TWELVE BY TWELVE: Firewheel Trio

Firewheel Trio

The Firewheel Tree (Stenocarpus sinuatus) is an Australian rainforest tree with stunning ornamental flowers. The Firewheel (Gaillardia pulchella aka Indian Blanket) is also a Texas wildflower which seems very fitting with the our Twelve by Twelve quilts coming up for exhibition at the International Quilt Festival in Houston in November 2011. So take your pick! Either way, I am so pleased to have, at last!, squeezed in a shibori piece in the Colorplay series.


image by Cas Liber via WikiCommons	image by Susulyka via Wiki Commons

Although I had plenty of orange fabrics in my stash,you can see that I succumbed to the lure of a vermillion and orange dyeing session. Here's how my design wall looked a week or two ago.

Initially, I was going to hand quilt this piece with orange and chartreuse heavy weight threads. That didn't work and I almost discarded the piece in favour of Pyromania. However, once I changed to machine quilting with variegated thread, it was no contest. It seems felicitous to finish off the second series in a way that echoes my very first Twelve by Twelve quilt from November 2007 - Pièce deRésistance.

14 comments:

Emma said...: So nice! love the color and the simplicity.; September 1, 2011 at 3:19 AM
Jane said...: Stunning Brenda, just love it!; September 1, 2011 at 3:23 AM
Françoise said...: Beautiful Brenda! It looks so simple, but of course it's not.
I also like the 3 pieces with the kind of crosses you got in your orange dyeing session.; September 1, 2011 at 3:58 AM
Unknown said...: Awesome! What a way to finish! Can't wait to see it in Houston!

Hugz; September 1, 2011 at 4:10 AM
Terri Stegmiller said...: Oh what a perfect finish! The shibori flower shapes fit the space perfectly. I'm also loving all the pieces on your design wall....the top left, white spotted one is particularly attractive to me.; September 1, 2011 at 4:39 AM
Anonymous said...: Brenda, this is one of my favorites of yours! You do orange very well :); September 1, 2011 at 5:44 AM
dutchcomfort said...: The quilting stands out so beautifully and adds a lot to the quilt.
Love to see your orange dyeing session!; September 1, 2011 at 5:50 AM
Karen said...: Beautiful, Brenda. You are right, it's nice to finish back where you started.; September 1, 2011 at 6:53 AM
Vicki Miller said...: It seems that you do great work when it is about something native. The shibori really does remind me of the firewheel flowers. Love it.; September 1, 2011 at 7:05 AM
What Comes Next? said...: gorgeous! I love the simplicity of this. Your design wall is just so covered with wonderful pieces - all incredible. Love Pyromania, too!; September 1, 2011 at 7:53 AM
Gerrie said...: I m so happy that you were able to fit a shibori piece into the colorplay as well!! I love how you did the quilting around the shibori shapes.; September 1, 2011 at 8:57 AM
Diane Perin said...: You are masterful at these shibori larch shapes and I love how you present them here. The stitching sets them off beautifully, too. I also like the reference back to your first piece. (And now you have all those other orange pieces to play with -- great possibilities!); September 1, 2011 at 9:36 AM
Kristin L said...: The full circle aspect of these flowers and your Dandelion is indeed serendipitous. I really like the richness of color you have achieved here (and what dyer wouldn't want to surround herself with more happy orange fabric?!). I think your Firewheels most closely resemble the Texan kind, but yo are right -- they are both wonderful.; September 1, 2011 at 11:47 AM
Terry Grant said...: The simplicity of the composition is so appealing. Three of anything is magic and this is no exception. I really love that you kept this so elegantly simple and let the beautiful color, shape and glow of those three circles shine. One of my favorites of all of your beautiful pieces!; September 1, 2011 at 8:46 PM