Leavings
Frugality has a reason but then there is a point of just too much.
I’m talking about all those bits of fabric I trim away as I work on a piece of fiber artwork–too small to be even called a scrap or to save as useful–but yet I do save them. You can see how they can pile up as I work–until I can no longer see my pins or scissors and concede to putting them away—in a ziplock bag sorted by project.
My work usually has several layers–not including backing and substrate for work–think background, mid ground and foreground–and each must be complete in itself and compositionally solid. WordPress does not like that particular word and I’m sure I just made it up but it makes sense to me. As does my work progress.
One of my art teachers was a weaver. For her everything was done before she approached the loom. The piece built from the bottom up–there were no layers that were unforeseen or unplanned. Weft might change but once woven there was no more composition to occur. This might be similar to a traditional quilt–pattern chosen, fabric chosen, pieces constructed and final quilting–ie finishing. My work is much more like a painting with so many layers each with their own design and enriching the layer beneath.
Sylvia Weir Art 