This week I’ve worked on painting up some yardage for a work-in-progress. A portion of the quilt will represent an American flag. So, of course, I’ll need some red and white stripes.
One of the things I enjoy in planning a composition, then collaging from printed fabrics, is the chance to play with color and pattern. Yes, in a real flag a red stripe is just solid red. But in my depiction, there is no need to be quite that literal. Or quite that boring.
I’ve created some white (but not all white or just white) yardage that will function as white stripes. And I’ve created some red (but not all red or just red) yardage that will function as red stripes.
Cut into waving strips, sewn together in that waving flag pattern, this will read visually as “flag.” (In the same way, if you create a landscape with trees, patches of green-blue-black-yellow-blue patterns can read visually as “leaves.” ) Mixing it up some is much more interesting.
To begin: I created the white yardage first. When I paint fabric, I like to tape it down to a working board so it doesn’t wrinkle up as the paint gets water and paint on it in varying degrees.
Here’s a little section I like. On top of the white underpainting, I just smudged a very pale bit of olive green (made my mixing yellow + black + white) with a large brush. I like the parchment-like feel of this. A very little paint goes a long way with this technique. You want just a blush of color.
Next I worked with an all-over pattern stencil from my stash of well-loved hand-cut stencils. Again, I mixed the yellow + black to make olive, but I added that to a larger quantity of white.
To create a larger piece of yardage, I just repeated the stencil by moving it down the fabric: paint, move, paint, move.
Here are some nice little squares added from a found object: this is a rubber mat intended as a shelf liner. This mix of larger shapes with smaller ones keeps things dynamic.
Now I’m adding some triangular shapes with a stencil I cut from a plastic deli carry-out lid. The nice thing about plastic stencils is that you can see through so you know where you ar placing each image. (The bad thing is that they are harder to cut.)
Using the edge of a piece of that clear plastic I added some linear elements
Now It was time to move onto the red fabric. I followed a similar process, working spontaneously. Least intense color in the background: a pale red wash. More intense colors on top: a mix of various mixed reds, in large and small shapes. (the piece in this photo is about 36”H.)
What if, when I cut it in strips to sew into the flag, the patterns are too overpowering and distracting? That could happen. If so, I’ll work over the area with light washes of varying red hues till the patterns speak in the appropriate volume.
This artwork will be on the back burner for a while as I work on other things. But, I’ll write about it again when I get back to it. Stay tuned!
. . . . . .
For all of us: focus each day
on the good that needs to be done in the world.
Be part of doing it.
Thank you for reading. I always enjoy questions and comments.
--Bobbi
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EXHIBITS AND COMING EVENTS
STUDIO TOUR – IN DELAND, FLORIDA
Please come visit my studio!
Saturday and Sunday, March 7-8 2026 10am – 5pm
Visit local artists’ studios and see how they work. Information about the artists and map of studio locations: www.artstours.org
In Ormond Beach, Florida . . . TRIO
through March 1, 2026 at Ormond Memorial Museum of Art
My work, Three Yellow Doors, is part of this SAQA juried regional exhibit
In Lewiston, Idaho . . . SAQA GLOBAL – PRIMAL FORCES: FIRE
January 6 – March 28, 2026 at Lewis & Clark State College
My work, Nothing Remains But the Loss, is part of this SAQA juried Global exhibit
In DeLand, Florida . . . A SENSE OF PLACE
January 8 – March 30, 2026 City Commission Chambers, DeLand City Hall
My work, Escape to Quiet Waters, is part of this exhibition by ArtsEtc Surface Design Group