I've been told by some seasoned quilters that art quilts are "hard" and a beginner like me shouldn't even try until I've done a few more patchwork quilts. This sounded like a challenge to me. But instead of trying it without any kind of knowledge of how to do it at all (like I usually do), I at least went on a hunt for a book about it. I stumbled across a book by Leni Levenson Wiener called "Photo-Inspired Art Quilts," which not only has examples of her intricate and beautiful photo-quilts, but she also includes detailed instructions on how to create your own!
Although I was ready to jump right in, it did seem a little out of my league still. So I tried to think of images that weren't as detailed as photos but could still transfer well into an image that can be made out of fabric. That's when I thought: Tattoos! I LOVE tattoo art, especially traditional tattoo flash. I have a few tattoos of my own that I got mainly when I was too young to think of an actual good tattoo idea (but we won't talk about that...) I do have one that I'm particularly proud of on my upper back. I got it done in the fall of 2008 by a really great artist in Chicago. This was the second tattoo he's done for me, and it was well worth the money! It's the coolest tattoo ever, but unfortunately it's on my back... so I can't see it! That's when I thought of making it into an applique quilt.
I took a photo of it, printed it, enlarged it x3 by hand, cut out the pieces in cotton and 100% silk dupioni (one of my all-time favorite fabrics) and now am in the stage of having my main image but no background to put it on (I still have yet to rifle through my stash and find some suitable background fabric.) My hope is to finish by this weekend.
I think it's going pretty well. I can't wait until it's a wall-hanging and finally be able to look at my tattoo!
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