Circle Journal Quilts

February's Journal Quilt on the theme of circles: Critically Endangered Ascension Island Fern growing in vitro in Petri dishes in the lab. Photoshop manipulated photographs printed on cotton.

 

I don't know why it should come as a surprise to me what a difference quilting makes - that is after all why I love to work with textiles. But when I looked at the before and after photos after putting my new Pfaff GrandQuilter through it's paces it really was quite shocking! It also made me realise that what I thought was a relatively simple piece was actually too busy. Back to the drawing board to simplify for March.

Quilting made quite a lot of difference to these 2 recycled samples of failed 'Pearls, Pearls, Pearls' piece.

Thanks for all your lovely  comments about my new website. I was aware that the blog link on the home page didn't work - fixing it involves writing html rather than just using a template, something I've very little practice in. Unfortunately although the link now works , it's invisible, being white on white!! Quite how that happened I have yet to resolve.....

Weir(d) Observations

Following on from my comments about prefering to work from my own images, I have also been developing ideas from subjects that are local , that I can go back and observe under different lights and conditions. On Boxing day, Ian and I walked along the Grand Union Canal from Brentford to the 'Fox Stop' ( a delightful real ale establishment which has the feel of a country pub). It was a lovely sunny day (if cold) and we both took lots of photos. I was particularly struck by the reflections of trees in the weir (below) and over the next few days did several quite large acrylic paintings on canvas and board ( best one above).

It's amazing what a difference light makes. We did the same walk on New Years Day (below) and apart from the ice on some sections, it was far less photogenic as it was overcast, with no shadows. I think if I'd seen it like this the first time , I'd probably have walked straight past!

This weekend I've been thinking how I can develop this subject further (it has a lot of potential for both stitch and paint) and have been raiding my stash to audition base fabrics. I can see that I will have to do several sample pieces ( CQ Journal Quilts at 6 x 12 inch are the perfect size) to find the right combination - so many possibilities.

Thank you very much for all your contributions and advice about the trials with my 'Pearl,Pearls ,Pearls' themed piece. I have decided not to proceed any further with this , partly as the deadline is too near and also as I'm still not inspired by the subject. But there's some great ideas from your comments I may pursue further.

From Idaho Beauty " You may not want to go back to that same format, but what if you created similar blocks, but with the inserts being your painted or transferred pearls? Your color scheme could mimic that of the sea and this could be a very abstract landscape/seascape."

And from Olga: "I've just remembered that the word Baroque originally meant a distorted pearl, and that someone once described the Baroque building as a Renaissance building seen reflected in moving water . As you prefer to work from your own developments, perhaps you could play about with distortions of your photo of pearls"

I should seek your opinions more often!

Observations on Observation

I've been a member of the Quilters Guild of the British Isles since 1986 and like to support their ventures. For its 25th Anniversary the challenge was ' Silver Threads' and I produced this piece 'Silver threads (among the gold)' applying techniques taught by Alison Schwabe, inserting thin strips of fabric.The current challenge to celebrate 30 years is to produce a quilt on the theme 'Pearls, Pearls,Pearls' - and I'm really struggling. I did a lot of searching for images on the web linked to pearl fishing and the sea ( as a lot of my recent pieces have been seascapes); with my scientific head on looking at diagrams of oyster and mussels; trying to work in references to my name ( Margaret means pearl and the freshwater mussel in latin is Margaritifera margaritifera ).
I took some photos of an assortment of freshwater pearls I'd bought some time ago for jewellery making , then tried to capture their qualities in acrylic paint and iridescent medium. I had several attempts - the trouble with painting on already quilted fabric ( that old Durham quilt again) is that it's difficult to define the edges.

I also experimented with photo transfer paper and more loosely painted shapes.

I'm currently playing with these painted pieces overlaid with photos printed on silk and cotton organzas

These techniques have been interesting to apply and develop ( I love the process of experimentation) but as I can't resolve even a small piece beyond a sampler of techniques, sadly I don't think this is going to evolve into a full size work.

In analysing why I don't think it's working, I'm beginning to draw some conclusions about my preferences in working methods and subject material.

1) I don't like using other peoples images - I felt uncomfortable with using pictures I found about pearl fishing as they weren't mine. Although I really enjoyed the Studio Journal course I did last year, I couldn't bring myself to do the lesson on using clip art for similar reasons.

2)Most of my work is based on direct observation through painting, drawing and photography. The subject has to mean something personally, a special place or time, for me to have 'ownership' of the images and involvement with what I'm working on. Although I was interested in observing the pearls I'd photographed and experimenting with paint, as a subject they didn't really grab me.

3)In subject material ( and appreciation of art ) I'm drawn to strong compositions. Sometime I think I carry a frame in my head (mainly portrait format) observing the world for its potential in shape and colour. And this is where this pearls venture principally fails. Different sized blobs do not make a satisfying composition however I place them .