By Janine Ibbini

The trees in Yorkshire were beginning to shed leaves as we left back to UAE in mid- September

The dropping of leaves by deciduous trees is called Abscission. It occurs on the cusp of autumn and winter as part of a long cycle of growth, maturity and renewal.

The piece began life by the Transformation of fabrics. These include cotton, linen, some of my mother’s old tablecloths and napkins, my father’s old shirts.

I transformed the fabric by Eco-printing and eco-dyeing with plants and leaves found around me over the course of many summers spent in Yorkshire.

The printed fabrics were then cut up and handstitched around hexagon papers. I love this method of English Paper Piecing.

I made a quilt sandwich with the hexagons and machine stitched them in place.

For the surface layer I gathered together many colours of polyester organza, hoping to capture the colours of leaves as they change colour and transform into glorious autumn shades.

I gathered many varieties of leaves and made photocopies of them. Holding the organza in place over the top of the photocopy, I burnt and cut out the leaf shapes with a heated soldering iron.

These shapes were then hand sewn using tiny back stitches and fine brightly coloured polyester thread

The texture and pattern of the Eco-prints can be seen through the organza leaves.

Layering and over-layering across the surface, once again transforming the fabric by covering over some of the eco prints. The texture and pattern of the Eco-printed fabrics can be seen through the organza leaves.

Janine Ibbini

Abu Dhabi, UAE

100% Cotton and Linen. Polyester organza. Cotton batting. Cotton backing

Hand pieced. Machine stitched. Hand sewn.

Dimensions 40” x 18”