Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Snoozing at the beach

As soon as I saw Deborah's colour scheme (Brown, sage, blue), I knew I wanted to do a beach quilt, and I also knew which pictures I would use as inspiration. I like the seaside very much, but here in winter it is so windy and cold that we don't go very often and I miss it.
I had to do several dyeing sessions before getting the soft shades I had in mind for this quilt. I then sewed a very simple beach view.
Next, I wanted to depict the seagrass growing in the sand dunes where I like to go and rest sometimes in the afternoon. I made a freezer paper stencil and printed the grass using oil paint sticks. I found the marks were a bit weak. So the last step, after quilting, was to go over those marks with machine stitching.
Here's a close-up...
I also wanted to add some hand embroidery, but I kept wondering if this quilt really needed anything more. So, after taking the photos (better safe than sorry), I added some tiny hand-stitched grass blades. But really, I don't know if I'm going to leave them.
I've posted more pictures on my blog.

10 comments:

Gerrie said...

I love this so much. The fabrics that you dyed are perfect. I also get excited when I see wavy grasses.

Cate Rose said...

Love it, Francoise!

Karen said...

This is very serene Francoiose, the beach grass makes me want to head right down to the shore for lunch today. I think the hand stitching, while not obvious, is needed in this piece.

Terri Stegmiller said...

I love the beach and wish I lived closer to one. Your results are beautiful and I get a feeling of peace and tranquility as I look at your quilt. Now you have me dreaming of a nice walk along a quiet sandy beach.

Kristin L said...

I'd like to nap at this beach. You've done a wonderful job of conveying the landscape and foreground, middle ground, background, with such an economy of elements. This could be my favorite of your landscapes.

kirsten said...

I am envious of your self-control, Francoise! You always know exactly how much is just enough, so that your quilts satisfy in a quiet, elegant and (as Karen said) serene fashion.

Diane Perin said...

Francoise,

You have such a beautiful sense of restraint and elegance in your pieces. It is, to my eye, a part of what characterizes your quilts -- impeccable balance and composition and a sense that every element is essential, there is nothing that is not essential. This has all of those qualities. I really like the straight abstract lines contrasted by the gentle curves of the grass. And I like how the mottling in the handdyed fabric sort of continues the sense of the grass's movement. I also like how you carried that grass out onto the right border -- just wonderful.

Nikki said...

What a beautiful scene. I, too, love the beach. Most of the beaches around here are quite rocky so the feeling of soft sand underfoot and waving grasses are a treat.

Terry Grant said...

Very evocative. I can almost hear the ocean. The soft, soothing tones of the theme colors are exactly right and the grasses are a nice counterpoint to the horizontal nature of the piece. Lovely.

Vicki Miller said...

I love the beach too, and I love the simplicity of your design, it is like the beach in autumn, when it is so quiet