Got Scraps?

I'm a hopeless packrat when it comes to fabric, paper, and anything art-related. I save the tiniest scraps of fabric, pieces of thread, and trimmings. I love it when I run across an article like the one in an old issue of Quilting Arts that uses scraps, because it creates the illusion that all that STUFF I've saved will actually get used someday! If you're interested, here are the basics:

Iron fabric scraps onto a lightweight fusible interfacing

Stamp onto fabric; I used Lumiere white and halo pink gold. Use a brush to fill in areas light on paint.

Cover fabric with one or two layers of sheers (organza? chiffon? I never know what this stuff is; I just buy what looks pretty, but in this case I did notice it was polyester, which is good for burning). I used two: a medium blue and a light lavender on top of that. Note: I mistyfused the sheers down, but this made it harder to remove them when areas were burned out. I probably won't do that again.

Stitch all over. I used metallic thread and invisible thread in the bobbin. It’s very hard to see the stitching in the photo; I free-motioned around the heart & wing shapes, then meandered between the hearts.

Burn away the sheers over the hearts and wings; I used a woodburning tool. I had to scrape off the sheers because I had mistyfused them. At first, I was thinking, "oh no! All that work for nothing!" because it looked a little strange and smudgy from the woodburner. After a few minutes, though, I decided I really loved the colors and textures. Now, I'm just completely enchanted and can't wait to do more of this.

And, I had one of those "in the art moment" revelations: unearthing these hearts by burning off the sheer layers covering them could be a decent metaphor for the way we sometimes protect our hearts by burying or hiding them away. How perfect that these hearts have wings!!!