Monday, November 12, 2007

Water quilt

I am conscious that I didn't live up to my promise of blogging you through my city and guilds course so let me make ammends. Later in the course we have to complete five items, one of which is a wall hanging. Of course, being me, I have jumped ahead and decided to do it early so I thought I'd blog each step.


The motivation is that Trentham Gardens Quilt show' s special category in April is water. As soon as I saw that I had some vague ideas which have been percolating and are fast coming to the boil now. (I don't drink coffee - do drinks that percolate also boil?!) So I have decided to do all th design folder I also need to do for City and Guilds. I shall probably do it all in the wrong order but I'll get there in the end!


I'll show you sketches later but for now let me just say that I need to make a panel (or possibly two) that represents parched earth in a drought. This being my inspiration:



So how to represent this in fabrics? I need to make samples of different options before choosing one. Also, one of the five pieces needs to be 'mainly applique' which may as well be this one as other elements will need to be appliqued too. So, here are some samples. Which one do you vote for?

Reverse applique by machine with very narrow gaps.

Reverse applique by hand with wider gaps.

Onlay applique with raw edges

Onlay applique over freezer paper templates.

I have a favourite but I'd like your views.

9 comments:

Diane Perin said...

The one that looks the most like parched earth to me is your second sample -- is that the reverse applique by hand with wide gaps one? Very cool samples, btw...

magsramsay said...

Great Idea! Personally I like the slightly rougher approach of the raw edges (3rd sample) - it looks more like the photo to me and is more in keeping with the idea of earth cracking.

Susan D said...

Personally I like the 2nd sample. How big will the finished piece be?

Anonymous said...

I also prefer the reverse applique by hand/wide gap version.

Erica Spinks said...

Definitely the second one if you are aiming for a realistic image. BTW, that photo of parched earth looks like my garden a couple of weeks ago!

English Rose said...

2 and 3, but probably, if pushed, more 3. good to know I'm not the only one who works 'the wrong way round' in these courses.

Deborah Boschert said...

I also like the reverse applique with the wide gaps, I think it add more of a sense of depth -- like those dark areas are actually deep crevases.

Nellie's Needles said...

Count my vote for the wide gaps. The raw edges appeal to me as well. I'm looking forward to being privy to your processes of thought and techniques for this project.

Sandra said...

onlay applique with raw edges - and your fabric samples in the next post are going to be great in it, too.
I very much enjoyed your 'boston legal' day. Fun to hear the real thing.