One of my strongest childhood memories is of my mother taking me and my brother to the library. We did it at least once a week and I loved to sort through the books and choose some to take home. I was less than five in these memories. I always chose books with beautiful illustrations - they mattered to me far more than the storyline! - and my favourites were the most richly coloured. This was the late sixties and there was a fashionable style of illustrating then that now seems to me to have been strongly influenced by linocuts and woodcuts (in fact, many of the books were illustrated with prints). It was the simple shapes and intense colour that I loved and the orange that Terry assigned for us immediately reminded me of those books.
My quilt is what I remember of the picture books from when I was four. I have no idea why but, as I made the quilt, this image declared itself to me to be Central Park (where I have yet to go). Maybe I have hiding, somewhere deep in my memories, a picture of Central Park from one of those books. Good heavens, it may be subconscious plagiarism! I hope not!
ps: Terry, while the trees look kind of red-orange in the photo, I swear the oranges are the correct colour! ;P
17 comments:
beautiful beautiful...orange makes me happy!
It reminds me of many of the illustrations Tolkien did of Middle earth in the lord of the rings, and it has that magical feel to it.
Lovely childhood memories!
Great quilt and quilting. I has this Indian Summer feel!
Fabulous! This reminds me of the Christo exhibit in Central Park with all of the orange canvas everywhere.
Love these trees! I've not been to central Park either, but this image seems right to me. Being of a similar era, I remember this type of image in books as well. Fond memories!
Fabulous orange trees. The quilting in the sky really excites my eyes and the prints you used in the trees are lovely. Great design!
It reminds me of woodcuts also. It's a simple design, beautifully executed
I love it. I didn't guess this was you until I looked for the name. The trees are reading very orange on my screen. I especially like the sky and the quilting.
What a strong and happy visual effect this has, Kirsty! As usual I love how you've used printed fabric so well and the mix of prints and textures is wonderful. I love how the trees seem friendly and bouncy! The sky quilting is just wonderful. Library visits are a favorite childhood memory of mine, too, so this strikes a nice chord for me.
Even before i read the explanation I thought how the quilt was the same era as the lennon glasses and how the orange circles resonated with Diane's quilt. I like that your quilts too talk to you!
I love the way you've quilted the sky! I can relate to those woodcut-inspired illustrations as well. I also see a bit of Eric Carle and a book that has stayed with me because of it's wonderful graphic illustrations -- The Snowy Day, by Ezra Jack Keats. Anyway, lovely memories, and lovely orange trees. :-)
For some reason, when I first saw this, I thought it might be Diane's work and you've certainly both been channelling the 60s vibe. I love the way you've taken a trite sky theme fabric and converted it into something so meaningful with the stitching. The circle and tree trunks elements combine beautifully.
For some reason, as I was looking and reading I thought this was Terri's quilt, even though I already seen her Bouquet--must be my sleep deprived mind.
I didn't notice the sky quilting until I read the comments. I love the combination of machine and hand quilting. I always wonder how to combine the too and now I have an example. Great energy!
I know EXACTLY the kind of book illustrations you are talking about! The colors in this are so beautiful and the combination of orange prints is really making me very happy! The stitching in the sky is wonderful as well, but beyond all that I love, love, love the shapes of the tree trunks, They have a very graphic, yet natural line that is the perfect contrast to the circle trees. Perfect.
Beutiful orange forest. Yes, it reminds me of children's story books. But the more I look at your quilt, the more I'm attracted by the sky. Love the color and the pattern, and the way you quilted it by machine and hand. Lovely!
I'm so late in commenting that I have to repeat what everyone else has already said. The combination of hand and machine stitching in the sky is wonderful. Plus, those clouds are such lovely shapes. The tree trunks are also wonderful. I love the combination of prints and hand-dyed used for the trees. And of course, I also love looking at children's picture books. There is so much fabulous art at the library! A great inspiration.
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