Leaf Study #2

Leaf Study #2, 19" x 23"

 

Leaf Study #2, detail

I have completed another Leaf Study piece, using Heide Stoll-Weber's hand-dyed cotton sateen as the background. Inspiration for this piece was a photo I took in November 2009 of some beautiful philodendron leaves in the atrium of Ochsner Hospital in New Orleans.  The quilting in the background is of the meander/puzzle type, with a suggestion of more philodendron leaves in the upper portion.

Leaf Study

Leaf Study, 18" x 22"

I used Caryl Bryer Fallert's "appli-piecing" technique to create these leaves. The leaves are appliqued to a hand-dyed cotton sateen by Heide Stoll-Weber. The echo quilting was done with the presser foot down, and the edge finish is a facing rather than a binding.

Detail

Detail

Never Be Surprised at Judges' Comments

Well, I like the piece and had enjoyed hand-embroidering it over a period of six months before layering and machine quilting it. (Silk With Stitches in previous blog post.) The center section is collaged silks I dyed, and the border (also backing) is a high-quality hand-dyed cotton sateen (by Heide Stoll-Weber). I posted it in a critique group I am in and received several affirming bits of feedback, along with some reservations:
"Love the spontaneous feel to your piece and use of color but my eye stops in the lower R corner."
" I found the center totally mesmerizing, dreamlike."
" I love the flow of your piece. The silks are beautiful and your stitching and embroidery choices are perfect. The center design is powerful and the borders frame it nicely.  I did not stop at the lower right corner because my eye found the blue silk in the bottom third of the center."
Getting feedback from my peers is a great way to learn what another artist sees. I didn't enter it in the quilt show expecting anything more than another artist's viewpoint. Imagine my surprise as well as puzzlement when the judging sheet read these eleven words.
     Visual Impact: Soft
     Technical Construction: Too mixed and too distracting
     Quilting: Fair
     Additional Comments:  Nice blend of colors
It's certainly a good thing that I don't place much importance on judges' remarks! I haven't figured out what a "soft" visual impact is other than her way of saying she didn't like it. Although she thought it "too mixed and too distracting," she complimented the "nice blend of colors." These statements seem contradictory, but they reinforce my thinking: Never Be Surprised at Judges' Comments!

Silk with Stitches

My fiber art group experimented with dyeing silk several months ago. We used 6" squares and tried several different techniques to see what we would get. I cut lots of these and glued them to note cards and mailed them. The leftover pieces were too beautiful to toss, so I began applying them to a foundation background at random. There was very little plan--just place and decide if I liked it and stitch it down with embroidery stitches. This was a carry-around project. I then added a backing and borders and machine quilted it only enough to secure the layers.
It has a rather chaotic look, but it mirrored my life as I cared for my husband during his last months. Embroidery has always been a comforting activity, and this piece certainly supplied that. The border and backing are from two pieces of Heide Stoll-Weber's hand dyed sateen. The piece is 24" x 25".