Thursday, November 1, 2012

Garden

Garden

Let me introduce you to Garden. She is a 12" square wall quilt. On the front there are appliquéd bits of green solids - I am not sure what kind - and Kona white. She is densely quilted with an ivory white Superior Threads King Tut thread.

I made the stem motifs on small pieces of white before I was sure how this little quilt would emerge. So I then arranged them and pieced in the rest. In hindsight I could have arranged it all on a single white background but that was not my process.

Garden

In fact, this quilt was really hard to make for me. It is part of a challenge in a group called Four-in-Art set up by my internet friend Elizabeth who blogs at the Occasional Piece - Quilt! When she mused about the group I joined but when the group adopted "art" in their name, well then suddenly it became hard as I quilt, I don't do capital A art. But I am giving it a go anyway.

The challenge was to make a 12" square quilt inspired by the theme Queen Anne's Lace. I have a lot of Queen Anne's Lace in my garden on the coast and enjoyed it all summer.

Garden

But as a quilt, well, I just put it all off until it was due - and the due date would be today. The challenge group does not share as they go and for me that is perhaps even more challenging as I like the energy and feedback from my internet friends as I move through the quilting process. This week I was sitting on my bed thinking and looked up at atmosphere. which is hanging on my wall.

atmosphere.

When I made atmosphere. I planned to play more with the concept of less is more and with negative space in small quilts, all inspired by Yoshiko Jinzenji, who wrote Quilting Line + Color. So I looked again at the photos I had taken of my flowers.


And then I got to work. And finished yesterday.

Garden - before washing

There is an evening photo before I washed this quilt. I always like to remind everyone how much texture is added when you wash a mini quilt. Since I planned the texture, I washed and dried her in a nice warm dryer.

Garden - back

Here is her back, although the next picture is a better rendition of the wonderful olive colour of the Essex linen I used. The white piece is a serendipitous event. It somehow got added in the process and I did not notice it until it was fully quilted in. Somehow it was added totally smoothly without any applique or attention and stayed that way through all the turning while quilting.

Garden - a back

The back is my favourite side.

Garden

You can check out the little quilts of the rest of  Four-in-Art group: Elizabeth, who blogs at Occasional Piece - Quilt! has shared her quilt and also Betty's who does not yet blog, and Rachel who blogs at Life of Riley will be sharing her quilt too.


And because this story had some thinking in it, I am linking to the Thursday Think Tank at Making Rebecca Lynn. 
Thursday Think Tank

Best,

Leanne

35 comments:

Little Island Quilting said...

Great post. And I totally agree about the word 'art.' I just make quilts!!

Debbie said...

Wow - love your process posts! And I would have been daunted by the capital 'A' as well! But love your rendition of the subject. Love whatever happened on the back, and your quilting, well that totally makes it.

Nat at Made in Home said...

Garden is so beautiful!!!

Valerie said...

Stunning again, Leanne! I think you are an artist of the highest order:)

Judith said...

It's a marvellous quilt and I love how interpreted it. Basically colourwise the otherway round; i.e. red flowers on white background.

Heather D. said...

How cool! And the unexpected back is just great. Sometimes I'm with you - the back is just as great as the front!

Rachel said...

You are so not allowed to stop. I Love this quilt.

Sarah said...

Really lovely!

felicity said...

Wow, Leanne! It's definitely Art. Beautifully done.

Sarah said...

Only you could make the perfect mistake! The back looks fabulous for that little accident. I really like how you have explained your process and inspiration Leanne. I think you will have a stretching time with your Four in Art group - good to challenge yourself. You are totally capable of this one.

Svetlana said...

oh, my!!!! totally gorgeous! And I'm smitten with that white addition to your backing, how amazing!

Archie The Wonder Dog said...

Even your 'mistakes' are marvellous! It's a stunning quilt!

Betty said...

Leanne, I'm with Rachel - you can't stop now - you so nailed this! Love the back and that it wasn't intended makes it even more special. The circular quilting is outstanding. How cool.

Rachel said...

Wow, I love the simplicity of the design but the quilting just makes it completely amazing! And I love the white square on the back, it looks perfect!

Quilting In The Cold said...

Gosh it is gorgeous!

Kelly said...

One word -LOVE!!!!

Susan said...

I own your Art tote! So I love anything you create... And I agree with Archie- even your mistakes are artistic! I have seen what this amazing group have been making...it is a wonderful collaboration!

www.randomthoughtsdoordi.com said...

I was going to say I love the back you planned, then I read the words. If that's how your mistakes turn out, wow...you are an artist with a capital "A"

elle said...

Fit for a queen! Luv the whole concept.

Mrs Flying Blind... said...

Completely love it!

Sheila said...

I couldn't believe this was 12" - that is an amazing amount of quilting in a small space, and it totally works.
ART is a scary word.

Catherine said...

Its amazing Leanne, and I love how your quilts all have a story

Trudi said...

I think you rocked the theme big style with a capital A for art quilt!

Judith, Belfast said...

No reason why quilts can't be art too! Garden is lovely! Well done on challenging yourself! Jxo

bohemiannie! art said...

This quilt is stunning. Both sides. I love the serendipitous little white block on the back.

Ellie Q said...

I love the story behind this! And it turned out beautifully. Thanks for sharing. I definitely want to try that circular quilting at some point too.

OPQuilt said...

Since I'm all turned around, time-wise since I'm traveling, I not only had the pleasure of reading about your magnificent quilt, I also had the pleasure of reading all the wonderfully supportive comments from your readers. I LOVE your quilt--it is so "Leanne" which is the best compliment I can give. I really enjoyed the story (yes, mine is coming later, as I originally had it on the same post but when Betty needed space, I had to change some things around), but I think your interpretation is inventive, and oh, so creative. I have a post coming in a couple of days about art and craft, and I think your process is an especially vivid example of art.
I won't go on and on here (should figure out how to log onto Flickr from my iPad!) but Leanne, it's wonderful, from front to back. I am with everyone else--think the back with its hitchhiking piece of fabric,and the front, with the flowers strewn across a field of white--is capital A, Art!

Hitch and Thread said...

I like the back too. And it has a great story.

Tamie said...

Wonderful piece. Thanks for sharing the process with us too. Sometimes I just look at a quilt and think how in the world did they come up with that (in a good way). It is good to know the background behind the quilt.

Shevvy said...

Love it - I thought it was pieced at first. You know green always does it for me.

Annabella said...

Beautiful quilts Leanne and I love quilts with lots of negative space.

felicity said...

p.s. this would be a perfect entry into QuiltCon's quilt show. Modern in Miniature category.

Kati said...

Love this so much! I find I pretty much love anything you make. I love the simplicity as well as the quilting. They just go together so perfectly. Wonderful work as always!!

jeifner said...

I quite like that quilt back! The leaning white sets the green off perfectly. Well done on the whole thing!

Poppyprint said...

Leanne, for some reason I'd completely missed Garden and Atmosphere. Can I just say that you are doing an amazing job of linking your group themes and the result will be a wonderful collection of related art quilts that tell a wonderful story! These are quietly beautiful and lovely to look at. Congratulations on your thoughtful work.