Sunday, March 30, 2008

Wetlands


OK, I can't wait any longer... y'all have done such a great job of taking this challenge and making it work! I'm amazed at the ingenuity and variety of materials in these quilts! The biggest danger of this challenge is that none of us will ever throw anything away, ever again! One quilters trash is another's treasure!

Part of this challenge was generated when I started looking at the mesh bags fruit and veggies come in. Now what can I use that for? I tried using them as an overlay, but they were just not dense enough to make an impression, but I still kept about 10 of them on my design wall. One day I was absentmindedly twisting one around my finger and then I got it.

The cattails are twisted veggie bags, ends sewn together and soft sculpted, then hand sewn. The stems are needlepunched yarn, and hand dyed fabric (background and leaves, piping and binding) was leftover from another project. And the medallion is from a wind chime that died on my deck during our hard windy winter. I added some bronze paint for patina.

Comments, of course, are welcome!

5 comments:

Betty Donahue said...

Gorgeous!!!

Anonymous said...

This has a graceful balance. Both the complimentary colors and the negative to positive space are balanced.
My eye follows the curved line of the cattails. Somehow the sun seems to complete this, anchors it in some way. Very nice,
Penny Irwin

Joni said...

Wendy,
I really like the colors in this piece. It is so warm and somehow comforting. Nice save of the wind chimes! Joni

Art by Rhoda Forbes said...

Fantastic, and what a great overall composition.

Carole said...

Wendy, this is so you, so beautiful, so graceful and all from 'recycled' materials.
Very clever use of those materials, I have only EVER opened those mesh bags and laid them flat, and they aren't of much use that way. Another inspiration!!
Well done!
Carole