Matchstick Moons, the Ta Da! Moment

Matchstick Moons

This is my Andy Goldsworthy inspired design (http://cgee.hamline.edu/see/goldsworthy/gold_rowanlevs.gif) and I am delighted with its look. I feel as though I have gone back in time to the late 90's when I did lots of collage type quilts, such as Parallel Paths, Streetdance and Hot Fun. These were quilts that began with a background fabric, hand dyed in soft blends,with collaged surface elements to create the design. Somewhere along the line I decided that this route was too easy, somehow too elementary an approach. So I began constructing my backgrounds, or making designs that had a pieced look, rather than a collaged look. This was a direction that had occasional success, but seemed to have less Melodyness. Hmm.

Who can understand the way my mind works? I certainly have no explanation that makes any sense.

I seem to have come full circle with this quilt and while it was a simple design, it did require some patience and exactitude. In the finishing I found that it needed to be hand quilted. I fused the top panels together and stitched in the ditch, after I pillowcased the backing onto it all. The I spent a day and a half hand quilting through all three layers, just so the thing wouldn't look unquilted. As it stands, the quilting is almost invisible, until the back is viewed, where it looks pretty darn random.
I am having David Walker put this on my Recent Works page of the new website. A blog picture will only be so clear, so please have another look when the website is completed. Watch this space for the announcement of the premiere.

I have a couple of more ideas in my sketchbook that I would like to try out with this approach. It's odd that all of a sudden I can conceive of related works, works that could become a series, when I have been striving like a madwoman to try and do series work all year. I made a ton of work, tried to call it a series and find it just didn't fit the imagined result.
I will refer you to the following fabulous artists websites for an understanding of what I was hoping to do.
Janet Steadman http://www2.whidbey.net/jandon/Pages/Galleries.html
Sue Benner http://www.suebenner.com/
and the series champ Carol Taylor http://www.caroltaylorquilts.com
Time will tell if I can concentrate long enough to make work that looks related and cohesive like these artists.

Don't tell me that I am too hard on myself. This is a nut I simply must crack.