Friday, January 05, 2007

Stephen King's "IT"


















"Paper Boat" 8 1/2" x 11"

The first book that came to my mind when I read the challenge was Stephen King's "IT". I am not sure why since as an avid reader I had many to choose from. Perhaps it was because I am currently reading his latest book.

IT was the very first Stephen King book I read many years ago. I have since read all of his books. My friend Janet introduced me to them when she learned I liked James Herbert books. She said if I liked James Herbert I would love Stephen King - she was right!

The first line of the book reads: "The terror, which would not end for another twenty-eight-years - if it ever did end - began, so far as I know or can tell, with a boat made from a sheet of newspaper floating down a gutter swollen with rain."

I took a photograph of a sketchbook cover I made earlier usin couched threads and xpandaprint into Paint Shop Pro to use as a background. I changed the colour to blue (it was dusky pink) and added a wave filter to give the water effect. I then added a photograph of the paper boat on a second layer, copied, pasted and flipped it onto a further layer. I added the twirl filter to the flipped image of the paper boat to give the impression of a reflection in the water. Once I was happy with the final image I printed it on to EQ Printables fabric using an Epson R1800. The colour quality of this printer is excellent. It used dyes rather than inks.

I layered the quilt using 505 temporary adhesive. I only use this on small quilts as I find the layers move if I use it on larger quilts. Free machine quilted using Robinson & Anton rayon thread.

5 comments:

Roberta Ranney said...

Hi Carol - You've certainly caught the "gutter swollen with rain" and the paper boat. The way you have manipulated the background with the addition of your quilting gives this piece a lot of movement. It is interesting how much its innocent look changed in my mind once I read the line you were using. Having read a bunch of S. King in the past I now see it as ominous.

Roberta

Deb Z said...

I really like this piece and your use of the paper boat with the reflection of it in the water to demonstrate value. The piece looks innocuous enough, but knowing the story of "It", also holds a tension in it....just like the story. You've truly captured the a bit of the foreboding, especially with your use of the shape on the right side of the piece.....white and wavering. Nice work...hope you had as much fun as I did on this challenge!

valerie said...

This is a great piece! I think what I like most is the reflected boat...many times people forget to add reflections to water. The round part in the corner makes me think of the drain in the gutter where the water flows down and sucks the viewer right into ITs home. I think it is good when quilting serves its own purpose (like your waves) and is not simply embellishment or utility. I'm not sure exactly what it is that makes me like this so much, but I just LOVE it...this quilt strikes a chord visually! Great job!

Tina Marie Rey said...

I can only emphasize what my commentors before me posted. The reflections really bring the piece to life. Bravo on catching the texture of the newspaper print boat. The quilting was supburbly done. Bravo.

Cynthia Ann Morgan said...

Hi Carol,
Very clever! The paper boat and it's reflection are wonderful elements...and greatly enhanced by the swirling background fabric and flowing quilting lines. Good study in contrast, with the values, pattern, curved and angular lines all providing lots of interest and movement too.

Just one comment about the center placement of the elements...how would it look more off center and/or higher or lower? It's a fun experiment to take your photo and crop it different ways to see how it looks...try it sometime!

Now, where did you find that lovely fabric...or did you dye it yourself?

Cynthia