Friday, April 1, 2011

Chartreuse Inspiration

I don't know that I've ever been so far ahead at this point in the challenge period.  I will chalk it up to having an idea I was eager to work on, and a whole bunch of rainy days including a weekend on which travel plans were cancelled so I was home with two whole "empty" days. 

In any event, I've been wanting to make a piece that stemmed from one of my photos as the primary element.  And, as luck with have it, I had this photo with a whole lot of chartreuse in it: 


I took this in my nextdoor neighbor's backyard last spring when his wisteria was in full bloom.  I was playing with my macro lens, I think, and I loved these unfolding leaves on the vine and how wildly fuzzy they are. 

I've also been taken with the thread-painting magic of Susan Brubaker Knapp.  You might remember the series of lessons she did in Quilting Arts magazine in 2010, and she has two excellent DVDs in which she demonstrates her thread-painting process from start to finish.  Perhaps because I am so in love with my Bernina 830, I wanted threadwork to be the main feature of my chartreuse contribution.

So, I started with fusing large shapes to a background, like this:


I pulled out every color of green thread I had, plus some blue and red and brown and yellow ... and away I went.  

It's not done yet.  But I sure am having fun and I'm discovering that deciding when to stop adding thread is harder than you'd think.
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8 comments:

  1. Kristin LApril 1, 2011 at 10:48 PM

    I especially love that background fabric! Did you dye it to look like the background in your photo, or was it a serendipitous find?

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  2. GerrieApril 1, 2011 at 10:53 PM

    I am so happy that chartreuse has you working away ahead of schedule!!

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  3. Diane PerinApril 2, 2011 at 10:16 AM

    That background fabric was just hanging around in my stash! I think it came from the period when I subscribed to Keepsake Quilting's Batik of the Month club and each month I'd get a packet of fat quarters. I don't do that any more but I sure have a lot of pretty fabric as a result.

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  4. Brenda Gael SmithApril 3, 2011 at 4:22 AM

    Diane, that's called serendipity in some quarters.

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  5. Terri StegmillerApril 3, 2011 at 5:41 AM

    This is looking fabulous so far. I, too, am loving that background fabric.

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  6. JBApril 3, 2011 at 8:09 AM

    This sounds really ambitious. I am eager to see all that thread painting. The background is perfect!

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  7. Deborah BoschertApril 4, 2011 at 7:11 AM

    I was thinking the same thing about the background fabric -- a perfect match to the photo. Can wait to see the stitching.

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  8. Susan Brubaker KnappApril 4, 2011 at 6:35 PM

    Thanks for mentioning me and my articles and DVDs, Diane! When I lecture, I always tell quilters that one of the differences between traditional quilts and art quilts is that when you make a traditional quilt, you know when you are done. Deciding when the thread sketching is done is sometimes tricky! I can't wait to see your finished piece. :-)

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