Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Waiting for sunlight

I had a hard time setting to work with this colour scheme. It was so dark! Too dark for me.
As often when I'm stuck, I went through my photos and picked out a few that I found inspiring. There was an old one of blooming chives, taken in my garden, that I really liked. I wanted to do some hand embroidery for this quilt, and those small flowers were perfect.
I also found inspiration in a few of my other colourplay pieces for the general design of my quilt.
The fabrics are all home-dyed.
After all, this quilt doesn't look that dark, but I'm so ready for a happier palette! (Sorry Nikki! :-) )
Here's a detail shot...
I will post a few more close-ups on my blog.

11 comments:

Unknown said...

Once again I am in awe of how you achieve such beauty with so little in your quilts. Really Zen like. Your art is so calming. I like in this one how the scattered stitches at the top and bottom of the left side balance the line of flowers.

Gerrie said...

Helen could have taken the words right out of my mouth. This has a lovely and peaceful wintery feel. I think it is the dark richness of the colors evokes that feeling. Great job dyeing fabrics for this.

Kristin L said...

I'd love to see this next to your Lorikeet piece. they have similar compositions and might start to tell a nice landscape story. The colors, though dark are really quite rich and there are some nice little details to discover in your stitching.

Diane Perin said...

I totally agree with Helen and Gerrie -- there is such elegance in this and its simplicity is so much a part of its beauty. I could look at this a long time, too. The contrast of the fine stitching and the large swaths of color is wonderful too. This does not look like you had any trouble with this palette!

Karen said...

I think this worked out quite well Françoise, I like the way you split it on both sides, and the uneven lines.

Nikki said...

I'm sorry you found the palette so dark and depressing. But you quilt doesn't show it at all! I instead so peace and a certain freshness.

Terri Stegmiller said...

Helen described your quilts perfectly with being zen-like. By looking at your results, I wouldn't have suspected your difficulty with this palette. I have always loved the blooming chives and have some in my garden as well. It's beautiful!

Terry Grant said...

Perfectly named. I think you used those colors so well, for a somewhat somber garden. Not somber in a sad way, just contemplative, maybe a moonlight garden. All of your pieces are going to look so great together!

Brenda Gael Smith said...

For the original Theme series, we all marvelled at how your quilts created a cohesive set. Those first quilts shared a mostly common palette.

Now in this Colorplay series, we deal with a different palette each time. And yet each quilt you make is unmistakably Françoise. This quilt is both moody and serene. Magic.

Deborah Boschert said...

You really stayed true to the color palette and totally made it work. My favorite part is the tiny bit of seed stitching in the burgundy field. Your work is so thoughtful and really inspires such a variety of interpretations which makes it very interesting to the viewer -- and on the blog. I love to read what other people have to say.

Deborah Boschert said...

You really stayed true to the color palette and totally made it work. My favorite part is the tiny bit of seed stitching in the burgundy field. Your work is so thoughtful and really inspires such a variety of interpretations which makes it very interesting to the viewer -- and on the blog. I love to read what other people have to say.