This week we have been looking after a pair of chocolate Labradors for my daughter and son-in-law whilst they had a holiday in the sun. Our two cats are reluctantly confined up the corridor to live at one end of the cottage and the dogs remain in the kitchen at the other end and never the twain shall meet …. That’s the theory! We have had fun and games, spats and skirmishes, thieving and destruction, but we have survived! They had their chums round for birthday celebrations and everyone knows that the way to a Labrador’s heart is through the stomach. Sit!
A love-in of Labradors
My sewing has progressed and my projects have continued to develop throughout the summer months. Working in a series has been an interesting experience for me. I have a grasshopper type of mentality, where I enjoy creative variety, and so I have found it difficult to apply myself throughout this repetitive process. I have had to be really disciplined and focused to complete all four wall hangings!
The main advantage of this creative repetition is that it made me focus my energy and helped me to improve and develop my ‘painting with fabric’ method. Another plus is that all the raw materials were strewn across my workroom so I didn’t have to tidy up between quilts! Many different threads were used for quilting, so I was able to do a lot of detailed texturing on all four quilts before changing colours on my machine.
I commented last week that I had one or two reservations about my completed wall hangings. After I had written that, not unlike saying the words out loud, I realised that I still had a choice as to whether I was going to put things right or not. If I didn’t do anything about it, every time I looked at that quilt, my eyes would always go to the problem area and I would always be disappointed with it. So the wrought iron archway had to come off! It was sewn onto a vanishing medium and added after it had been completed. It was the wrong colour and much too heavy for the scale of the landscape …. and it took ages to remove! I think this one is better.
Archway
The final landscape has been machine quilted and all that’s left now is the border and binding.
Landscape with setting sun
Detail
Whenever you start and stop machine stitching, there are always tails of thread to cut away. At the end of the series of landscape pictures, this is my bird’s nest of threads! I am quite appalled at the waste and need to find some creative way of using them.
Bird’s nest
The still life is progressing. I have decided to use one fabric for the upper background, as this will ultimately be covered with flowers. I found some more vases left over from past demonstrations and I have started to audition them on the background.
Still life
I have used fabric strips, in many different sizes and colours to prepare the ledge. Although they look a bit haphazard at this stage, I think they add visual interest and depth to the quilt. Once threads are used to add detail and texture, the colours will blend well together.
Still life detail
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