14 x 22; Cotton, silk; Machine pieced, raw edge applique, machine quilted.
I had several rejected ideas before I settled on one. Washed and dried a silk remnant to use as the backgound for my idea. When I got the silk out of the dryer, my final idea got rejected and I did something totally different with it. The quilt took over on this one, and I didn't know where it was going until it was completed.
I used Rosalie Dace's "Skinny Bit" technique that I read about on Gerrie Congdon's blog to dissect the light blue silk I had and insert branches.
I decided to keep the frayed edges on the silk. I raw edge appliqued it to a top and bottom border. Then I sewed on a side border. Then I decided to add another branch that would also overlap the borders.
Depth in this piece was achieved by the foreground branch being brighter, warmer, and larger. I also tried to add dimension to the branches by piecing the larger branches with multiple shades of fabric.
A few things bother me. The large branch near the top left corner is larger than the branch is it growing out of. The light blue silk should be the most distant in the composition, but the fringe being on top of the other fabric makes it rather ambiguous, and it has a high sheen which makes it the most noticeable fabric in person.
I'm not sure what I'm seeing as far as subject matter. Does it matter? What do you see? Are these trees or branches? Are they falling over or being blown by the wind? I noticed when I was nearly finished that the two trees (or branches) are nearly identical. The furthest almost looks like a reflection in glass.
I was reminded while making this piece how much fabric gets distorted and shrunken with this type of free form piecing. Getting it to all fit together was a bit of a challenge.
This was fun. I took a while to get started, but once I did start, I worked intuitively and the quilt almost made itself.
Any comments and suggestions will be appreciated.
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6 comments:
Hi Linda, This is a wonderful piece, very skillfully constructed and quilted. I noticed the reflection effect right away...I thought it was intentional and is very effective in creating a mysterious feel to the piece along with the curvy edge and the tilt of the trees. I wouldn't change a thing!
Cynthia
It's really strange how it looks like a reflection behind the first tree. I wasn't trying at all to make the second tree look like the first, only trying for a second tree that looked good in the composition. I didn't notice the reflection until the top was completed, I think maybe when I was deciding where to trim the edges just before I started quilting.
I see very delicate trees. Late autumn sharp frost, and now working up a a wonderfully sunny day. I love this quilt, but then it does remind me of my favourite time of year. I love those crisp cold days.
I see what you mean about the background tree looking like a reflection, but I think to me it reads more like the same tree at different times of day.
I don't really dislike the reflection, I just thought it odd that it happened without me noticing it until it was done.
I tend to like things in quilts or paintings that are a bit ambiguous that aren't entirely clear. Something that makes you stop and think about it, and leaves something to the imagination.
Even though the trees aren't meant to be realistic, that one branch that's to large still bothers me. It's too heavy for the rest of the tree, realistic or not. I have decided to try to fix it. I have undone the quilting over the lower section of just that branch, and undid the piecing of the left piece. I plan to move it over half an inch and piece it back in by hand, and add a bit more background to the left. I figured if it bothered me that much, then I haven't got that much to loose. It will be an interesting experiment to see if I can patch it back together and requilt it without it looking noticably patched.
Hi Linda - your quilt delighted me at first glance. The trees listing to one side and the wonky borders all combined to attract my eye. When I clicked on the quilt and enlarged it I could better see the variety of fabrics you had used to create the trees and all the echo quilting in the silk piece. I would love to see the piece close up. I did not notice the too large branch until you pointed it out. Please post another picture when you've made your changes so we can see what you've done.
Roberta
It seems to be a reflection because of that light green rectangle of fabric suggests a mirror. Wonderfully done, I love the asymmetrical edges and the choices of fabrics.
If it was me, that one large branch would bother me enough to change it also (but that's the only thing)
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