The fabric strips in four colorways from the previous post were sewn together. I use a flip and stitch method, onto a foundation of thin cotton muslin. The foundation stabilizes all the disparate weights of fabric I use, and I don’t have to worry about batting “bearding” through the lighter silks.
I add a strip, right side down onto the previous one, stitch through both strips onto the foundation fabric, flip it open, press it flat, add another one, and so on. I make several sets in each color, roughly 20” wide and three to four feet long, depending on how much of each I anticipate needing later on. I don’t measure or plan precisely, just go on intelligence guided by experience.
My aim is to try and piece the strips randomly, which is much, much harder than it sounds. The natural human inclination is to make a repeating pattern, so I take some pains to mix it up a bit while still getting a somewhat even distribution of light and dark values. It’s very deeply satisfying work.
Speaking of mixing things up, here’s an entirely gratuitous photo of an opossum, eating the cat food I put out for a stray. He was rattling around out there in the dark on the night I took the above pictures, so I had the camera at hand and got this capture before he shuffled off.
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