Art Quilt Finishing Techniques

I just wanted to share my latest finishing technique that I have used. Finishing techniques seem to be one part of the process that I experiment a lot with. I have have been very innovative in this area, and many successes, but there are a few that I haven't gone out of my way to use again.

The piece that I'm showing here is a small custom piece that I made for one of my collectors. She specifically wanted a red circle quilt. I ended up using red felt, so even though it is stitched, it isn't officially a quilt.

I had several ideas of how to finish this piece including a shadow frame, (which I didn't offer because it would take away from the roundness that she desired), mounting it on a square piece of plexiglass, and floating it on a fabricated plexiglass mount, similarly to how I mounted Three Waters. It was important to me that it was away from the wall.

My collector thought of using the embroidery ring, which was a very inexpensive alternative that I hadn't considered. I covered it with fabric and then mounted the piece. The embroidery ring has a built in hanging device.

It is actually the same idea (smaller scale and different shape) that I had picked up at Translations Gallery, when they were more involved with fiber media, the last time I was in Denver. They had the flat quilts by their featured artist carefully pinned to black fabric covered stretcher bars that were a couple of inches smaller than the quilt. It allowed the quilt to come away from the wall maybe an inch, but I think it gave the piece more of a presence.

Measuring Fabric

Added Notch & Hemmed Edges

Giant Yo Yo

The Other Side

Finished Back

Finished Front

 
I'll be leading a discussion in my studio on Saturday, September 25. 2010 from 10 until noon on this very subject!  It is called Art Quilt Finishing Techniques--A Discussion.  I will be talking about lots of different options, what to consider when choosing, pros and cons, and hopefully talking about specific projects that participants bring in.  It should be very informative and a lot of fun.