Indian Paintbrush Applique Process
I have started working on the green nuno felt that I showed you several weeks ago.
Here’s where I left off and you will see that I eventually turn this piece so that the orange bits were at the top instead of the bottom.
I looked through my stash to see what fabric I had that would work with my inspiration photos of Indian Paintbrush. I have tons of photos that I have taken of wildflowers so I printed out some that were closer and some that were farther away.
Next, I needed to scale the foreground flowers up a bit. I do that on my copy machine and then use the photos to trace the design on to tracing paper.
I use my light box to trace the design on to the tracing paper.
Here’s the design beside the background nuno felt. I have turned it around so the orange is towards the top and further in the background to represent more flowers.
The next step is to copy the designs on to freezer paper. I picked out which petals I wanted to be a darker orange and transferred the petal shapes on to freezer paper. I decided to leave the edges of the fabric raw when I appliqued them down since Indian Paintbrush have ragged edges. Therefore, if there’s fraying, it’s not a big deal.
Then I cut out the flower shapes, some in darker orange and some in lighter orange. The fabric is all hand dyed so it has color changes throughout and looks more natural for flowers. I then peeled off the freezer paper to see what the flower would look like on the background. At some point, I decided to leave the freezer paper in place as it was preventing too much fraying before I started stitching the pieces down.
Here are all the pieces in place over the tracing paper which is laid on top of the nuno felt. I haven’t decided if I need to add anything else or not. I think I will stitch the small flowers down on the background and then lay out all the foreground flowers and decide if it needs other flowers or grass or… More to come!
17 thoughts on “Indian Paintbrush Applique Process”
The variegated colours are lovely and the layout has movement/life. Are you hand or machine stitching this piece?
Thanks Ladies! I am currently planning on hand stitching.
Wow, Ruth, this one promises to be so vibrant! The green nuno felt is sich a great background for this project. I love the drawing of the flowers because it makes them more dreamlike, and I can’t wait for your progress updates.
This is going to be beautiful and I like also like the movement its got. I wonder if its missing a middle distance size of flower? Maybe the three small ones on the left could be a little larger?
Thanks Caterina, that green fabric always reminds of wildflowers so it seems to lead me in that diretion. I am making slow progress so we’ll see how it goes.
Thanks Karen. You are probably correct in the piece needing some middle distance size flowers. I think I will stitch things down and see if I need to add anything else. It’s always hard to tell from the drawn design.
I agree with Karen that maybe the picture needs something in the middle distance perhaps to help draw the eye from the flowers on the left across to those disappearing into the distance on the right, though I don’t know what.
I love the variation of colour of the orange flowers that you’ve laid out. I’m waiting with bated breath for the next steps.
Ann
Thanks Ann, I’m still reserving a decision on the middle distance. Once the pieces are stitched down, I can decide what else it needs.
I love the orange and the result is so true to the photo in terms of colour. Your process is really interesting and I am looking forward to the next post.
Thanks Helene, on to stitching.
This is already looking lovely. The background has a real meadow feel and the variation in the orange dye works perfectly for the flowers. Very much looking forward to seeing what you do next.
Thanks Lindsay, it’s always nice to find the perfect piece of fabric already in your stash 😀
The piece promises to be vibrant with your choice of ‘variegated’ orange fabric and have plenty of movement.
Following on with middle distance….I see something above, but between, the left and middle stems. This could be another stemmed flower with its stem then coming down between the current left and middle stem, or something else that you introduce. If you were to introduce a new item then I think you’d need to repeat it front right foreground to balance the picture.
As all the previous comments I too am looking forward to seeing your progress with this piece and also what stitches you choose to embellish your design.
Thanks Antje, I will need to look at it when I have the current elements in place. It’s always hard to tell for sure until I can see it. But thanks for the suggestions.
I like it so far. I first thought was that the small flowers were petals floating off on the wind. Maybe add something to ground them? It may just be me because I have been thinking of how to do some milk weed
The small flowers do seem to be floating a bit. I will see how it feels after I add the foreground flowers. I may add some slight indications of stems, grass and leaves but I don’t want to add too much detail. Milk weed sounds fun!