Color the Emotion

Pick a few colors and create without stiffness.

Art Quilts in a Modern Way

Folk Music, digital art from handmade elements, by Peony and Parakeet

Here’s something that I have wanted to show you for a long time! I have been working with a custom order which made me think of a new idea: to create fabric prints and make quilted wall hangings from them. This idea is very versatile as you don’t have to be a quilter, you can print your art on fabric and use it for bags, purses, clothes – anything!

The artwork above has been composed digitally of various art pieces that I have made. The person who ordered the wall hanging is a fan of modern folk music and the color red. (If you have not listened to modern folk songs, try Hanneke Cassel for example!)

A leaf motif by Peony and Parakeet

I created one new collage piece for the artwork. All the other details are picked from my archives.

It was pretty exciting to send the artwork to Spoonflower. When I received the fabric, the print quality was really sharp and detailed! I already knew from the previous experiences that big areas of black don’t print well, so I avoided those.

A digital fabric print designed by Peony and Parakeet

If you are a quilter, you know that the fabric will look so much better when quilted! I sandwiched cotton wadding, two layers of fusible interfacing and backing fabric and took out my sewing machine.

Quilting an art print by Peony and parakeet

I am not very experienced with free-motion quilting using the free-motion foot, so I used even-feed foot instead. But with patience, I was able to create quilting that enhanced my brush strokes.

Making art quilt by Peony and Parakeet

The finished quilt is about 45 x 39 inches.

Art Quilt using digitally printed design, by Peony and Parakeet

I used various colors of shiny embroidery threads for quilting. Using black thread brings the real black that was not produced by digital printing.

A detail of an art quilt using digitally printed design, by Peony and Parakeet

Quilting on watercolor!

A detail of an art quilt using digitally printed design, by Peony and Parakeet

Entering the flow state when playing modern folk was in the center of my inspiration.

A detail of an art quilt using digitally printed design, by Peony and Parakeet

I added the label to the printing file too.

A detail of an art quilt using digitally printed design, by Peony and Parakeet

Here’s another project that I actually made earlier to test the idea. This one does not contain much digital processing, I only took a good photo of the original art and enhanced it a little bit.

Original paper artwork and a fabric quilt made from it, by Peony and Parakeet

I think this artwork looks really good on fabric! The actual idea when creating the original was to mimic hand embroidery! Read about creating the original artwork: When Pens Replace Needles

Folk Leaves, digitally printed fabric quilt by Peony and Parakeet

I added some embroidery before quilting but found out that quilting works well as decoration.

A detail of a digitally printed art quilt, by Peony and Parakeet

A printed fabric label can be found from here too.

A detail of a digitally printed art quilt, by Peony and Parakeet

I also have more fabric prints waiting to be transferred into art quilts!

Fabric prints from paper artworks, by Peony and Parakeet

Paper prints news: New card sets have arrived at my Etsy shop.

Art Postcards by Peony and Parakeet

Life can never be too colorful!

Art Postcards by Peony and Parakeet

Stella and Cosmo send their greetings to all artists and quilters: Have a relaxing weekend!

Beagles with quilts by Peony and Parakeet

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22 thoughts on “Art Quilts in a Modern Way

  1. That is so beautiful! Your artwork is showcased so nicely in the quilt. Being a quilter turning artist, I love this!!!!

  2. Oh, oh, oh. I’ll have to come back and gaze some more, in order to say anything else. I’m without words.

  3. Beautiful Pavi, so creative, you have inspired me to make some quilts! THANK YOU!

    Debbie

  4. Stunning quilts – love how you’ve used your art for digitally printed fabric & the stitching makes it even better.

  5. Absolutely beautiful – when you say you are combining pieces of work, are you doing that with photoshop or what are you using?
    Taking your class right now -and enjoying it.

  6. Your work positively glows! I love how your art looks on fabric and the quilting really complements it. So beautiful!

  7. your art quilts are stunningly beautiful! And I love that your dogs have their own quilts!

  8. Erinomaisen hienoja! Tervetullut vinkki tuo, että on mahdollisuus saada kankaalle omat kuviot.
    Kiitos, että ylipäätään jaksat uudestaan ja uudestaan inspiroida niin monia ihmisiä.

  9. Dear Päivi, I love seeing my beloved Leaves in a new version. It is really inovative approach. Thanks for this blog 🙂

  10. I love your work! It’s stunning! And inspirational as always!
    Thank you for your great beautiful work!

    /with love and happiness darya

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