Frustrated!

I’m in a very frustrating place at the moment. The annual SAQA auction deadline for early deliveries is April 1st. I’m on my fourth attempt at a piece to donate. Technically we have until June 1st but if you make the early deadline there is a chance that your piece might be used in the publicity. So yeah, I’d like the opportunity to possibly have my piece publicized internationally!

And April 1st is the “received by” date so I’ve got to finish this and send it off. Oh the money I have spent on overnight delivery for various entries…..

My first attempt was this previously-pieced Sawtooth Star. It’s crazy-pieced with mostly silk or silk blends and has a lovely luster. I wanted to do something in the gold Radiance corners, but not so much that it would override the sheen of the silk.

I beaded and then added French knots. I do like it but I’m just not sure how to finish it. It needs more, but it must be edited and well thought out-do I have time for that?

I found a charming hanky in my stash-see further down in the post. Most hankies are 15″ so I was thrilled to find a pretty little 11″ piece. My first attempt was to put it atop this layer of purple sheers. Meh. I tried many other higher value contrast pieces but they didn’t work at all. I never even got to the quilting stage. It just seemed okay, not special.

I found this fabulous checked silk sheer in my stash too. I do have a LOT of silk…. I added the rick rack around the edge which gave it some punch. I like the start of this but I will need to get some thicker red thread to get it to show up. I tried several other colors but they kind of shouted on the piece. The red is pretty and perky. Now, what do I quilt on it?

I have figured out the edge treatment-this will be charming once it’s cut. I’m not happy with the scallops on the hanky part-they will probably go away.

I love this little embroidery in the corner.

 

So I moved on and unearthed some Kraft-Tex which I have never used. It’s an intriguing product-kind of a morph between paper and fabric. You can launder it and it will soften up. I’ve been wanting to try this. So how about a whole cloth using Kraft-Tex?

I did this  little stitch out to see what I thought-I like! But I realized it might not hang really well as a stand-alone piece. I found a wonderful peacock hand-dyed silk to back it with. But wait, how would I secure the edges? Stitch them down (whine)? Turn them under (double whine)? Ugh.

What would happen if I backed it with felted wool? No edges to treat! Ah but my wool stash is not that deep and I could not find a color I liked. I did spy a piece of really nice felt in a neutral color-great! But now how would I adhere the two?

Misty Fuse! I MF the two together and it holds beautifully. Now I have an intact sandwich to work on. But what design? I’m still working on that one.

Part of my angst is that the pieces that are donated are true works of art. I want something that I am really happy with. My previous pieces have done well and I want to do my best to help SAQA. I will have to resolve this in the next few days so come back to see which one I chose! I’ll be linking up with Nina-Marie’s Off the Wall Friday.