Thursday, December 24, 2009

Challenge #39: Tequila Sunrise


I was intrigued by a set of photos of cocktails under the microscope and decided to try a "Tequila Sunrise" quilt, thinking it would be fun art for our condo in Mexico, and I just liked the colors and shapes I saw in the photo from the linked website, Molecular Expressions: The Cocktail Collection.

I used ProChemical H Fiber Reactive dyes to paint fabric for the background. It was my first time dye-painting at home since completing a Sue Benner workshop in October. I used fabric that was soda-soaked in October, knowing it might not be fresh enough. I mixed the yellows and magenta with more print paste than I should have, so they came out less intense than I'd wished. Sorry, I didn't take a photo at that step. This is all about learning, so that's OK!

I used acrylic paints to brighten up the background yellows and oranges, but I didn't have fuschia, and didn't have enough time to mix the "just right" colors. Compromise, limits, affect our art! I made stamps by cutting out shapes from rubber floor tiles, painted and stamped on the blue "V" shapes. I set the photo aside and began working more from an inspiration rather than trying to make a realistic image of what the photo showed.

I tried cropping various ways to improve the composition, considered how to create a focal point with stitching and/or embellishments, and wondered how to move the eye around without having the arrowheads lead it off the page. I also wondered about borders. I then selected a special Carol Taylor yarn for embellishing.

At this point, I stopped and meditated on what to do and, boy, did I get some surprising spiritual input! It made the rest of the work really teach me and allow me to purge some negative stuff and get more optimistic! I quilted it over the Christmas holidays, and then added a little sparkly teal paint to the three V's that I emphasized, trying to create a focal point. I don't know if they're still a focal point after the couching.

I should have photographed what it looked like on January 3rd with all the quilting done but no embellishments on it. I had a several ideas of how to place that fancy yarn. I consulted with my artist-daughter and my husband for ideas, but none struck me as "right." I'm getting ready to leave on a trip, so I was cramming in lots of other work and had little time to give this project . . . another insight goes with that! So, I printed out five copies of a photo of the painted fabric laid onto the border fabric and started playing with multi-colored cording to test how it might be laid on top. I used the cording because the photocopies were a smaller scale, and the cording was thinner than the yarn. Of the five designs, the one I liked best happened when my husband stood up and dropped some cording onto a photocopy from arm's height. It puddled onto the paper in an interesting mess, very organic. Aha! I then did something similar onto the quilt itself, liked what I saw, and used masking tape to secure the cording into its random, organic, landing places. And I decided to use the cording instead of the beautiful yarn, because the yellow did something important. It looks more biological to me now.

It was a challenge to couch on the cording with it taped in place, or to follow marked lines when I gave up on the masking tape, so this is a version that evolved from my first "dropped design."

Not exactly a FAST challenge quilt but I'm glad it's done and I learned a lot.

Comments welcome, as always!
Happy New Year,
Chris

www.ReapAsYouSew.com

5 comments:

  1. Cocktails under a microscope? Who knew! On this cold winter morning, this piece just warmed my heart. Love the diagonal design and colors. I like how the yarns go off into the border. Might like to see even more of that.

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  2. Thank you for sharing this lovely creation with us. I found the link you gave very interesting, and your piece really resembles the slide on the Tequila Sunrise. It is wonderful that you were able to get the same feel as your inspiration. It also was interesting to learn your process. Great job!

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  3. WOW!! What a fun piece with great colors, especially this time of the year. Who knew how exciting cocktails could be in the quilting world? I only thought they enhanced machine quilting! Boy was I wrong!

    Looks like you enjoyed all phases of creation and have a fabulous piece.

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  4. Hi Chris - This is so much fun. It is a wonderful contrast to the ultra cold white world I'm living in right now. It reminds me of volcanic eruption, salsa, hot days at the beach. Like Gerrie, I really appreciate the roaming yarn winding its way through the work. Yippee! What fun.

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  5. Funny, the condo we're going to hang this piece in down in San Jose del Cabo is named "Salsa!"

    Thank you for your comments!

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