All About the Eyes
Posted by Sandra Mollon on May 10th 2021
In my work as a textile artist, whether that is in traditional hand appliqué with hand embroidery, or in my more recent work in realistic raw edge fused appliqué, I always think that if I don’t get the eye right, nothing else matters.
The eye is, of course, known as the window to the soul, and a beautiful eye will draw in the viewer. An eye that is not in proportion, or with a very small pupil (a beady eye is unappealing), or is simply misplaced on the face will cause the work to be less attractive. If you are working on an animal eye, I recommend actually taking the time to look for images of that critter. It helps knowing what details to look for. Taking time to carefully do the eye is probably the most important part of the work.
With the release of my book, Seasons of Life, Techniques and Patterns for 13 Baltimore Album Quilt Blocks, I’d like to take a closer look at the details that make up the eyes in the animals that populate my work.
Often in a 12” to 15” appliqué block, the eyes themselves are too small to have a turned edge finish or much detail, so I often start with a small piece of Ultrasuede (TM). Because it doesn’t fray and is easily hand sewn down, its the place to start, like in the squirrel, hedgehog or dove shown here.
Starting with a small piece of black Ultrasuede, I hand stitch it down and then complete look with a single thread of stem stitch embroidery to outline. The finishing touch is almost always a tiny dot or two of White #80 Tsukineko ink.
Often I’ll need two coats to make it as white as possible. You can apply it with a fine lining brush or the Fantastix brush point applicator also sold by Tsukineko.
If you have the luxury of a larger eye, like in the bunny—you have the option to use more detail.
Here I started with an hand appliquéd light brown color fabric for the eye, and then I outlined it with a Fabrico marker (#152 Sand) and drew in the pupil in black (Fabrico marker Real Black #182). The highlight was done with the white ink as described above. The details with the hand embroidery stitches added the final touch. Now its your turn to go make some beautiful work! Enjoy!
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