RAMONA CONCONI info@quiltingbee.ch I started with the traditional patchwork in 1984 in Nyon. I’ve always been keen on all types of textile activities, such as knitting, weaving, wool spinning, felt and then I started doing patchwork that enables me to work in a very spontaneous way, without rules! My strength point is matching colors. I really like Mirò, Paul Klee and Matisse’s paintings where shapes and colors come to life creating deep and moving effects. I’ve never been good at painting but better with the sewing machine. For this reason I really like creating textile paintings using plain fabrics or some others dyed by me, where the shapes and their role in the space are the main characters! Besides my commitments as artist and textile art teacher, I’m chairman of Quilt Art Lugano committee that organized this contest in June 2007 with a great success. I’m a member of the Swiss Patchwork Association (patChquilt) where I collaborate writing the Italian version of the bulletin and also that for the Italian Association (Quiltitalia). I collaborate also as free lance technician with the English/French magazine Magic Patch and with the company Aurifil for which I test the threads and I’m promoted as artist.
Choose a picture from a book or Internet. You can also use a picture of you.
Trace the shape of the picture on a transparent paper, or use Golden Threads, leaving out the details.
I love the brightness of Aurilux #130 threads, available in several color shades. In fact for this kind of picture I need 2 shades of grey and thanks to Aurifil I have a wide range to choose from. I choose a very dark grey and another grey more similar to the fabric I want to use, which I dyed by hand with Procion colors. Firstly I stitched the fabric to the base of the textile card using Aurifil temporary adhesive spray. For this reason I use a very stiff fliseline. With the chosen Aurifil colors, I follow the pencil lines using a machine and a straight freehand stitch.
After removing the paper carefully, with the same threads used to make the border lines of the ant, I fill it in using a zigzag stitch always with the technique of freehand quilting with darning foot also lowering the “feed dogs”. I embellish with the same technique but using a metallic black/gold thread for a part of the ant’s body, leaving out the shadow.
To give the textile card a brighter appearance, I decide to use some metallic polyester papers that you can easily find in patchwork shops specialized in textile art. They’re also available in several shades… In this case I choose a silver one. Then I tear up some little pieces of Vliesofix that I spread upon the fabric.
By protecting the hot iron (medium temperature) with a hoven paper, I do iron the metallic paper on the fabric with the matt grey side turned towards the fabric while the bright side towards you. The silver gets stitched exactly where the Vliesofix was located.
After trimming the card using a cutter and a ruler and sticking the back of the card with adhesive spray Aurifil 353, I choose a wonderful cotton 50 wt variegated thread for thick zigzag stitches, or an Aurilux #130 (as I did) for a lighter one. Also a nice cotton 12 wt can be used both by hand or by machine to refine tour textile card.
As you can see… A nice quilt combined to a nice thread can give great results!