable and visceral. The colours are so beautiful but within this context become uncomfortable and unnerving.
I went on to create a larger sample, to give a better idea of how a finished quilt may look…
I used the shape of the natural patterning to dictate the outline of the body, and I bleached back some areas. Sadly I feel I was slightly over zealous with this stage and in hindsight perhaps I should have painted discharge paste onto these areas. This would have given me more control but may have created sharper lines which I wouldn’t have wanted. I am disappointed with the slightly more premium natural wading I used as well. After washing it has gone extremely flat.
Overall though I do like the outcome and definitely feel I could take this a lot further.
Textiles 3 learning log 
This is great. The figure is interesting, it wasn’t immediately apparent, but once I noticed it, there was also something slightly unsettling about (in a good way)- its intriguing. I’m on Painting 3 with OCA and I have been doing some experiments, but focusing on organic matter from willow. Have you made any experiments with paper?
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Thank you! I am pleased that you said that there is something unsettling about it, that is absolutely what I am trying to create – that sense of unease. I have had a look at your blog and love what you are doing with willow, you seem to me to work in a very textile / tactile way, your drawings all have a strong physicality about them.
I haven’t used paper to be honest but have seen some fabulous results on paper. I look forward to seeing more of your work.
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