A while ago I was asked by a new blogging friend,
Alida, to join a challenge to make an art quilt inspired by a work of art. You may have noticed that
Nina-Marie was asked as well.
I have decided to use one of my favorite paintings as the starting point for this challenge. Finally in the 1000 page book that I am reading on Van Gogh he is painting Starry Night. I am almost 80% through the book!
I changed up the colors in the sky in Photoshop and decided to overlay a power plant along a river on top of the red-orange and turquoise sky Van Gogh sky. I still have to work on the power plant overlay to make it more interesting. I know that Van Gogh loved to use complimentary colors in his paintings so I wonder if this sky would please him. Or maybe he would think I was nuts.
Of course the next question is how to create the sky and the water. I am tempted to paint them rather than doing snippets of fabric. At least I might try that first. I guess I could paint and then overlay fabric where needed. So the challenge begins.
Another project that I am going to start is a school house quilt in red and white. I am going to hand quilt it to have something to take to quilt meetings and visits with my dad and MIL.
I threw in some white to see how white will look with the reds. I am looking forward to making a traditional quilt and doing some hand quilting.
I am nearly done with the quilting of my abstract blue quilt. Now the decision will be whether to face or bind it. I am leaning toward binding it in the kona cotton black because I find binding so much easier.
Binding or facing???
A close up of the cross hatch quilting. I decided to mark the lines in the border with white pencil. Marks can still be seen. You do have to fudge (adjust a little) the spacing in some spots since it never works out perfect in terms of fit. I made the spacing of the cross hatch in the borders twice that of the inside of the quilt.
Our cat seemed to think that a quilt on the floor is an invitation to lay on it and take a bath. What's a little fur on a quilt covered in batting fuzz and thread?
Thanks for reading.
Chris
So many fun projects in the works! Love the Van Gogh inspired quilt idea!
ReplyDeleteNow that is a pretty exciting take-off on a familiar painting. The red sky so perfectly fits the theme you will be imposing - bringing in the energy theme again with the power plant. And to be reading about Van Gogh when he was working on it - well, I can't think of anything much better! Good luck with the painting. Worth a try for sure.
ReplyDeleteAs for your abstract quilt, I really did wonder if the cross-hatching would work (perhaps I've already said that) but now that it is done, there's no question. Just really perfect, and the larger grid in the black areas is a good choice too. Binding's the way to go on this one.
That is my favorite painting too!! Your color change is just amazing! I think Van Gogh will really like it AND he will think you are nuts, which would be a pretty big compliment considering ;) I am looking forward to see how you translate the painting into fabric!
ReplyDeleteI can't take credit for coming up with the cross hatching. I got the idea from Jacquie Gering in my craftsy class called "Creative Quilting with your Walking Foot." That is what she suggested when I posted a photo of the quilt. I don't think I would have thought about the larger cross hatching in the border compared to the blue blocks.
ReplyDeleteWhat a fabulous combination of ideas! Can't wait to see the Van Gogh Power Plant
ReplyDelete