Creating Bamboo Heaven

I’m working on a couple more art pieces to submit to another local show. This show is called Art Squared, so all work needs to be squared.That didn’t seem too difficult of a challenge, so thought I’d make a couple pieces. I found this soy wax fabric in my stash that I’ve been wanting to use, but not sure what it was going to be. To see how I made this fabric, check out this post. I added a Mustard- dyed piece to play together.

I tore the soy wax fabric into strips, and sewed to the mustard fabric. I added a little free-motion stitching between the strips. So now what? I put this on my design board. The more I looked at it, the more it looked like bamboo! I was so excited.

I’ve always wanted to create a piece after the Bamboo Forest in Maui that we visited several years ago. So that’s what it was going to be.  I pinned a couple more strips, just to see what it would look like.

I liked the idea but the strips were too much the same size, and I needed a bit of shadowing. So I got one of my fabric pens and marked on one side of the strips I had sewed down.

Then I took them to the sewing machine and sewed over the lines with black thread.

And here is what I got. Now I’m really seeing bamboo. I’m pretty excited at this point! But I need to add many more bamboo trunks.

I spent some time tearing more strips of various sizes and auditioned them until I found some I liked, and then sewed them down.

Nice, but still not enough. In the Bamboo Forest the area is thick with bamboo. So let’s add more.

I added a little free motion to the outside of the strips, knowing that it might not be seen once I mounted it in the frame. I’m again putting this piece in a frame because of the rules of the exhibit. Since it’s not strictly a textile exhibit they required wire hanging so the frame is the easiest way. I was kind of concerned since it needed to be square, but it worked. Here is the finished piece ready for the show. You might notice that after I put the frame on it, I added a few more trees. I’m calling this Bamboo Heaven.

That was so much fun, and the fact that it was such a surprise was fun for me. I’m working on the second piece, and need to have it done by next Friday.

Meanwhile, I’m doing a little bit of garden cleanup. It took me three sessions, but I finally got my iris beds weeded and ready for winter.

Looking forward to seeing them bloom again next year. I also worked a bit in the blueberry area. The weeds have grown up so much this summer. I ended up with some poison ivy on my arm. After a week it’s still popping out, but I think I’ll be okay, and won’t need any meds. I thought I was careful, but I need to really look harder when I’m weeding.

Hope you’re having a creative weekend. Thanks for dropping by.