Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Winter Tree Line

I couldn't escape the landscape ideas for this color palette -- I am just surrounded by too much brown, blue and sage outside my windows.  Okay, the  brown is more gray in winter, but I've been known to romanticize a thing or two in my mind.  We live in a little rural pocket outside of town, so my view is the mountains, trees and a run down barn. 

Winter Tree Line

Framing my view of Mt Jupiter are rolling hills covered in evergreen trees.  I simplified the trees into tall, skinny triangles and added a forest to the hill.  Each tree is swaying in the wind.  Here in the northwest, the trees near sea level aren't covered with snow, even after "winter storms" which usually end in very cold rain.  The sky is swirling with wind, even on the sunniest day.  I had to add the funky shell beads to the bottom -- they were just too much fun to pass by.  I then had to add the blue circles to the sky to balance them. 

I couldn't stop at just one quilt.  This was actually my first idea for the challenge. I followed the basic idea I had for another quilt, Joyful Bounty, and created a farm landscape.  I used circles to represent the crops and added that old barn.  Thinking about it now, I should also have added the broken down blue truck that hasn't moved since we've been here -- the color would have fit perfectly.  I added beads to the circles and finished the edge with seed beads.  The quilt doesn't quite have the joyful colors of summer I am used to working with.  Instead, it captures the slow growth of spring and the hope for eventual sunny days. 

Spring Thaw


11 comments:

Gerrie said...

I love how you placed the "beads" in the sky - just right. I guess there will be many landscapes today!!

Diane Perin said...

What delightful responses, Nikki. And it's fun to see you working with shapes so confidently and yet doing some new things, too. Both have a happy energy but my personal favorite is the tree one -- I really like the triangle trees and the swirly sky and those great beads along the bottom. It has a rich density to it that conveys your forested area very well!

Terri Stegmiller said...

I love those tall triangle trees. And the swirly quilting in the sky is perfect too. Both quilts are wonderful.

Kristin L said...

I like the cheerful whimsy of Winter Tree Line. When I saw your pile of embellishments, I couldn't imagine how you might incorporate those shell beads, but there they are in all their wonderful funkiness.

There's something about the groupings of small, medium, and large circles in Spring Thaw that has a nice movement around the square. I don't think the barn is even necessary.

Brenda Gael Smith said...

As a former exchange student to the Pacific Northwest, I'm so glad that this challenge features some Washington State evergreens. This was one of the first images that came to mind for me but somehow my trees morphed into Norfolk pines from the Antipodes instead...

Karen said...

These are both great Nikki, your use of the circles in both pieces is really effective. The pine trees really look like they are swaying in the wind.

kirsten said...

There is no doubt that it's winter! It looks chilly and blustery. You are SO good at using embellishments and not having them look cheesy. Both the shells and the circles are elegant additions that contribute more than their fair share of design success.

Françoise said...

Yes, your trees are full of movement. I love how you added the brown touches to the background. And then, this sky is so energizing. I don't mind winter if the sky is this blue.

Nikki said...

We do have a few sunny winter days around here, typically in February, when the sky is really blue. I'm trying to focus on those instead of the gray.

Behind those fabric paper trees are quilted and painted trees -- the forest just grew so thick they are only peeking out.

Terry Grant said...

I too love the movement in those tall trees. And I love the shape of those trees--not realistic, but it really makes me think of looking up, up, up into the tops of the pines and firs and the swirling sky is perfect.

Vicki Miller said...

your trees are very full of life. I love the strong sage that you have used to great effect