Last summer I took a class with
Ruth B. McDowell and started a small pieced quilt based on a photograph I took of an Ichiban Eggplant in my garden. The following pictures show a bit of the creative progression. See my
previous post in July 2012 for more details.
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| Original Photo |
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| Simple tracing |
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| After creating the full size tracing and freezer paper template, the fun part starts -- picking fabrics. |
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| Making fabric choices |
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| More fabrics and possible borders |
I finished the top about 10 months ago and have been staring at it ever since, thinking about whether it feels right, and about how I would quilt and finish. This was my first effort at this type of work, and there are some things I would do different next time, but two places bothered especially -- the lower right of the flower, and the top of the lower left leaf. One of the cool things about the method is the ability to change a few things. Two weeks ago, at a quilt retreat of the
Houston Modern Quilt Guild, I removed these two pieces and replaced them with lower contrast pieces that seemed better suited.
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| Finished top -- almost |
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| More finished top |
I'm still not totally satisfied, but I think I like the result better, and plan to move on to quilting.
I learned a lot from this -- contrast is important, complementary colors make things pop, fussy cutting to make the fabric work for you, and editing the picture to 'abstract' the essence. Mostly, I need to dive in and do a lot more of these...
Thanks for reading,
Susan
