BLOG 65

I am just compelled to create; it’s what I enjoy so much. So, as I have come across these vases left over from one of my workshops, I am going to have to use them in a still life. I will explain my method as I go along over the next few blogs.

Flower vases

The first thing I have to create is the backdrop for the vases. For the ledge I intend to use ready-fused strips left over from other projects. To start, I have drawn an 8” x 30” strip on baking parchment, which is then placed onto an ironing surface. I start to fill it in the space with over-lapping strips, which I stick together with an iron. I want to give the impression of light coming in from the right.

Auditioning fabrics

The next step is to create a strong background and at this stage I need to audition fabrics so I can gauge the over-all look of the wall hanging. Taking a photograph really helps and my impression at this stage is that it is going to look a bit too confused, particularly if I choose the central fabric with the vertical strips. I have done another picture in this style and it is now framed above the fireplace. Comparing the Fabrics, I realise now that I need to use a stronger background.

Flower vases 1

I am working hard on my series of landscape pictures to see whether I can enjoy working this way, like a lot of grown-up artists do! I am slumped over my sewing machine most days, free-motioning anything that lies still long enough!! After doing the general background texturing, I am now adding more detail.

Aside: This reminds me of a chat I had with another quilter at the FOQ. She was saying that, in her opinion, many quilts are spoiled by being ‘machine quilted to death’ and I know exactly what she means. But here are a few words in defence of my method. I try to use strips of fused fabric as painterly brush strokes and this means that there are many edges and loose ends across the surface of the quilt. The purpose of my thread stitching is 3-fold; it secures the strips onto the batting and backing; it helps the colours to blend one into another on the surface and it adds fine detail.

Adding detail

Adding detail

I didn’t really buy much at the Festival of Quilts this year because I chose to spend what time I had there enjoying the quilts. But, the one item I did buy, ‘Hugo’s amazing re-usable glue-less tape’ is wonderful! I strongly recommend it if you, like me, have loads of threads on cones. I went for the wider tape which seemed expensive at about £15:00, but I cut it into narrower strips for economy. If you wind it round your cones of thread, it prevents the annoying unravelling that happens when they are stored on the vertical in boxes. Worth its weight, I say!

Magic Tape

And guess what? ‘Comparethequiltsdotcom’, our Meerkat wall hanging, won Viewers’ Choice as well as the best Group Quilt. We are thrilled and grateful that our fellow quilters took the time and trouble to register their votes for us. We thought we had a good chance because there was always a crowd in front of our quilt and we often over-heard ‘meerkats’ mentioned in random conversations. It was the right quilt at the right time, and having the public vote showed that we were in harmony with our fellow stitchers.

Delighted of Nercwys!