First of all, I have to say that I have taken all sorts of pictures of this little quilt and I simply can't get the colors to look the way it looks in real life. I think one of the issues is that it's made totally of silk dupioni, and the sheen changes the way the colors reflect. But when you look at this, be aware that the brown in this photo looks fairly accurate but the color bursts are much brighter in person. The yellow is a vibrant marigold, the red is a good shiny red, and the one that looks gold (next to the yellow in the middle) is more caramel colored than it looks here. I apparently have to hone my photography and Photoshop skills to get this looking right, but all I know is that I've spent all afternoon working on this, and if the brown is the right color, the bright colors look dull, and if I make the bright colors look right, the brown turns too red. I'm sorry to post a blah picture and to have to explain -- if I can get it better I'll replace it later. The hand-stitched bits look much brighter in person, too.
Yes, it's STUNNING in real life. If it looks boring here, it's the photography. (Grin.)
That said, I've had a good time working on this -- and look, it's ABSTRACT! Aren't you impressed?! I was thinking about how one uses spices in cooking -- how little bits of spice can go a long way. So that's the general theme at work here -- vibrant notes of spice enhancing larger and plainer set of ingredients.
This is actually the second spice quilt I made. Here's the first one I made:
The colors in this are off also -- yes, it's all dupioni again. And I was working with the same ideas, thinking about adding bits of spice to a recipe and using pops of flavor to brighten a recipe. But as much as I like this (and had a great time making it), it struck me as too similar to my "rust colors" piece. So I went in a different direction and came up with "Burst of Flavor" above.
Thanks, Helen, for a delicious challenge theme!
14 comments:
Getting accurate color is such a frustrating problem. I wish I had an answer for you. I thought your creation was submitted by Francoise until I got to the end of the post. I really like the movement in the first piece you created.
I am getting nice bursts of color on my monitor!! I have used silk enough to know how difficult it is to photograph. I had trouble with mine. I think there is a vibration going on between the yellows and oranges that is jarring in the photograph.
I digress. I love the richness of the piece and like how the stitching adds movement to the spices.
Awesome job pushing yourself! Even if the colors aren't exact, the warm spice idea comes through, and I love the simplicity. I was thinking maybe it was Terry's when I saw the second piece, but there's something of your chocolate piece here.
It looks good; brown is a difficult color to photograph, and silk is a challenge, for sure! But I LOVE the work, colorway and design. Great!
Well I love them both!
Lovely! I especially like the asymmetrical composition. I bet it was hard to decide exactly where the horizontal band would be and how to distribute the colors within that band. You did a great job! The hand stitching and the circles in the free motion quilting balance each other quite well.
Also... I'll admit that the colors are off in my photograph also, but I decided not to mention it.
I like the idea of the little notes of spice on the plain background. (They make me think a bit to little firework sticks!) Btw, the background isn't that plain thanks to your lovely machine quilting. Very nice piece.
And, I also had trouble with photographing my quilt.
Despite the photography Diane, these are both great pieces. The colors look so vibrant in silk, and the compositions are interesting
The first piece is stunning reminds me of a spice shelf, the kind that sits under the kitchen cupboards inviting you to add a little pinch of this and a dash of that. The second piece is just as stunning as the first.
I understand your pain. This was my first quilt in a while I didn't have to take a hundred photos to get right. I think it might have to do with the bright gray skies that have taken over. Regardless, your quilt looks beautiful. I can see the bright spices popping out of their jars. Delicious!
The rich, chocolately brown is a nice background for those rich spicy colors! I like both pieces, but I especially like the quirky shapes and movement in the second piece.
So rich and luscious. Silks can be temperamental and unforgiving but you've created two beautiful pieces.
What a perfect name for your quilt! It's fizzing with flavour thanks to those cool running stitches. Awesome.
Wonderful abstract quilts, both of them. And I'm betting the silk fabrics are totally luscious in real life. The top quilt reminds me of a yummy dark chocolate bar with oozy delicious caramel seeping from the inside. Yum!
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