Another Process-A Wall Hanging

   

Group shot of Westside Unitarian Universalist's congregation

      The work I am going to show in this blog is one that I did for my church's water service.  We have a delightful new minister who just came to us about six weeks ago.  She is young and enthusiastic and I believe she will be a great asset to our church.  So for her second time in the pulpit, we had a Water Service...a  service whereby members of the congregation brought water from a favorite place, a special vacation, or even tap water to symbolically represent a memory. Then at a appointed times during the service the water was poured into  crystal bowls representing the direction from which it may have come..North, South, East, West as Rev. Shari read about the directions' meaning. Ultimately concluding the need for water and how all waters flow together, etc.

     In preparation for the service I volunteered to make a wall hanging to be displayed behind the pulpit.  So in my mind, what could represent the ultimate water?  The ocean and more specifically, the strength of the ocean as shown in waves. I have always admired Hokusai's  "The Wave" so I used it as an inspiration.

Hokusai's "The Wave"

   First the auditioning of the fabric...yes, that is what we fiber artists and quilters actually say when we are selecting just the right fabric to use!

Background

Definition added

     Then I sketched out the shape of the waves on freezer paper.  Freezer paper has been adapted to the fiber world as a wonderful tool because the waxy side can be ironed on to fabric to give a nice foundation for cutting shapes. So I could place the paper on my background on my design wall.

Freezer paper shapes

After deciding the shapes, I chose the fabric for the waves themselves.  I had ironed Mistyfuse to the back of the fabric to fuse it in place to the background.  Mistyfuse is a very fine adhesive which can be adhered to fabric then ironed onto another piece.

The waves...on freezer paper...before adhering to background

The fabric is called shot cotton.  It is very light and has a shimmer to it which doesn't show up very well here.  It is made up of two different colors of thread which changes color slightly as light hits it.

Then I added some white caps

and because I really enjoy doing beading, I decided to bead the waves.  It has been  three or four years since I had done any beading, and I had forgotten how slow a process it is!  I burned the candle at both ends for several nights but did get it finished!

In cropping the picture to show the beading better, the picture got a little fuzzy.

The final wall hanging is about 60" x 36".  I would like to do some more beading along the top of the large wave on the left side and maybe a little on the lower wave.  

The final project!

I am glad I did the beading...it reminded me of how much I enjoy it and will be doing more in the near future.