The Gingko Are Falling

I like to push processes and mediums to the nth degree. This little quilt began as an experiment in dying teabags (blue) with procion dyes. They blew away a couple of times when I was trying to dye them but eventually I got there. Once the teabags were dyed and laminated to a background substrate, I over printed them using a gingko stencil and black ink.

The gingko leaves are real autumn gingko leaves sandwiched and stitched between two layers of white tulle (net) and then applied in a random manner. It never ceases to amaze me how well leaves treated in the manner hold their colour and substance. Finally I free machine quilted the piece using a white thread and a random stipple patter, making sure I outlined the stencilled leaves and the applied leaves and only quilting in the negative areas.

The vibrancy of the golden gingko leaves against the blue background is especially pleasing.