One Zen Moment

16" x 17 1/2"

Cotton and cotton batik fabric
Fused and quilted; echo quilting
Beads/beading around center bead

I'm fortunate to have Ann Johnston's book. I refreshed my memory of some of the design principles she covers before taking book and some favorite photos to the Girls Night Out at the local quilt store where I teach.

I didn't like my efforts with the first two photos I tried. Success quickly came when I starting sketching from the photo of my 1893 Singer treadle. The drawer decorations reminded me of windows.

There's nothing like having an entire quilt store as "stash"! I had been thinking solids but when I saw the batik with the multi-colored squares, I fell in love with it. Then I spotted the turquoise batik. The black has subtle circles on it.

My original concept was to use beads to highlight the colors on the turquoise fabric. However, when I saw the turquoise donut it seemed perfect. I am studying Larkin Van Horn's Beading on Fabric book so decided to try the cabachon capture technique (something new to me). I experimented with bleeding the turquise fabric through the binding and like the effect. I did not feel any additional beading was needed after adding the center stones.

I like the simplicity of this piece. Like much of my work there is more to see the more closely one gets to the piece. It has a complex peacefulness; thus the title.
My inspiration photo, sketch and close-ups are here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/shimmers411/ChallengeQuilts
That folder also includes the final version of my "Everybody has blue days (and your cat may hallucinate)" challenge quilt.

Comments are most welcome!