Fabric collage/ paper collage

I am loving collage, and I want to see how the paper techniques stretch to fabric. Here are the first steps of two separate collages -- a paper and paint piece with a Christmas theme, and a work that is mostly fabric continuing my interest in salt water.

Base

I have a base and cotton fabrics to cover it with.

Here are swaths of fabric, instead of paint. 

Words

For the paper collage I used black ink and a calligraphy pen. I wrote random Christmas words, including Peace, Cheer, Holiday...

For the fabric collage I wrote with black thread.  I've written the first stanza of a poem about the Rickenbacker Causeway Bridge. It begins, "Arc in air…"

Below, I've masked some of the paper in preparation for painting. In the next post I'll show the final, fun steps of the pair.