"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jer 29:11 (NIV)

Sunday, November 4, 2018

Art With Fabric Blog Hop - My Day!

This piece is being made for the annual art quilt challenge that I've been taking part in for over 15 years.   This is the 20th year of the challenge, but there were a few of those years when I wasn't able to get a quilt finished for the exhibition.    This years theme was "20".  I struggled to figure out what to do for my piece because the theme is soooooooo wide open.   Along with the theme we are also encouraged to try a new technique when creating our pieces.

I ended up deciding to do a piece based on fractals with my inspiration drawn from art (computer-generated) and the world of nature.

A fractal is defined as a structure in which similar patterns recur at progressively smaller scales.

There are many examples of fractals found in nature, some of which can be seen here on the Mother Nature Network.  I particularly like the example of the cross-section of the Chambered Nautilus shell seen here.






And an interesting one from art here, found on the designyourway.net website.

















I used these as inspiration for my quilt, but choosing to go with circles as the element that would be repeated and scaled through out the piece.

Quilt as it is laid out before fusing with all circles pinned in position on the background fabric.  I've tweaked placement of several circles to make the line of the spiral smoother.  As soon as my new iron arrives I'll iron them in place on the background.

The circles have been stitched down with raw edge stitching.   the background here actually shows up much lighter than the golden cream that it is.   I'm thinking I might quilt it in a variegated cream if I can find that kind of color.



Next step in the process of making this quilt has been the decision on how to quilt it.  At this first I had thought about some sort of straight line quilting - either following the contours of the circles or echoing the spiral they are arranged in.



But the quilting design that the quilt really cried out for was the bubbles shown here on the left.     So my plan is to do that, but first i need to practice because I've never done it before on a quilt, altho I can do it on paper when practicing.

I'm glad that this quilt isn't due until around February of next year because it's gonna take me a while to finish it with everything else going on.



The schedule for the complete hop:

Monday, November 5th, 2018

Tuesday, November 6th, 2018

Wednesday, November 7th, 2018
 
Thursday, November 8th, 2018 

Friday, November 9th, 2018 


Gratitudes:

1. For the knowledge that even when I fret and worry, my anchor holds secure to the Rock that will never be moved.

2. For the knowledge that even tho I've never have a life partner in any way, there are still many friends and family members in my life who are there for me when I've needed a shoulder to lean on for a bit.

14 comments:

piecefulwendy said...

I enjoyed reading your process as you constructed this quilt. I hope you have good success with the bubbles; I've never done them either, so no advice to give you.

Anita Jackson @ Domestic Felicity said...

As a child, my favorite doodle was the fractals, even though I didn't know what they were called. I would do one color, multi-colors, you name it.. and I still am captured by them. Looking forward to seeing your finish! The drawings are fabulous!

Anita Jackson @ Domestic Felicity said...

I love the design!

Farm Quilter said...

Cool quilt and I can't wait to see how you quilt your pebbles (at least that is what they are called when I longarm them, regardless of size! You will do great, I'm sure!!

Heather Pregger said...

That is going to be wonderful! Thank you for sharing your process!

quiltedfabricart said...

fabulous! I think you made the right choice with the bubbles

Susan said...

I like the way it's moving along, and I believe the bubbles will be wonderful. This is a really wonderful adaptation inspired by art AND nature!

Andree G. Faubert said...

Hi Moira, looks like you have a great quilt in the making. I like that you used the circles to create the fractals. Good luck with the bubbles - if you can draw them, you can quilt them!

AlidaP said...

Beautiful project!! It is really a great idea to test quilting designs on paper... I always think about doing it, but then I just want to get the quilting part over as fast as possible (it is my least favorite step) so I end up just choosing something random. I think that the careful planning will enhance what is already very pretty!! Thanks for being part of the blog hop!!

Karrin Hurd said...

Great piece, I’ll look forward to seeing it finished

e said...

Your project is looking fantastic. Looking forward to seeing how it progresses.

Also, thank you for the new bear - he's adorable :) I'm behind, as usual on my blogs :)

Barb said...

Good luck with it, your inspirational pieces are amazing...can't wait to see your finished project.

Claire said...

I like it! I wish mine was that far along, but I am glad to have finally gotten an idea at least.

Melva said...

You quilt will be stunning. I like how you have "auditioned" several quilting patterns on paper. Great idea! Thanks for sharing. MelvaLovesScraps at nolanqualitycustoms dot com