"Forks in the Road"

The Fyber Cafe textile arts group has a challenge this year, the theme is "The Path Less Traveled." I got my idea for my piece when I was out with my sister for lunch in Snohomish, Washington. As we were getting back in the car there was a fork leaning against the curb, ha ha ha, I stopped and took a photo if it. So I went to the Salvation Army thrift store and bought an assortment of forks, serving forks, wooden, plastic, different colors. I grabbed some of my own silverware and my camera and went to a newly paved and striped parking lot. I scattered the forks on the yellow and white lines, I made patterns, crossed them, and staggered them. When I went home I took a couple of pictures with the manhole covers in my street.

I printed the photos on fabric, with my computer printer. I make my own fabric sheets, treating the fabric with Bubble Jet Set, trimming to size, and ironing freezer paper on the back. I thought the black and yellow was too stark, and I could not get a really rich black to print on the fabric, so I changed the yellow stripes to different colors. I cut the photos up and arranged them on a muslin backing, and collaged them, overlapping and filling the space. The outline is wavy because it has to match the other artist's pieces like a jigsaw puzzle, and the path is continuous through all twelve pieces.

I free motion machine quilted, in matching rayon threads, mostly to outline each item. This photo is before the binding, I used a very narrow 1/8" bias binding. I also printed up some road signs I already had in my photo collection, and some words in different fonts, to show life changing moments where we might take a different path. It was fun coming up with different words, and I did not use all the ones I printed. I have always wanted to use my photos this way, and am glad I got the chance to do this technique.

The complete display of "The Path Less Traveled" by members of Fyber Cafe, at the Umpqua Valley Quilters' Show, at the Douglas County Fairgrounds, in Roseburg, Oregon.