Sometimes it’s easier to figure how to finish someone else’s abandoned project than your own. That is the theory behind a UFO swap going on in one of my quilt groups. Each participant was to bring a UFO she would never, ever finish to trade for another’s UFO. The projects were drawn blindly. We get to keep the UFO we finish.
This month we’ll reveal our transformations. I drew a bag of surface design experiments, including some stenciled urns, discharged and overdyed black fabric, and some of the same fabric stitched up with metallic thread.
At first I planned to use the discharged fabric for a space galaxy themed idea, but then I began to work with the urns. The faded edges of the stencils made me think of how we lose our memories over time, if we’re unlucky. I put together a trio of memory jars and laid them on a field that starts out crisp, bright and ordered, and gets progressively more chaotic and torn.
Almost all the background fabrics are repurposed gifts. The lavender tinted silver lame was a gift from someone who used to sew country-western costumes. The silk crepe was from a bolt my grandmother had (I ice dyed it.) The damask was from my MIL’s old tablecloth (again dyed by me,) and the velveteen came from a church janitor.
I did hand stitching with metallic thread and added a few hot fix crystals to stand for escaped memories. I also used fabric paint to give a glow to some areas. All the reflective surfaces make this piece very difficult to photograph. It looks different under different lighting.
I’m ambivalent about this piece. My feelings vary depending on the light in which I view it. It may be that I seldom make a “message” piece, and find it difficult to separate the message from the design.
The Snarky Quilter 
Was it metallic fabric paint? It is pretty amazing how you transformed those original urns. I like how the quilting expands as it moves onto the different fabrics.
The only paint is the diagonal lines of turquoise pearlescent Jacquard paint. I did use a bit of paintstick on the lower third. I’m glad I added that quilting to connect the layers.
Very good. Thanks!
Without knowing your intent, I think a viewer could find a lot of different possible interpretations. Very thought-provoking. I love the depth in it and the outerspace/metaphysical-dimension feel of it.
How big is the finished piece?
It would seem that I planned to go outerspace on this challenge no matter which of the fabrics I used. I still hope to do the galaxy piece. The size on this one is 17.5 by 23.5 inches.
I think the person who abandoned thlse urns is going to be thrilled to see what you did with them!
Well, I get to keep them, so they can admire them but there’s no do overs.
What an interesting creative interpretation! You’ve utterly transformed those very low-key urns!
I hope that transformation is in a good way.