Endangered Species Thread Painting for Island Batik
I’m so excited to share this Island Batik Challenge as it fits into my interest in environmental protection and love of art quilting. I received Aurifil Color Builders in Red Panda to create a quilt featuring this endangered animal. This is to promote Aurifil’s goal to increase sustainability and positive environmental impact — Endangered Species.
I’ll be creating this project with a variety of Island Batik fabrics along with Aurifil Thread, Schmetz Needles and Hobbs Batting. These supplies have been provided to me in my role as Island Batik Ambassador.
I love this stage of a project…when the concept is in your head but to everyone else it may look like absolutely nothing. A. Working on my CutterPillar Glow Ultra light table. B. Gathering tree-colored fabrics from my Island Batik stash. C. Trying a glue stick collage technique I had read about. NOPE! It just doesn’t work for me. D. Going back to my tried and true MistyFuse and freezer paper appliqué technique. E. Tree branches taking shape to hold that Red Panda.
The stash of Island Batik fabrics in pile ‘B’ may not look like “tree” colors but I challenge you to really look at the next tree you see. There is a multitude of colors and they do change throughout the seasons. ‘C’ features the collaged tree on my light table. Photo ‘A’ starts to look like the tree that will hold the Red Panda.
I located a public domain photo of the Red Panda then enlarged it to the correct size to nestle into the tree. A. The head has been transferred to freezer paper and labeled with colors for fabric selection. B. Tail completed in the same manner. C. The tree where he will go. D. White Island Batik fabric to assemble all those tiny bits of fabric on.
Seriously, what was I thinking yesterday with a zillion little pattern pieces to cut from a zillion colors of fabric? What worked perfectly for the tree is not such a great idea for the Red Panda. A. Switching to Dewitt Inktense Pencils and Blocks on my CutterPillar Glow Ultra light table to create these colors. B. Inktense works perfectly on Island Batik Basic White. The high thread count and smooth texture are ideal. C. Auditioning painted fabric head on the printed paper body and tail pattern. D. Close up of work. E. Positioning Red Panda in previously created batik tree.
Progress on the Red Panda continues. A. Tail section work with Inktense Pencils and Blocks. B. Auditioning tail section on quilt to check for size, position and coloring. C. Lighter colors applied to body section. D. Intensifying body colors with deeper shades and heavier application. E. Three sections of panda positioned in three to be fused in place with MistyFuse webbing.
Red panda is ready for thread painting. Industry partner, Aurifil, provided these three shades of red for this project.
It’s off to the Amara Handi Quilter to add thread painting to the Red Panda. The Aurifil Color Blenders, along with a zillion other thread changes, are stitched out before adding the background quilting. Hobbs Thermore Batting provides the perfect structure and depth for quilting.
All thread painting and background quilting completed. Time to audition border fabric. Aurifil thread and Schmetz needles are used on my Bernina 770 to stitch borders and binding.
The completed Red Panda Art Quilt finished at 29 inches by 21 inches and is available in my Etsy Shop. The Smithsonian”s National Zoo has a wealth of information on the endangered Red Panda.
Sally Manke's mission is to delight others with textile art that exemplifies her passion for joyful, creative expression through color and texture. She is a speaker, teacher, pattern designer, Island Batik Ambassador and fiber artist. Contact her to book a workshop or trunk show at https://www.sallymanke.com/contact