Focus, focus, focus

Elizabeth Barton had a good blog on focal point this week. I will have to look at some of my quilts to see if they had a focal point or not. I know for sure one of the pieces that I am most proud of does have a focal point. It was a nature quilt that I made in a class with Ellen Lindner called Create Your Own Nature Quilt. Focal point and where to put it was a big topic of the lessons. It was a very successful quilt and Ellen was a fabulous teacher.

Midwinter Visitor 

I had my focal point as well as having some of my best free motion quilting. The quilt is 28 in by 38 in.

I have a feeling that a lot of my other quilts do not have a focal point. I wonder if our March lesson will be on focal point!

I am linking to Nina-Marie’s Off the Wall Fridays. Check out the other quilts there.

http://ninamariesayre.blogspot.com/2014/02/finding-peace-off-wall-friday.html

Thanks for reading.

Chris

Yes, yes, yes….yeah!

Well I submitted my blocked out windmill quilt to Elizabeth and received her feedback.
I will first talk about my quilt and my concerns and then give you the feedback that I got.

“ Gathering Storm” 15 in by 15 in

I wanted a stormy sunset type fabric for the sky. I figured with a storm brewing the windmills would be turning like crazy. Plus this sky would look turbulent which could add to the idea of motion.This fabric is a piece that I snow dyed last Thursday during a snow storm in NJ. I used 2 yellows and 2 purples. Where the yellow and purple dyes overlapped some browns were created.  I had no idea if the fabric would come out right for this piece since snow dyeing while creating some wonderful fabrics can be very unpredictable.
We certainly have had plenty of snow around. My secretary said that it is good to have something to do with snow other than to shovel it! My husband even liked the piece of fabric!

My concerns that I sent to Elizabeth about the piece:

• Are the windmills OK now or do I need some larger ones on the left hand side? Or more of them?
• Also is the sky fabric OK?Or should I go back to my stash to find something else?
• Are the land pieces dark enough? I wanted them to kind of blend in with the sky a bit since near sunset the distinction between sky and land is not very distinct.
• Plus I am sure you thought of something I should be concerned about that I am not seeing.

This was Elizabeth’s feedback:

“I love it!!! the background fabric is perfect...and coming in really close on that front windmill absolutely the right thing to do...you don't need to do anything more...the vanes move, the sky moves, even the shadows move!  super. 
Are the windmills OK now or do I need some larger ones on the left hand side?
no that would make the balance too static...that long diagonal totally works as a balance for the largest windmill.
Or more of them? not at all...would serve no purpose and just clutter things up.
Are the land pieces dark enough? I wanted them to kind of blend in with the sky a bit since near sunset the distinction between sky and land is not very distinct.
I think they really are and I like that the values get a little darker in the bottom left hand corner - you've made absolutely the right choice.  They're a medium value and that works well. 
Now wouldn't this be amazing if it were 60 by 60?!!!!  Back out to the snow dyeing - quickly!!”

I was so happy yesterday when I read the feedback. In fact today I am still doing a happy dance!
One thing I never thought of is the background fabric helping to balance the composition of the windmills. I thought you would need more windmills to do that. At one point I had the diagonal of the sky fabric going the other way. I guess I figured that did not work and flipped it, but did not know why it did not work the other way. It basically added weight to the already heavy side of the piece.

Did you know that the background fabric can help to balance the composition? Please tell me that I am not the only one that did not know that and have never thought about the background fabric that way before. Maybe it is because a lot of times the background fabric is not that graphic and strong and does not really balance or unbalance the composition? I guess now I should think more seriously about the background fabric!

One thing is for sure is that I am still learning. And Elizabeth is right that this would be great as a large piece. I would have to have a great sky fabric for that. If I happen to snow dye a large piece that works I might just do this much larger….someday.
Thanks for reading and go visit Nina-Marie’s Off the Wall Friday to read what other great quilt artists are doing.
http://ninamariesayre.blogspot.com/2014/02/off-wall-friday.html

Chris

Decision time again

Well I just got the feedback on my sketches for movement. Just when you think you have things figured out….you don’t really.

I am torn between the windmills and the moon/tree one. The one with the tree branches was not a favorite of mine nor of Elizabeth’s. Too much to fix there. Would be easier to start over with a different idea.

Here is what Elizabeth said about the windmills:

“Very much like the sense of the windmills turning - and being at different angles certainly enhances that...so you've got the movement, but the arrangement of them isn't very interesting...I would cut out little windmill shapes and arrange them in a more interesting way...at present you've got almost equal negative spaces between the four on the right, and pretty similar space and spaces for the little ones on the left...so vary their size and position more - and do you really need the landscape lines in the back ground?  but the windmills themselves - great idea!!  They are beautiful, even though people are saying NIMBY!!  travelling in Northern Ontario I was struck by how each farm had a windmill or two and a 1/4 acre or so of solar panels as well....”

The background was not really landscape, but variations in the intensity of the sky at sunset. It will be easy to move the windmills around and find a more pleasing arrangement. I suppose they came out this way in the photo because of the way they are positioned in the “real world”. I know what still remains my problem is that I take a photo and draw the sketch from it without thinking about the composition. I need to break out of interpreting a photo literally.

This quilt I would make the same size as my other windmill quilt. (15 in by 15 in). So you see I will have a series!

The other quilt called Gathering the Wind. I guess the new one will be Gathering the Wind II.

Here’s what Elizabeth said about the moon/tree one.

“It's spooky!!  you do have good movement, the moon is circled with clouds - and the branches move in the same way!!  There's a great flow around the moon - a little too centered, by the way...and the branches just a little too even - but just a tiny adjustment here and there would do it.  the biggest problem to fight here would be the familiarity of the image..it would be good to have something in there that only you have noticed! Three good moving wind images!!  As totally befits a meteorologist!”

 

Would you picked the windmills? I am really fascinated with windmills so this would be an easy choice for me.

Or would you pick the moon/tree one? I would be easy to make things less regular. What little surprise could be added? An owl in the tree? But then where to put him?

Thanks for reading.

Chris

Still on the design wall

But at least the pieces are now stitched down. I think the only reason I am this far on this piece is that we had 2 snow days this week. I am so far behind in the classes that I teach due to this weather. Can’t wait for this winter to be over!

Paris Rooftops

Now I have to work on February’s lesson for Elizabeth Barton’s master class. The lesson this month is to make a quilt showing motion. Our 3 sketches are due by Feb 10. I have to get them done now or I won’t make the deadline.

I guess I am fascinated with the motions created by the wind because all three of my sketches are of the wind. I teach meteorology so I guess that should not be a big surprise. Two of the sketches are of trees blowing in the wind and one is of windmills blowing in the wind.

 Diagonal tree branches showing motion.

Curvy tree blowing in the wind. Curvy motion emphasized by the circular pattern in the background.

Windmills with blades oriented different directions to imply that the windmills are spinning and not spinning in synch.

I wonder what Elizabeth will say about these sketches. Will she say that they show motion or not? Will she say the compositions are good or not? Isn’t it funny how we want the approval of our teachers?

What do you think? Do these show motion? Thanks as always for stopping by and reading my blog.

Visit Nina-Marie’s Off the Wall Friday to see wonderful quilt art.

http://ninamariesayre.blogspot.com/2014/02/emoting-on-motion-off-wall-friday.html

Chris

Design Wall Monday

I have a snow day today so I was working on my Paris Roof Tops for my Master Class with Elizabeth Barton. It was due at the end of January, but I had a lot going on in January and missed the deadline. My husband’s knee is still infected (this is from his arthroscopic knee surgery on Dec 23.) and my mom died on January 18 after a 2 year battle with kidney cancer. So January was a hard month. Looks like February is going to be just as stressful with this knee infection. He is on his 3rd antibiotic and if this one does not clear it up he will be doing the IV stuff in the hospital. Maybe that is why my last blog post was so negative! I certainly can’t blame it on hormones….

I decided to do the quilt in a monochromatic color scheme which Elizabeth suggested that we do. I had a gradation of yellow greens that I had dyed in one of her classes at QU in 2012 so I decide to use them and just 2 commercial fabrics (one fossil fern and one dark green). Since I only had quarter yards of the fabrics I had to edit my sketch as well as dyeing a piece big enough for the sky.

I was concerned that the lightest fabrics were not light enough once I had this all blocked out, but decide to send it off to Elizabeth for her input. This is her feedback which made me really happy.

“I think this works very well, the lighter sky isn't essential...don't worry about it..the graphic elements of the dark chimney lead you around very nicely to the little surprise of the rooftop balcony!!  I'm so glad you've been able to get something done...The piece has a nice sense of calmness and stability to it that is very satisfying. It's not quite finished, but I know it will be - it's worth it!”

The size of this piece is 19 by 29 inches. I decided to cut out the bottom part of the sketch due to time and amount of fabric available. I have to remember that for this class I have to make a quilt from sketch to finish in a month. I need to keep thinks simpler to make the deadlines.

What do you think? Maybe this should be the first of a rooftop series!

Thanks for reading.

Chris