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:
I love this so much. The fabrics that you dyed are perfect. I also get excited when I see wavy grasses.
Love it, Francoise!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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