Sunday, November 04, 2007

Swirling Oaks

Here is my Challenge #14 piece- Swirling Oaks- 11"x14"

It looks like many others also thought of wind and leaves for this. It was the first thing I thought of when I read it, because fall is really here, and the winds have picked up, and the leaves are swirling all around.

I used sunprints of oak leaves I did this summer, using colors in orange and green with some burgundy. The sunprinted fabric was backed with Wonder Under, then cut apart, and fused to the batting with a gold-flecked ivory fabric between the prints. The edges of the prints are covered with a yarn in the colors of the fabric, couched with clear thread.

I quilted the outlines and veins of the sunprints with a variegated thread, and stitched some wobbly, curved lines with clear thread to show the swirling wind. The "binding" is the same yarn used earlier couched around the edges. The leaves for the embellishment are "silk" leaves pulled from their plastic stems. I attached them by stitching only on the vein lines, so they are loose on their edges.

The first photo is of the piece placed on a 16"x20" pre-stretched canvas which I would like to mount it to.

The second photo also shows it on the canvas, but with a couple more leaves placed on the canvas outside the edge of the quilt.

I am not sure if I like the canvas left white, or if a color would be better, or if I shoud add the extra leaves, or leave it alone.
If anyone has any ideas, I'm very open for suggestions.

3 comments:

anna k. said...

Sue, i do like this piece immensely, you have captured the feeling of the swirling autumn leaves. On the photo it is difficult to see the gold flecked fabric.
I hesitate to add suggestions as i am such a novice.
I would prefer some colours in the canvas that it is attached to, perhaps it would the piece more a part of the canvas.
The colour choice is difficult, and all i could come up with is a watercolour effect with greens and browns to reflect the changing colours of autumn with some golden flecks.
I do like the addition of the extra leaves.
The sunprinted fabric is so effective.

Cynthia Ann Morgan said...

Hi Sue...great piece! I happen to like the first one with less leaves...I can see the movement better on that one. I think any one of the colors in the leaves would make the canvas mounting beautiful. Gold or orange if you want bold and green or purple if you want more subtle.
Cynthia

Sandy said...

Sue, I love the second piece. I think that to have more leaves going off the edges counteracts the way the lines in the middle ground create stopping places. (If you know what I mean!) the extra leaves keep your eyes swirling with the leaves, and so gives more movement.

well done,
Sandy Snowden