Tuesday, November 29, 2005

Do you have a pile like this?



Only the tip of the iceberg of leftover pieces of batting in my stash. I declare this

Make a Lotta Small Quilts Week.

And my approach will be this: Use up all this fabric in my stash, and make new stuff. There is nothing wrong with the fabric in my stash, it's just that some of it I have been saving for something really important, and NOW is the time to use it up.

#1 Busy Work

I put aside the larger piece I started on Saturday (not thrilling me as I once thought) and went headfirst into a real anxiety/panic attack. Thanks to my good friends, Frieda, Tommy, Lisa and Carol, I was saved from dire consequences. They kept me afloat while I made busy work, which luckily enough led to real stuff, by the middle of the night.
I went back to my cross series and just made thumbnails...these are possible prototypes for larger works, and it felt good to just be composing willy nilly.

#2 I fused a background and placed some crosses in spots where they might disappear or contrast with the background. At first this was not appreciated for its wonderfulness. I wised up later in the day. Now I think the concept has real potential. However I was busy making other stuff first...

#3 I thought the crosses needed more color so I pieced some fabric in light and darker values and built crosses from it. Then I lost the whole theme of the cross as I connected them with more strips and added the fill-in color. I started emerging from my dark fear-filled depths and decided to make some really pretty striped fabrics.

Yummy rich darks, bright mediums and interesting lights, which I got up at 2:30 am to make. I am not kidding. Actually first I got up to sketch at 1:30am, and satisfied that I had recorded my ideas, I went back to bed. Then I thought, I have so many things that require leaving the house at 8am, that I won't have time to finish the planned top. So, totally unlike me, I got up, found my socks and shoes and went down to the studio.

I have lots of prefused pastels and sliced them up and made more blocks and fitted them in and by 4:30am I had finished the top. It is small, no more than 28" square, but I got the thing finished and out of the way. The real picture will be posted when it gets quilted. It is fused already to the batting, and thus portable. I am on my way to have coffee with Frieda and Laura, and want to bring it all with me. One must have a deadline for these sort of things.


11 comments:

  1. Ahhh! The muse is awake and alive and breathing herself into you--yes, in the dark, cold quiet night. Great to witness these creations!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Lovely colour composition in #3. A superb piece!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I'm finding #2 and #3 especially interesting!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Simple and interesting at the same time. I love how the dark squares show the crosses, which sortof makes implied crosses in the lighter squares. very cool!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous10:34 AM

    Yahoo! Isn't it great when things start clicking! You definitely look like you are off to a good start.

    I really like composition #2 - very nice!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Yes, I know that pile. Good for you to just jump in even when panicked. That's what it takes. (Telling myself).

    ReplyDelete
  7. Anonymous12:15 PM

    Look at your finished composition and use that as a jumping off point. Could you do this with a greater variety of values in unequal amounts?
    Signed, Famous Quilter

    ReplyDelete
  8. There is something in piece #3 that strikes me as a charming blend of yours and Ton Schulten's work. (I know it's the blocks of color, the slightly tilting lines, and the color scheme). Good work.

    The double ninepatch piece is gorgeous yet very typically one of your pieces. I think it's both the palette and the composition. So I'm thinking it's those big blocks of color that put Schulten to mind in the third piece. Possibly the best of the ones you've shown.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Youe energy is so contagious. How I envy your having TIME to work and follow your muse. Here I sit at my 9 to 5 job, thinking about my WIPs and my UFOs and getting more and more frustrated. Sigh.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Mrs. Mel I'm really digging all of the cruciform works you have going on right now...

    ReplyDelete

Hello,
So nice of you to drop by. I love your comments, and if you would really like a reply, please email me at fibermania at g mail dot com