Wednesday, February 02, 2011

Challenge # 53



Boy was I happy when I saw this challenge for Feb. The past two have been way out of my comfort zone. Educational but out of my zone. I have worked in this manner for quite some time so was glad for this breather.

Almost all of my work starts with inspiration from a photograph. This one was taken by my husband in NY. I chose a commercial grass fabric for the background and used hand-dyed fabrics for the cone flowers. After I placed and fused the flowers to my satisfaction I painted over them to get depth. I used Tsukineko inks diluted with Aloe jell. I've found that that gives me much more control over the ink's flow. I free motion quilted grass in the background and enhanced the flower with thread. This piece finished out at 11" x 11" but I may mat with an 8 x 10. Comments are appreciated
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10 comments:

  1. fastfriday2/2/11, 8:47 PM

    Lots of depth in that coneflower, Marilyn. Glad you enjoyed the challenge. Chris Predd

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  2. Cherie in Del Mar2/2/11, 9:33 PM

    Wow Marilyn, I thought I was looking at your husbands photo until I looked at the zoom! Very lovely and your thread painting really pops the flowers. Nice work
    Cherie

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  3. Jan2/3/11, 8:15 AM

    They look real enough to pick! Lovely...

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  4. janice pd2/3/11, 4:43 PM

    Nice work Marilyn. I love your placement of the flowers. Very real looking for using hand dyed fabrics!

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  5. Susan Ward2/4/11, 9:42 AM

    Marilyn - Beautiful cone flowers.
    I would like to hang this on my wall:)
    Susan Ward
    Quilting In Kentucky

    http://artquiltssusanpi.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  6. Veronica2/4/11, 4:54 PM

    The flowers have great dimension and are positioned well to lead your eye into the quilt. I like that you added the smaller bud of a flower at the bottom. Very realistic and the color you used for the flowers is fantastic. Great job. Veronica Von Zwehl

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  7. Kathy Lichtendahl2/5/11, 11:26 AM

    Marilyn,
    The fact that you are comfortable with this style is evident in your finished piece. The flowers are beautiful with the highlights in just the right places!
    Kathy L

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  8. Susan B2/5/11, 2:55 PM

    Nice work, Marilyn. The background was a great choice, the beautiful red flowers pop out against it. The flowers themselves are completely realistic. One could reach in and pick them.

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  9. fastfriday2/5/11, 8:18 PM

    The shading on the flowers makes them look real enough to pick. Beautiful quilt

    Pat Havey

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  10. Marilyn Wall2/13/11, 8:12 AM

    Thanks you all for your comments

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