Fabric Collage Techniques for Creative Exploration - Quilting Daily

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“Autumn Ends” by Deborah Boschert

This year my fabric stash has grown considerably so there was a lot of tidying to do this past weekend! After digging through, adding more fabrics, I usually need to reorganize my stash of scraps at least once a year.

While going through my scraps, I’m always awash with indecision when it comes to the smaller pieces of fabric. Should I keep them? Or should I let them go? I know I could make mini quilts or even bed-sized postage stamp quilts, but will I?

As a happy coincidence, last week I watched Deborah Boschert’s Quilting Arts Workshop video Contemporary Fabric Collage: Design, Stitch, and Finish. Just as the title suggests, Deborah demonstrates fabric collage techniques from start to finish. As she was discussing fabric selection she says no piece of fabric is too small for fabric collage.

I took this as a sign that I should keep all of my scraps (much to my husband’s dismay) so I can experiment with fabric collage techniques this year.

boschert-collage-2b — “Fruit Mantra” by Deborah Boschert

If you are interested in fabric art and exploring fabric collage, here are a few techniques for creative exploration from Deborah:

Create a series by making multiples of your linear fabric background and explore different treatments using the same organic shape.

Choose your background fabrics in a tight color palette so your organic shape will stand out. Too much contrast in the background can overwhelm an additional layer of design. Stripes add a bit of zing and further emphasize the linear elements of the composition.

Use hand embroidery stitches that are both linear and organic to enhance your design. Seed stitch is made up of short straight stitches. A backstitch can follow a graceful curve.

Save your master pattern to use in other projects. You never know where it might add just the right bit of dynamic detail.

Watch and learn from Deborah as she shares the design, construction, and finishing steps of her fabric collaging process. Start learning today when you instantly download her video Contemporary Fabric Collage: Design, Stitch, and Finish.

Happy quilting!

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