Serendipity

The art quilt group of the big guild, Northern Star Quilter's Guild, of which I am a member has a challenge each year and the results are hung at our annual show the first weekend in May. This year the theme is "Under the Microscope".  We are to create a microscopic image of something that has an interest to us. This is not meant to be a close-up or Macro shot , but a true peek thru a microscope.  The internet abounds in them.  I borrowed a book from a friend and in perusing it, I thought that this image would be interesting.  It is of pollen and since I like plants and like to garden I thought it might be interesting to try and interpret it in fabric.

Microscopic view of Lenten Rose pollen

Here is where the serendipity comes in.  This very same friend a couple of weeks later presented me with this plastic place mat that she had found at Home Goods, thinking that it would be fun to use it for dyeing with some texture.  She had no idea that I was thinking of using that photo. Can you see why I was so excited to receive it?  The patterning is almost exactly the same as the photo.

I went thru my hand-dyed stash and found this winey pink and using the placemats as a stencil I used black acrylic paint to make this fabric.

Then using the photo loosely as guide, I fused down the shapes onto a black background. Does it remind you of Packmen?

I free motion quilted around all the shapes and used some colored pencils to give it some dimension.
I think I will name it Achoo! even though I don't have allergies.


I'm linking up again with Off The Wall Friday.