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| Stitched with the Broadway font on the Janome Horizon 8900...not my first choice but it showed up better than the others. |
(For a full photo of Lucy's quilt, see the blog post titled 'Something Fishy.')
The water and sky were handpainted with diluted Tsukineko inks. After the batik mountains were added, I hit a wall. No, not the design wall, although I probably felt like hitting it at the time. :) I mean, I drew a blank. My creativity suddenly took a hiatus, at least on this particular project. Nothing else seemed to be working on this background.
The best I got before giving up and putting it away were the additional fabrics auditioned in the photo at right. At that point, a couple of readers encouraged me not to do what I was threatening to do, which was to cut this piece apart in the middle and use it for two separate landscapes. I'm so glad they did!
About the time Lucy was due 4 weeks ago, creativity had not only come back but had gone straight into overdrive. At that point both this quilt top and one other were being put together in record time. Yesterday, this one was finished, except for the hanging sleeve.
Photo #1 was taken on the design wall in the best light I could get at the time. Photo #2 was taken near a window with the quilt pinned to a big piece of green foam rubber. It gives you a better idea what the quilting looks like. Unfortunately, the tripod wasn't set up for #2, and you can tell...without it, I take crooked photos!
The other quilt top I mentioned being done is actually finished being quilted, as well, but isn't squared and trimmed and bound yet. I'll save it for next time.
Linking up with Lizzie Lenard Vintage Sewing's Free Motion Mavericks post and Confessions of a Fabric Addict's Whoop Whoop Fridays post. Be sure to check out the reader links at the end of each of these inspiring blogs.
Everyone have a great weekend, and stay safe from violent weather. There's been a lot of that around this last week or so.
Linda
Lucy is one lucky little girl to have such a talented caring gramma. I love how your landscape turned out! Sometimes a project just has to "stew" awhile for the flavors
ReplyDeleteThank you, I can't wait to make landscape quilts with her. You're right, there is a time for everything, and that landscape just wasn't quite ripe until now!
DeleteWow! What a masterpiece! I have a gradient pieced top I hope to convert into a sunrise silouette, and you have made me believe it is doable!
ReplyDeleteOh, gradients are awesome for landscapes!! Totally doable. And thank you!
DeleteLook at you - baby quilt finished before a month was even done. A lovely quilt, Linda. And I so love your landscape. Glad it wasn't cut in half. You have a great weekend also.
ReplyDeleteHey, Angie!! Well, in all honesty, it was started about 6 months ago, but with other projects being done in between. I guess it was maybe three weeks' work straight through, 24-7 from design to finish. Why do we quilters not log our work time, for our own validation if for no other reason? I want to, but the couple of times I tried, I just kept forgetting. Re the landscape, thank you...it was mind-boggling how long it took to get further than the background!...but a good lesson in self-expectations.
DeleteLovely landscape! I always mean to log my time, but am usually deep into a project before thinking of it. visiting from Free Motion Mavericks
ReplyDeleteThank you...yep, that's exactly what happens here!
Deleteoh I like the script. Do you love your Janome? I'm considering jumping ship from Bernina to J.
ReplyDeleteThe landscape painting is so awesome Linda. Just so colorful. I played with paint today, not like this but just play. I haven't really tried painting with dilute Ink but you are inspiring. LeeAnna
LeeAnna, you should have seen the first dilute ink piece I did...it looked like someone had cleaned up a murder scene with it. Let's just say it wasn't diluted enough!! LOL I do love the Janome except I wish the head of the machine wasn't so large. I'm about 5' 9" and wear bifocals, and when free-motion stitching, it's a challenge to see detail in the needle area without hunching my shoulders to see under the machine head. If I lower the chair, my legs are too long and I can't get good leverage on the pedal no matter where I put it. I think if I were two or three inches shorter it would make a big difference. (I do have the attachable magnifying glass, but the magnification sometimes throws my perspective off, and it still isn't the right focus for my glasses.) Other than that, the Janome does a really nice job, even stitching like a champ for quite some time the two times I accidentally left the machine lid closed on the thread that was feeding from the thread stand behind the machine.
DeleteHello Linda,
ReplyDeleteI should have realised that you had painted the water and sky yourself - where else would you get such gorgeous fabric, and no wonder you thought about cutting it in half if you could paint another.
It's a beautiful dreamy landscape. The soaring eagle completes the whole picture, and for me gives it an other worldly feel.
Thank you for linking up with Free Motion Mavericks!
Love, Muv
Thank you, Muv. It's funny how fast this one was put together in the end, after all that lengthy deliberation. Something tells me it's a conglomeration of several locations put together in my mind, which is probably what lends that other-worldly element to it. I would like to work from photos more but would need to roam a little further than my locale for panoramic landscapes. It's all well and good to have these scenes pop out of my head or develop gradually on the design wall, but it makes for some logistics issues when it comes to light source and shadows, reflections in water, properly indigenous plant life, etc. When that happens I have to comfort myself with the reminder that it isn't a photo, it's just a quilt, and is purely representational. Sometimes I'm ok with that, and other times not so much. LOL
Delete