In deciding which direction I wanted to go in (snowflakes, black and blue bruises, winter trees, etc.) it dawned on me that I have a kitchen full of blue and white pottery. Most of mine is Polish and has has a touch of green, not black, but the inspiration was there nevertheless (and I do have one or two Delft pieces). I thought about a mosaic bench I had seen in the town of Delft, and remembered a traditional quilt block called "Broken Dishes."
My idea was to make the broken dishes quilt block (this is a quilt challenge after all) out of conceptually broken pieces. As a crazy quilt is just that, it seemed natural to use a kind of crazy quilting to suggest pottery shards or mosaic pieces. I based many of the embroidery and beading on motifs commonly found in Delft pottery, imitating the curves and stylized flowers.
As Delft pottery is only blue and white, the touch of black became the grout. About half way through the project I realized that I could have taken the grout and mosaic theme further by piecing thin lines of black between all the crazy bits of fabric, but I liked the piece so I wasn't motivated to start over.
At some point it also ceased to be about a 12 x 12 challenge, or a finished art quilt, but only about the stitches and embellishment. It could have gone on forever -- choosing stitches, threads, and yarns; beading; couching fabric; stuffing bits; adding fringe and trim. More was more! I loved working on this, and I'm very happy with the final piece. Perhaps I will hang it in my kitchen.
10 comments:
We have a whole lot of hand stitching going on in this reveal. I love the contrast of Helen's folk art type stitching with your crazy quilt stitching. The embellishments are so much fun. I want to hold this in my hands and touch each one. That bench is to fabulous.
Aaaah. VERY pleasing. I love the reference to the broken dishes block with the mosaic "shards," and there is so much to look at in your stitching patterns. A strong essence of broken delft china. Really wonderful, Kristin.
WOW!
Kristin - this is FABULOUS! Would LOVE to see this one up close and personal, to see all the stitches,and to touch.
So rich and lush! This has such a depth of detail and color variation. I am loving looking closer at each little section.
I love the depth to this piece, like Dale Anne, I would like to touch it. The stitching is wonderful.
Wow, that is intensive crazy embellishment. It's lovely to see Victoriana transformed for the 21st century. I like your edging treatment too.
This piece is so rich and textured. I love all the interest it has with the stitching and embellishments and wish I could get my nose right up to it for an closer inspection.
So much to see and explore. I very much ant to see this one up close and check out all the little details! Beautiful!
Beautiful. So much work in such a small piece. It's gorgeous.
So much talent in this group. Wish I was part of it. Your quilt is full of beauty. I love the stitching.
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