Finally Finished "Shibori with Bird" Quilt

This is a story of a quilt.  In 2009, when I was working on my Masters Degree in Art Education I started a stitched resist shibori quilt. I had done some arashi shibori prior to this but had always been fascinated by the variety of designs that could be achieved through resisting dye via stitching.

Below is a picture of the quilt after dye was applied and rinsed out. Notice the wavy stitched lines at the bottom of the piece both in the picture above and below.

It took me eight years to get back to this lovely piece of fabric. I would take it out at least once a year and try to figure out what to with it.  Finally in 2016 I made a border that worked well with it and started hand stitching and embroidering on it.

Feeling it needed a focal point, or fun little surprise, I discovered a negative area that resembled the shape of a bird, so stitched one in. The eye was painted.  I was a nervous wreck painting it due to the permanence of the acrylic paint, which did not leave much room for error.