Friday, July 05, 2013

Fur Traders Descending the Missouri

Hi all - thanks for letting me join the group. I've created my first challenge piece; it's nowhere as amazing as the other recent posts, but I tried new things and learned from it. First, I decided to interpret 'Old West' a little differently. After all, at one point the Ohio territories were the old west. The artist I picked is George Caleb Bingham and the painting, from 1845, is found here. It's worth looking at a variety of versions, because the coloring is subtle, and there's a wide range of colors and values on-line.
This is the fastest quilt I've made - about 2 days / 6 hours. New to me were the machine I stitched the layers together on, a 1955 Singer 401. It's also the first time I've worked with Misty Fuse, and first time trying large free-motion circles. I'm not happy with the fabric I chose for the grey clouds on the right - the value is too dark. I am very happy with the reflections in the water, and with the circles I stitched after I decided I had to mark the top and then sew. So I'm glad I finally committed to making a quilt! - Lisa in Pennsylvania, aka DippyDyes
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6 comments:

  1. Silvia "OrkaLoca" Dell'Aere7/6/13, 6:41 AM

    the boat reflection is wonderful! really a nice quilt. I agree the cloud is too dark but may be you can work on it replacing the piece or using some paint :)

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  2. fastfriday7/6/13, 8:08 AM

    A very nice interpretation of your chosen painting. I'm so glad you're in our group. You did a great job! I agree with Silvia that maybe a little fabric paint that extends into the blue cloud fabric might allow the sky to blend a little better. Keep up the good work. We love to see what you're doing! Pam Clark

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  3. fastfriday7/6/13, 1:16 PM

    I like the clean lines of this piece, and the reflection is very effective. Your different interpretation of the Old West was a good introduction to a painter whose work I was not familiar with.
    Welcome to the group! I look forward to seeing more of your work!

    Marilyn Foulke

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  4. Jan7/6/13, 3:07 PM

    I like your simplified interpretation of the painting. Your quilting adds to your piece. Unless it's easy to remove your cloud I wouldn't consider doing that. Either add some shading via stitching or with fabric paints to areas of the cloud or just leave it and learn from it. I think it's a great piece you don't want to spoil in other ways.

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  5. Tobi7/20/13, 7:38 AM

    Nice texture overall, and the reflection is just right. I especially like the cat, who seems the most important character in the boat!

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  6. Cay Denise9/26/13, 12:35 AM

    Congratulations for completing your first challenge piece, Lisa! Also, good for you for trying new things! The reflection is nicely done. I think you're being a bit hard on yourself though regarding the grey cloud fabric on the right. That's because the fabric choice for the water that reflects that cloud material works quite well. So, its not nearly as dark a value as you may think. If you haven't looked at the piece from a distance, you might want to try that and see if you still have same impression. If you do, one way of remedying that would be to add a transition fabric between to the two sky/cloud materials. In any case, congratulations again!

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