FEBRUARY
Mercifully short of days, February full of greys,
Grey cloud, grey sky, grey land, grey sea,
Grey birds, grey fish, grey you, grey me.
O whatever could be drearier!
How I long for something cheerier…
SO TODAY WE WILL LIVE IN COLOUR
Today is the Reveal Day for the Endeavourers Art Quilt Group and our theme for this quarter is ‘Texture’. I began with some textured fabrics and a couple of experiments with fabric manipulation (blogged here) and I soon decided that, rather than making an abstract textured piece, I would make a picture incorporating a wider than usual range of textural materials. I also wanted to make something lively and colourful to hang on the wall in the Makery to cheer the place up a bit during this drab time between New Year and Spring.
FABRICS
I began with a background of brown utility fabrics (middle) and a gold acrylic (top) and selected a variety quilting and dressmaking cottons and linens to make the circles/clamshells.
And, at the bottom I used an ochre cotton, upholstery check and some Kona solid for the sea. The grey band is something nylon that comes to put around the bottom of the legs of suit trousers to stop them fraying and I included the not-very-successful twisted pleats just because I’d made them. It was a joy to use so many odds and ends that I’ve kept for years for no good reason!
I also used a piece of embroidered linen and a band of music themed trimming. The dress, I know, is a touch ill-fitting but i was the best I could manage with my trial of honeycomb smocking :)
THREADS
To create surface texture, I used embroidery silks, sewing thread and a metallic gold which I had to couch because it had a tendency for the gold to shred away from an orange centre thread,
And to create a more quilted texture I used a combination of embroidery silks (using different numbers of thread sewn together) and some vintage stranded silk on the gold and three threads of a variegated stranded DMC skein for the sea. On the circles, I used a gold coloured silk, which is nicely luminous when the light catches it. I also did some straight line machine quilting but it is mostly obscured by buttons etc.
OTHER
Apart from that I used padded applique for the people, fish and birds and buttons (which have different textures to each other and create a textured effect en masse) and a knitted hat.
This was a continually evolving project. There was a lot of handwork and as I worked on one thing I thought about what to do next and I added elements just because they involved a ‘new’ texture and happened to come to mind. It was a very enjoyable way of working and, although if I were to remake it I can see design changes that might improve it, I think it’s turned out to be much livelier than pictures I’ve sewn before and it’s certainly converted me to the idea of adding a lot more texture and variety to my quilts.
I’m very grateful to my fellow Endeavourers. Without the encouragement and enthusiasm of this lovely group, let alone the Themes and Deadlines, I should never find the time or inspiration to embark on such adventures and I hope you will visit The Endeavourers blog to see what they have all made for this challenge.
Janine @ Rainbow Hare
I am linking this post with: TGIFF at Devoted Quilter
And, as it comprises virtually all my sewing and photos during January – which was not a great month! – with: Wandering Camera
And Helen’s new linky party:
The tear is for the suffering and loss of individuals, species and habitats that is occurring in the interim and with a special sadness for the state of the oceans, which are filling with plastics at a shocking and unsustainable rate. A particular inspiration for this aspect of my quilt was the short video below, which is the saddest I have ever seen.
