Windows I Redone - DONE!

I've had some time to work with my Windows piece - see last weeks post. I was never really happy with it - one of the things being the colors so I decided to change the color palette.  

Through the use of couching threads and paintsticks, I created a very different look.

I love using paintsticks and find that I use them more and more.

Sometimes just a touch applied with a very tiny stencil brush (around 1/4" in diameter) does the trick.  A little bit of gold and aqua were added to trees to help carry the new color theme throughout.

I also brushed a little bit of Lumiere textile paint across one of the fabrics for a little sparkle.

Then I had to decide where to put the borders - black on top or bottom.

Bottom won out.

I wrote on one of the fabrics with charcoal and since it was an art quilt, sprayed it with a fixative to make it permanent. The black border was an old Damask tablecloth which was dyed with a blue-ish black and worked well with the blues in this piece.

I stitched around the trees with monofilament and also gold thread to highlight it in places

and added a little writing on one of the borders.

So from this...

to this.....DONE!

Windows I - Redone

I started this quilt several years back using photos of windows and rock walls I loved. The windows had a haunting quality to them and the rock walls were old and interesting.

BUT, hard as I tried, I never connected with this piece. I left it on my design wall for a long time with no clue what it was that bothered me, so eventually I packed it away with other UFOs. Since this was the year to rework, finish or toss, I decided to give it another try.

I really loved the windows with the peeling paint and crumbling cement which is why I held onto it.

I think what bothered me about the original piece was this big tree, and since it was silk screened on with textile paint, it was there to stay.

It just took over the whole quilt - what was I thinking.

So I took it apart, putting aside the pictures I liked and wanted to use again.

I tossed the smaller pieces (above) even though I usually save the tiniest bits of fabric and thread; I just wanted them gone.

I decided on a new color palette. Some of the digital imagery had a blue-ish cast to it, so I decided to pull in that color using thread, paintstiks and fabric.

This beautiful couching thread is from Kreinik Threads and left over from my Fairfield Fashion show designing days when the sponsors sent you tons of stuff.  It's a little thicker and stiffer than the Candlelight I always use but the color was perfect.

It does add some nice sparkle and brings out the blue in the tree, so we'll see what happens as I move along - more next time.

Enchanted Village revisited

Well it's my birthday today and as much as I don't like birthdays, I'm happy to be celebrating another one. Part of my present to myself is to have an uninterrupted day in my studio. It's been wonderful.  I know I've shown this quilt in progress awhile back with very little left to be done before being quilted.  The birdhouse in this quilt still need birds to make it look complete.

I went online to get copyrite free images of bluebirds.  I also had a wonderful picture of my cat Molly who loves birds for different reasons than my own, but thought her expression might work in this little vignette. All photos were printed individually on the one sheet making the best use of my treated fabric. It is a little time consuming but better than making all the many sheets of fabric for printing.

I ironed the sheet of images onto fusible web and then cut them out....

to be placed on and around the birdhouse.

with Miss Molly looking longingly from down below.

I also added some squiggles using Candlelight couching thread.

and another adorable little baby blue bird perched up in a tree branch higher up on the quilt. I couldn't help myself. He was so cute and chubby.

So now to quilt this big boy.
More to follow - and I wish you all a wonderful New Year filled with fun times, good health and lots of studio time!