Tuesday, July 12, 2011

The Grey Parrot

My dad used to work in a design office in LA that was all black, white, and grey, with just a touch of red for accent. There was a lot of chrome too (this was in the 80s, of course). When I think grey, I always think of this office first.



They were so committed to this color scheme, that the principal bought an african grey parrot as a color coordinated office pet.



I did not think I would be able to find an appropriate quilt block when I read that Kirsty's palette was "Grey," but surprise, surprise, there's a block called "Gray Goose!" Grey parrot, grey goose, that's close enough. And, when abstracted a bit, it has a geometric 80s look that worked for me. I used a wool suiting fabric, not so much for the designers' suits, but for the low pile grey carpeting in the office. I had a hand dyed fabric with silver stripes that echoed the chrome I remember. There's some silver stitching as well. The parrot -- he's pretty obvious.



I was pretty happy with this outcome until two days ago when Diane showed her mola. I smacked my forehead and wished I had one more week. I would have made a mola version of the chrome and leather Wassily chairs in the office lobby!
at

8 comments:

  1. Terry GrantJuly 12, 2011 at 11:56 AM

    This is such a great geometric abstract! My favorite thing are the little squares of grayed color in the upper part of the piece. So sophisticated and understated. Perfect!

    ReplyDelete
  2. GerrieJuly 12, 2011 at 12:19 PM

    I am loving some of the synchronicity going on in these pieces. Brenda does suits and you use suiting fabric. Terry and Deborah both used text on paper. This is a wonderful piece with the shapes of the grays playing such a huge part of the composition. And the little triangle of red just sets it off.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Diane PerinJuly 12, 2011 at 1:06 PM

    I also love those pieced squares. Just a field of those would entrance me. But this is a wonderful abstraction and I love how you've connected this to such a strong and personal memory.

    ReplyDelete
  4. KarenJuly 12, 2011 at 2:52 PM

    I just love this Kristin, the geometric shapes totally convey the 80's look. And the parrot is perfect.

    ReplyDelete
  5. UnknownJuly 12, 2011 at 3:01 PM

    Who made a pretty polly then?!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Terri StegmillerJuly 13, 2011 at 4:37 AM

    I'm loving that pop of red and now that I've seen the photo of the parrot, yes, I see it in the quilt.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Brenda Gael SmithJuly 13, 2011 at 5:07 AM

    The notion of a parrot as an office/design accessory is appealingly idiosyncratic and this whimsy flows through to your piece. Using suiting fabrics was an inspired choice. (I contemplated making my piece in suiting fabrics but there are no tailors in Copacabana and I was determined to use what was to hand. Strangely enough, the Laundry King wouldn't let me cut up his suits!) The red highlight is perfect.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Deborah BoschertJuly 28, 2011 at 10:55 AM

    I also love the pieced section at the top. I think it's especially effective that you quilted it on the diagonal which totally obscures what would have been pieced horizontally. I'm curious about the original "gray goose" block pattern. How similar is it to what you created? It's so gutsy to use those large plain fields of color! Very effective.

    ReplyDelete

We enjoy reading comments and sharing reader feedback. Thank you so much for stopping by!