Part 2 – Using the photo as a guide and working from the top I began to shape the feathers forming small crescent shapes. A very loose fly stitch helped give the impression of feathers. I always pay close attention to the underlying fabric as I stitch. The fabric is working in harmony with the threads and it’s important to keep the stitching balanced in order for the fabrics to peek through.
Part 1 – When creating a hand stitched fabric collage the first step is to cut the fabric roughly 2” larger than the embroidery hoop you are intending to use. Choose a fabric that is lightweight and transparent enough to see the object you wish to trace. Using a Lightbox, trace the art onto the fabric with a pencil.
Continued from part 3 – Once I had completed the beading, I cut out Zorro’s famous saber-slashing “Z,” and appliquéd it to the background. This gave added distinction to my textile art entitled, “Z Marks the Spot.”
Once everything was tacked down, I thread-painted the horse and rider. Several shades of Aurifil 50 wt. grays were used on the horse. Using the comic’s cover art I stitched in the direction of the anatomy emphasizing the muscles. After completing the horse, I used the template to mark the lines, and began stitching the rider.
My entry for the 2019 “Quilted Comics & Sci-Fi” exhibit at the International Quilt Festival in Houston, Texas was probably the biggest challenge of my entire textile art career. As someone who’s worked restoring A style used primarily in comics is a very graphic posterized technique.
