Sunday, September 18, 2011

Azalea Encore


So here is where I am with this piece.  I'm still listening for the quilt to tell me whether it is done or not.  Apparently it's speaking too quietly or I'm not paying attention closely enough -- so for now, this is where it sits.

If you click on the photo, you can see that I added a lot of machine quilting.  My friend Loretta commented on how painterly this looks, which was gratifying as I'd been thinking of that fabric texture as impressionistic paint strokes.  I'd sketched and doodled and tried to figure out how to add stitch to emphasize that.  My conclusion was that it'd be best to suggest flowers and leaves and let the fabric texture create the brushstrokes.

But once I got the quilting on, it just sat there on all of that texture and seemed to compete in a confused sort of way.  So I pulled out my new Inktense pencils and started highlighting petals and leaves with more color.  I tried to add color while flowing with the direction of the fabric texture, again to use the fabric but also define the shapes more.

I think I'm venturing into the "Stop torturing this poor fabric" territory so I will put this away for a bit.  I tend to like it more when I first see it walking into the room -- and maybe that sense of jumbled color and the suggestion of flowers and foliage is the best this can do.  I'm not sure.

I still feel like it NEEDS something.  But it won't tell me what just yet.

4 comments :

  1. Your stitching seems perfect, it blends each of the fabrics pieces together by carrying the petals from one frame to the next. I'd certainly agree with your friend's painterly description. Beautiful!

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  2. Anonymous3:21 PM

    I really like this - and your quilting adds to it as well. I have many pieces of hand-dyed fabric with which I have no idea what to use them for...and I think I might try this. I think I would like to see a frame around it, which might make it more painterly still.

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  3. This is gorgeous, Diane. The stitching is part of the overall effect and integrates the whole. Lovely.

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  4. Absolutely gorgeous. Perfection! I can't tell about the quilting that well on the monitor but the whole quilt sings, "azalea".

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