may theme: I Can't Resist!

I finished both my Sketchbook page and my journal quilt just in time.

You Can't Resist was a great theme for me: I am organizing a Soy Wax class with Melanie Testa and guess what? The title Melanie had chosen for the class is ... YES: You Can't Resist!

I had a package of the appropriate quality of soy wax at home in order to test it. Last week I spent two afternoons in my studio, happily creating with soy wax and thickened dyes. The blog post is not ready yet, but in the next couple of days I am going to upload photos on my personal blog.

Marlis Egger | Journal Quilt - 8" x 8" | soy wax resist | fiber reactive dyes
(I'm still exploring the potential of my favorite letter, the B...)

You Can't Resist! (whole spread opened up) - candle resist

opposites | my journal quilt

Hi, Marlis here. It’s hard to believe that another month is almost over. I had a lot of fun working with this month’s theme OPPOSITES – in the sketchbook as well as with fabric.

Opposites. So many possibilities: black/white, shiny/dull, patterned/plain, organic/geometric, vertical/horizontal, circular/angular – to name just a few. The next blank page in my sketchbook was aqua green, so I decided to opt for the color first. Aqua green’s complementary color is red – not my favorite color combo. But sometimes we should get out of our comfort zone, shouldn’t we?

When I prepared my sketchbook, I applied a candle resist to some of the pages before painting them. More often than not, I used one of my favorite marks: the “curved” cross. A couple of months ago I started to use this mark extensively and in various ways: stitching, drawing, stamping. I even carved some stamps out of erasers. I guess, I have to think about why I just love these marks…

To finish the pages, I added some drawings and the flip-out part is created in the opposite color scheme: red on aqua green.

highly prized | my journal quilt

Hello everybody, Marlis here. I introduced myself ages ago but haven’t posted since. I’m glad Frauke and Kit came up with the Challenge idea. I am participating in the Sketchbook Challenge and, being a quiltmaker, I’m more than happy to join this Journal Quilt Challenge. I quite like the idea of working with the same theme in two different mediums (paper and cloth). My goal is to make one Journal Quilt a month in the size of 8”x8”.

When the theme “Highly Prized” was announced, I did a quick brainstorming. What do I prize highly? My husband, my cats, the view out of my living room window, Sushi, a glass of Prosecco, my daily walk, my friends ... and a lot more. I can’t draw (or that’s what I thought before I joined the Sketchbook Challenge…), so I picked the most difficult topic <g>: my cats, or more specifically Flori Cat. For the Journal Quilt I used a digitally processed version of the same photograph I had used as reference when I made the pencil sketch and printed it on fabric. I made my own stamps for the paws (from erasers). The piece is freehand quilted following the irregular lines of the background fabric. Very simple - but that's the way I like to work (my motto is "less is more").

Btw: this is my sketchbook page: