Next Steps

In my last post I hinted at using a Baltimore Album style block as my challenge solution. I showed a mosaic of my progress which upon hindsight, was probably cryptic to everyone but me.

What I wanted to show was a peek into my process of auditioning fabrics. I was trying things out approximating their position in my composition (which is the top one in this photo of my drawings).



In all that moving around of fabrics, I learned a few things. One, I don't have nearly as much eggplanty fabrics as I thought I did given my nice collection of purples. Two, I wasn't getting the necessary foreground, middle ground, background distinction that I needed to make the composition work (due primarily to the fabrics I was using). And three, most Baltimore Album blocks, and definitely the ones with Kaffe Fasset fabrics, don't have a foreground, middle ground, and background.



So, back to the drawing board. The composition on the lower right retains the cornucopia, the other to the left is less Baltimore Album. I was sort of thinking Cubist still life a la Picasso or Braque, but didn't actually go that for for fear of losing the connection to the traditional quilt. If I were to take this idea into several pieces, I definitely think exploring a cubist-inspired option would be worthwhile. Alas, you can't cram all your ideas into one piece and I had to prioritize.



Lucky me, my mom sent me some fabrics for Christmas that fit right into the eggplant and emerald them, and I went shopping for a few more. As much as I loved the white fabric with purple sprays of leaves (a great find in my stash), it just wasn't working. Also, to keep with my "modern" theme I realized I needed some solids, both since they are very in vogue right now, but also to bring in the rich color I wasn't getting through the print fabrics, and to provide a little rest.

Putting on the finishing touches, I had to use this embroidery floss from my mom. It's got all our colors (plus a few more) and plays very nicely with my fabrics. I've had problems in the past with hand dyed flosses bleeding, but since I won't be throwing this little piece in the wash, I think it's the perfect place for the floss and I used it almost all up.

I'll show one more step and the final piece on the twelfth.