Sunday, October 28, 2012

WIP - Shell Collection and Tree Serenade

This week I focused on two projects. The first was a redo of "Tree Serenade." The second project was work on my "Shell Collection" piece.
"Tree Serenade"
AFTER the Redo
"Tree Serenade"
BEFORE the Redo


I presented "Tree Serenade" to a private on-line critique group that I belong to. I asked the question "Is it finished?" Most felt that the white section kept it from being finished and was unsettling. The consensus was that it needed green, perhaps leaves to break it up. I spent a full studio day creating and placing leaves around the white (sky). The result was, frankly, horrible. The uneven edging just didn't jive with the rest of the straight line piecing. The following day I removed the leaves and changed out the binding, substituting green for the original white. This, at least provided an finished edge for the sky. I also, appliquéd a cardinal in the middle of the piece, nestling it in amongst the leaves. This helps draw the eye from white on the left and to the quilt's center.

Detail from "Tree Serenade"
Cardinal Nestling in the Leaves
 The flowing lines quilting patterns, that I have been practicing thanks to Leah Day's assignments, are perfect for my series of blocks for "Shell Collections." In the snail blocks, I modified the filler of the pattern to be spirals in order to reference the snails.

Two Snails Block
To Be Included in "Shell Collection"

2 comments:

  1. I love the way you used the addition of the Cardinal! I noticed it right away and it "felt" good in the whole composition! Your changes were subtle (as far as I could tell in the photos) but the mood really improved!!

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  2. Doreen, I can't tell you how much this means to me. I have shared the same change with my critique group and the common response was that the cardinal was a big mistake. the rational being that it was too realistic compared to the rest of the quilt. In fact the tree is fairly realistic - just not as easy to distinguish as the brilliant red of the cardinal.

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