Sunday, October 05, 2008
A Friend to the World
This is my first in a series of Native American Symbols. Right before the challenge was announced my sister came home from Arizona and gave me a book of Native American Symbols.. this was perfect timing. I paged through the book and found the owl. My time is pretty limited when it comes to my art so I thought I may have bitten off more than I could chew.. but, I finished it in 10 days. I love the color purple so I knew I wanted to use that with a complimentary color. I choose the purple/blue and the yellow/orange. I think these colors worked pretty well with this challenge. I like to raw edge applique with wonder under. All of my fabrics are cotton except the white is satin. And all of my pieces are stitched down with monofilament thread. I also like to embellish. I put a few crystals on the piece and some of that new shimmery ribbon with fusible glue on it. I always have fun with the quilting. I'm not a very good free motion quilter but, these fast friday challenges will give me a chance to improve. The quilt is 24.5 x 9.5 Laura Krasinski
THe first photo I posted looked more pink...I took this one in natural sunlight and the color is much more true. I deleted the first photo.
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12 comments:
This is very cool Laura...it has such a mystical quality to it, although it seems more like red violet than blue purple to me :) I really like it...could you tell us what the symbol means / stands for?
Cherie
Laura, this is very cool.... I love owl and her wisdom, she's one of my totems!
The colors are nicely blended and there is a wonderful sense of whimsy to the face.
Can you tell us more about the pedestal? What is the symbolism?
Laura this is a wonderful piece and your colors worked well to give a Southwestern feel to it.
I love your border treatment.
The bottom color looks pink on my screen, what if it would have been a bit darker shade? Just a thought to ponder.
Thanks for the comments.. the bottom piece does look pinker to me than what it actually is.. I used a color wheel and chose colors that were in the blue/purple segment. I will try and take a better photo. That might help. As far as the pedestal is concerned.. That was kind of an after thought. There was a sign somewhat like it in the book. The book doesn't say anything about the symbols. But, I thought it would make a good place for the owl to perch.
Ahh yes,the colors are much better, great job Laura.
Hi Laura, This definitely has a primitive native feel to it...reminds me of some of the Alaskan art by natives with the graphic black and white patterns and also a bark painting. I like how the circle motif is repeated throughout...that really unifies the piece. Great colors...and the one motif in orange added a nice pop. Did you consider other edge finishes rather than the black binding? Could that be boxing it in? Or maybe I'm just wishing I could see a bit more of that cool "deckled" edge on the sides?
Great job! Look forward to seeing more of your work!
Cynthia
If I would do it over I would have faced it.. I don't like the black binding.. I had already put the back on it and started quilting when the thought of facing it came into mind. Then I could have kept the deckled edge on the sides and not the straight edge..I think you are right and that would have looked much better. Next time...
Now that I think of it I could have faced it.. I fused the binding so I might take it off and redo it.. I have only faced a quilt once so I really wasn't thinking of what I was doing.. Hmmmm I have to think on this.. but, I am pretty sure that is what I am going to do.. I think you are right Cynthia it would look much better with out the black binding... Laura
Hi Laura. this is very attractive. I love the use of non-traditional colors for this native quilt, you would expect blue/green. I like the uneven edge and also think the black binding boxes it in. Great piece!
Laura,
i love this owl. This is a great piece. I am so looking forward to more of your work
Hi Laura - Your little quilt is so attractive. I enjoy the various symbols from different cultures and find they are wonderful in quilts - yours uses symbols beautifully. I copied the quilt into Picasa and cropped off the black border and I think it looks better without it. But it looks darn good with it!
Hi Laura.... coming in late, but having another good look at this piece. I really like the clean look to it. There is lots going on, but it isn't distracting, love the 'wisdom' effect that seems to be prominent in Native work ,particularly owls. I am looking forward to watching this as a series.
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