Saturday, August 01, 2009

Hulk Haiku







Here is the 3rd in my Haiku series. "Hulk" which is the common name of this aster. It is still unfinished, needs quilting, binding, and the Haiku put on. Not sure how I am going to do that yet, may put them on a banner, or embroider them, haven't decided. Right now I just added them using the text feature :-)
I found a silk plant somebody was tossing so I brought it home and pulled all the leaves off from the plastic veins. I knew I would use them for something and this was perfect. Didn't have enough for a whole flower, only a half, but didn't like it so went with 1/4. They are attached with invisible thread and I purposely left wrinkles and bumps for texture.
The white part of the flower is 2 layers of batting, which I attached with white embroidery floss. I went over the edges to give it more of a flower appearance instead of a circle. On top of that is a small arc of 2 layers of batting which I painted yellow, again attaching with yellow embroidery floss and doing the same extended stitching. Throughout the top white and yellow areas I scattered some yellow french knots and the bottom white has echo quilting.
I put a detail photo of the center too. I wanted it too look 3D like the leaves and to have a puffy center, which I got :-)
I did this all by hand in one day, just got too hectic around here for me to finish it in time.
My nature colors are pretty obvious :-)
Oh, because I wanted to use the leaves as flower petal, I did a search for green petaled flowers which is how I found this flower. It was the only one that fit my vision. I think I have met the challenge, although after seeing what every one else did I am not sure..LOL
This is 18"wide x 20" long

8 comments:

Joni said...

Cathy, your flower is very interesting. I like how you hand stitched the center part to give it texture and a 3d effect. The green petals certainly fulfill the radial part of this challenge. It will be interesting to see how you add the text and quilt this one.

Wendy said...

Cathy, I love that folks are adding recycling to this challenge. And I love that you are using batting on the outside of the quilt! Have you thought about printing yoru haiku on fabric? Or stamping it? Ohhh now that would be very cool. Nice interpretation of this challenge.

Cynthia Ann Morgan said...

Hi Cathy, I really like your Haiku series and hope you take it to the "nth" degree to see where it takes you. Love the stitiching details on this piece...would love to see more variety in color and shading with the stitching. Some golds and browns and other analogous colors mixed in there with the pure yellow and white...I think it would add more interest and depth.
Good to have you back and I look forward to seeing more!
Cynthia

Unknown said...

Thanks for the comments ladies :-)

Wendy, good idea about printing it on fabric or stamping. If my printer worked I would be doing that for sure, but it won't work with this computer that I have now. I may use stencils though.

Cynthia, you are SO right! I noticed that there was something *off* about it and that is it! I can see other color French knots and outer stitches in my mind and I think it will help a lot. Thanks!

I pretty much think I will be working on this series for quite some time. I LOVE writing the Haiku and have a lot waiting for their illustrations. It is sort of a challenge within a challenge doing these..lol

Jan said...

Again, a lovely quilt with a beautiful Haiku accompanying the quilt. If you ever do get that book published I want a copy!
I love the colors and stitching you've done thus far. I think the green petals against the blue background are very stunning. Your use of different textures really adds to this quilt.
I really like radial symmetry and using an asymmetrical format is what I like best.
Can't wait to see your piece for the August challenge.

Unknown said...

Jan, I have been thinking about the book idea and am growing to like the idea more and more. Not sure how good it would sell but it would be kind of neat to have. I'm thinking I would need quite a few to make a decent book though.

Carole said...

Cathy, this is very clever, bright and definitely the colors of summer.
I don't know much about Haiku, but I am enjoying your series and am always watching to see what you do next.
Keep it up!

janice pd said...

I really like this series. I especially like the texture to the center of the aster. To me, the shininess of the leaves is a bit off with the softness of the rest of the piece. What would happen if you add long stitch embroidery to the leaves for more depth and softness?