Monday, October 1, 2012

The Radical Tulip

I'm still wondering how Brenda knew about my one yellow tulip among all the red ones??!! See her post here.

The Radical Tulip
20" x 12"
I had the idea for this quilt early on in this round. I gave it some time in case any other ideas popped in my head for the theme. Well, needless to say, nothing popped.

Here is my inspiration photo. I took this photo in my garden in the spring of 2007. I had posted it on my blog and it immediately came to mind after I started thinking about the maverick theme. You know, that only idea I had early on??!!.


My quilt is raw edge fused and free motion quilted.  I added some highlights and shadows with Prismacolor pencils.


The edges are stitched with a zig zag and I also couched some coordinating fibers along the edge.  I was feeling a bit more mavericky and added a stretch of yellow fiber in place of the red.


12 comments:

Brenda said...

Terri, I wasn't spying in your studio. Honest.

Somewhere, sometime, I saw a photo of an entire field of red tulips with a single yellow bloom. That image has stayed in my mind but do you think I could find it again when I set this challenge? By contrast, you only had to look in your garden. I am rather envious. I love tulips but they do not fare so well in temperate coastal climes.

I love you use of commercial fabrics in your maverick interpretation and the yellow section of edging is a great counterpoint to your main composition.

elle said...

I think this is a wonderful composition, Terri. I luv the colouring and texture.

Deborah Boschert said...

I love it Terri! It fits the theme so well -- and yet feels fun and unexpected. Your quilting is so beautiful and I really like the floppy shapes of your tulips.

Gerrie said...

Ah, yes, the quilting adds so much to this. I also like the colors of the background sky and ground - a bit unexpected. It is extra fun that this happened in your own yard.

Kristin L said...

I like your fun interpretation of the theme. I think that you and Gerrie were in the same frame of mind. What I especially like about the inspiration photo is the disparity between soooooo many red tulips and the one yellow. That is missing a bit in your quilted version. It would be nice to see even more red tulips to really drive the point home. But the way you have created the tulips and background is lovely. It is a very pretty quilt.

Karen said...

Like Brenda has said, one of these things is not like the other! This is beautiful Terri and the stitching is amazing.

Diane Perin said...

What a happy illustration of maverick! I love knowing that your own photo and your own garden was your inspiration, and you've illustrated these tulips with your usual wonderful use of fabrics and texture. I agree with Kristin that a few more red tulips might have emphasized the differentness of the one yellow flower, but this still works. Such a happy maverick!

Françoise said...

Lovely quilting Terri. The flowers and their leaves look almost 3D.
How do you fix the pencils on the fabric?

kirsten said...

I would have struggled to make a nice composition of four tulips but you have really found a good balance here. Love the little yellow touch on the edge :)

Robin said...

Tulips are one of my favorite flowers and you did such a nice job representing them! I would love a garden full of them-you are very fortunate!

Nikki said...

I love your tulips, especially the added pattern in the yellow maverick. Tulips always look a bit like mavericks in my garden. A few scattered bulbs still survive from the previous owner and they pop up in the most unexpected places during the gray days of our springs.

Terry Grant said...

I love your tulips and love your idea and love the execution. This summer I have been walking with a friend who recovered from a serious brain infection. Her short-term memory was affected. Every day we walked past a big bed of purple pansies, with one yellow pansy in the middle. Every day she would stop and laugh and exclaim over the one yellow pansy, as if she was noticing it for the first time. It was sweet and disturbing, but as I think back, mostly sweet that she got so much pleasure from that discovery day after day. Your piece reminded me of that.