Gourds #4, SAQA Trunk Show

There was recently a call out for the SAQA Trunk Show, and I wanted to make a 3D piece for it.  The SAQA Trunk Show is a collection of small art quilts (divided into trunks) that anyone can check out for a nominal fee and then share with whatever group they're interested in.  Common examples include quilt guilds, local SAQA pods, etc. but this year we're hoping to have a broader audience for the trunk show.

Since the pieces have to be small, many of my 3D approaches wouldn't really work.  However, a few years ago I made several small 3D "gourds" loosely inspired by mariner's compass and other star blocks.  Here are the original three; they're too big for the Trunk Show, but I thought it might be an approach that could be shrunk down.

I started with some leftover bits of painted fabric, made a quilt sandwich and then marked my star lines.  After quilting, I cut out the star and started sculpting!

Here is after just putting in some stitches to help hold the main parts of the form.

To help it hold its shape and not collapse, I coated it with fabric stiffener and used pencils to create little curls.  Here's the final piece, it's about 9x10x4 inches.

Now I just have to pack it up and get it sent to SAQA!  If you're interested in getting a trunk to present to your local group, you can find more info here: https://www.saqa.com/resources/saqa-trunk-show