More in the C&G

This week I worked on the last 'Activity' in Module 4 of my Creative Techniques: Quilting, and sent several series of photos off to Linda.  Why a series?  Well....

Photo courtesy Victorian Embroidery and Crafts

This Activity continued thoughts about line____________________, and added a bit about texture, too, with the introduction of creating line with couching.  (Thanks to Sharon B, embroiderer extraordinaire for her wonderful Stitch Dictionary.)








I've done couching before, and I had no trouble selecting a favourite shape -- the triangle, shown first on paper in my sketchbook...

Sketchbook - March 2011

Sketchbook too - March 2011

And then created with stamps on some of my hand-dyed fabric:

Stamped fabric - March 2011

Six months farther on, we are now exploring these shapes in greater depth as part of an overall composition, preparatory to creating two quilts by the end of the course (i.e. in the next four Modules).  So, I took my shape and did this with a 12" square:

 

This is pre-quilting.  The triangles have been fused and stitched with satin stitch; the 'path' linking the series on the right is also satin stitch.  The cord has been couched by machine with variegated thread and a large zig-zag stitch.  Next, I added quilting:

The straight lines on the left are intended to add rigidity to that side of the piece; see the baby triangle "blossom" on the left side?  Then I added more quilting...and auditioned some beads...

Not quite what I had in mind.  I auditioned beads in a few more combinations:

How about this?

Or this?

Or this?

In our e-mails back and forth, Linda made helpful observations and reminded me that I needed to think about what I was really trying to accomplish with the beads.  AHA!!  From the start of the composition, I was thinking about the triangles on the left as free spirits, representing growth, spontaneity and joy -- compared to the rigid, orderly, ducks-in-a-row, clock-punching types on the right.  So this is what I finally decided (binding and final bead attachment pending):

Free Spirits - October 2011

A significant outcome of the "Aha!" for me, though, was not simply remembering what I wanted elements of the design to do, but also that a quilt becomes art when the maker goes about it's creation intentionally -- plans his or her use of colour,texture, line, shape and so on, with a view to creating a balanced, unified whole that has a focal point to which the eye travels, as well as a place or places on which the eye can rest.  I just might be catching on to the artist's approach to life...

Great ability develops and reveals itself increasingly with every new assignment. (Baltasar Gracian)*


*found on Robert Genn's website, The Painter's Keys.

Creative Practice

is the subject of today's reading from The Artist's Rule.  Valters Paintner opens the section with these words from Martha Graham:

"I believe that we learn by practice. Whether it means to learn to dance by practicing dancing or to learn to live by practicing living, the principles are the same. In each, it is the performance of a dedicated precise set of acts, physical or intellectual, from which comes shape of achievement, a sense of one's being, a satisfaction of spirit. One becomes, in some area, an athlete of God. Practice means to perform, over and over again in the face of all obstacles, some act of vision, of faith, of desire. Practice is a means of inviting the perfection desired." (Emphasis mine) 


Module 4 (C&G) is all about texture -- bringing it to the piece through thread, stitch, fabric type, paint/dye and other embellishments.  Here's how I've been practicing this week:

Bottle #1 - single strand floss, seed stitch, French knots

Bottle #2 - single strand floss, seed stitch, iridescent beads