Mosaic Retreat

Mosaic Retreat!

My teaching schedule has been so busy in the past few years, I haven’t had time to work on any projects for myself.  An opportunity came up to take in a retreat with art quilter Heidi Proffetty, and I jumped on it.  Heidi creates amazing mosaic quilts, either from a photograph or a tile design.  Here are some samples.  Aren’t these fabulous?!

We start the weekend retreat learning about mosaic art concepts such as patterns, flow, shapes, and color to create the mosaic composition.  Then Heidi discussed her design process, using paper and pencil, but also incorporating digital design programs.

Then we get down to business.  Using some of the mosaic art concepts we just learned, we practice creating our own mosaic pieces by drawing on plastic over a photograph.

This was time-consuming, yet somehow relaxing and therapeutic.  This is as far as I got in class.  At some point I want to go back and finish drawing out the tiles.

Next we practice laying out scrap pieces and fusing them onto tulle and fabric, to create an abstract design.

We add batting and backing, then practice quilting over the pieces.  Heidi encouraged us to try free motion quilting over the pieces, but I had to be different (always the difficult student!).  I went with my usual, boring, straight stitching along the edges.  I’m really liking this piece, and will definitely finish it eventually.

Finally, on to the main project, the Bee on Flower mosaic.  This piece is 14″ x 17″ with hundreds of pieces.  The kit comes with pre-fused fabric already cut into the proper shapes, so all we have to do is lay out the pieces.  A layer of tulle is placed over the picture, then the individual pieces are laid out over the tulle.

Once the design is complete, the tulle layer is placed onto the background fabric, creating the “grout” in between the tiles.

The best part is that I left the retreat with a completed project!  The top is done, but now I need to find time to quilt it.  Maybe I’ll simply frame it and be done?  Still deciding.

I can’t rave enough about how much fun this class was.  I could relax and be a student for once.  Heidi Proffetty is a wonderful teacher, eager to share her tips and tricks.  I recommend checking out her art quilts at her website.

Now on to another project.  TTFN,