Wednesday, March 07, 2007

Green Grow the Rushes, Oh!

Being well supplied with green fabrics, many of them suitable for foliage, I chose the Celtic song "Green Grow the Rushes, Oh!" to illustrate. This is actually one of the most quilt-like pictures I've done, since I have not mounted it on foam core like most of them. I used raw edge applique, varying the stitch patterns for different elements. I used Angelina fiber for the clouds, and it turned out more gold than white, but since the sky isn't blue, gold clouds seemed acceptable! I picked up a dark green piece of upholstery remnant for the binding -- very much surprising the saleswoman cutting the piece, people usually don't buy just half a yard!

4 comments:

laura west kong said...

Great composition! The eye follows a wonderful and interesting path throughout the entire piece. I like the variety of shapes, stitches, and fabrics you've used. It looks like you had fun while making it.
laura k

Cherie in Del Mar said...

I love your fabric choices Tobi, especially the tree. I don't think I ever would have considered using a print like that for foliage, but it works so well...I will try something like that in the future. Excellent use of value to interpret this challenge...Well done!
Cherie

Cynthia Ann Morgan said...

Hi Tobi,
Yes, the gold clouds are very effective, adding just the right amount of sparkle and lightness. I see you have your fabrics working for you...almost a broderie perse method, right? Good job with the values, too

Cynthia

Tobi said...

I had to look up "broderie perse" -- according to Wikipedia, "a method of applying a fabric ... onto a background by hand sewing". Almost is right, it's machine sewing, using either a satin stitch or one of the fancier stitches built in to my machine. And the fabrics usually tell me how they want to be cut and placed!