Back in December I blogged about Home Shopping, in which I confessed to having leftover sewing and crafting materials of every description all over my house and not knowing what to do with all of it.

Inspired by Rebekah Meier’s new book, Fabric Art Collage, I decided to try my hand at repurposing some of my fabric and crafty odds and ends to make my own collage.

Well, I can report that, first of all, my hat’s off to Rebekah. She is a true artist, and I couldn’t begin to create anything as complex and imaginative as her pieces in a million years! Her paint effects, especially, are beyond gorgeous. BUT–I’m not an artist, just a quilter and crafter of humble abilities. So, I decided to treat this not as a test of talent, but as a license to play!

Like a kindergarten kid, I plunged my hands into my hodgepodge of ribbon, fabric, rubber stamps, glitter, and paper, and made three little cards, ranging in size from 4″ x 6″ to 5″ x 7″. 

Piece #1:

Base:  My version of Rebekah’s Nontraditional Patchwork–bits of fabric cut with pinking shears, fused together  with lightweight fusible, and machine stitched (a little) in random swirls. I used the “wrong” side of a couple of fabrics because I liked the muted colors. The  whole thing is mounted on a piece of our fast2fuse.

Next layer: A piece of gold netting

The next layer:  White felt dabbed with a wet teabag and decorated with scraps of yarn fibers fused on with BoNash007 Bonding Agent. 

Embellishments: Scraps of vintage lace, an old pink ribbon, and a fragment of  a vintage button card–all fused or glued on. 

Binding: A backing of fabric cut with pinking shears and fused to the back of the card, then wrapped and fused to the front.

Piece #2 (mostly paper):

Base: Watercolor paper painted randomly with watercolor paints. 

Next layer: Random thread scraps inspired by Rebekah’s thread fabric, pus a sprinkling of glitter, covered with a used dryer sheet–fused with BoNash 007 Bonding Agent. 

Embellishments: Scraps of vintage green ribbon and pinkish bias tape, slivers of gold origami paper, and a “paper bead” (a very funky version of the ones in Rebekah’s book) tied with more random thread. All glued on. 

A few rubber stamped squares with glitter embossing powder.

Piece #3:

Base: Stiff paper covered with an 18th-century (I think) repro fabric

Birds and vines: Printed on fabric (using an inkjet printer) from frontispiece art found in an old book; cut out and colored with crayons. Individual birds at top: rubber stamped on fabric. 

Underlayer: brownish cheesecloth. . .not sure this was such a good look. Fused on with Bo-Nash 007 Bonding Agent.

Borders: At left, painted watercolor paper cut with decorative scissors, rubber stamped, and embossed with gold embossing powder, plus a scrap of vintage lace up top. Paper scrapbooking corners and border on right (a little funky).

And that’s what I came up with. The beauty of Rebekah’s techniques (there are 40+ in her book) is that they are so inspirational, and you can put them together in any way you want to, for any kind of effect.

Try it–it’s fun!

Related posts:

1. “Babies On The Way” TAP™ Fiber Art Project
2. Wistful Afternoon Shawl TAP Project
3. Butterfly Wall Hanging Project with Ultra-Light Lutradur
4. My Monet Clock
5. Quick Thanksgiving Votive Project with Lutradur