Draconis orientalis

A small finish this Friday, since Brunhild is at the dealers awaiting surgery to remove the screw from her innards. My daughter has offered me access to her Bernina sewing machine, but I want to push on with the hand stitching on the Gypsy Wife.

Drago, or Draconis orientalis, with gold toe nails and a pearly smile.

My (our) finish this week has been named Drago, or Draconis orientalis, apparently the scientific epithet for an oriental or Chinese dragon. As mentioned in a previous post, my daughter did not record the source of the image, so my apologies to the original artist.

Drago started out as an abandoned UFO from my daughter’s stash of art quilting projects destined for the Arts Recycling Centre, but I managed to smuggle him out.

He was traced from an image found on the net, onto four samples she had dyed during a class on fabric dying and painting. The design was then traced using Superior polyester threads and a free motion quilting foot on her Bernina 550QE, with some lightweight stabiliser added to the back of the fabric. Colour was originally added using Faber-Castell watercolour pencils, and texture medium rather than water. This allows Drago to take a bath in the future, without his colours running.

After appropriating Drago, I started adding a bit more colour using the watercolour pencils. I asked her if it was possible to paint his toe nails gold, since she had her paints out, and next thing I know, she had kidnapped him back, and was adding the finishing touches to the design.

Lumiere paints, great for fabric painting Dragon toenails.

She touched up his teeth, talons and scales, and then painted in the background design, mixing up a deep purple from her Lumiere paint collection. The paints are available from one of our local quilt shops,  Village Books and Crafts. Dianne the shop owner runs small night classes throughout the year, often showcasing a single, small art quilting technique. Daughter #2 has been taking the classes fairly regularly, for instance last night learning about putting text on quilts. Dianne stocks lots of art quilting supplies, and is very generous with her time in instructing in their use. Her classes are what has led to my daughter abandoning piecing, and embracing other textile arts.

Draconis orientalis in all his glory, but now destined to be placed in storage in an art portfolio. I shall have to find something else for my studio walls.

Now that Drago is finished, my daughter has reclaimed him, and he is destined to join her other finished projects in a file box awaiting a studio or art space of her own to display him. I enjoyed owning him, even if it was only for a day or two.

More importantly, I saved Drago from the indignity of a recycling bin. A job well done.

Linking up to Crazy Mom Quilts, TGIFF, and Link a Finish Friday.