This is one of 3 trees I'm working on. No idea where this is going, but I love the trees from 2 batik fabrics that I fused. There really isn't enough contrast between trees and background, but of course, I fused them onto the background without paying attention to that. And I do love the background. From a distance, though, it just appears too dark.I had two different ideas when I started this last week, but don't think either will work. So it will just stay up for a while and may end up like Garden Girl, taking months before deciding on where to go.
I've been wanting to use this old saying for some time now. Decided to try fusing the letters and will do a blanket stitch around each. I think. That's pretty time consuming, and I'm not sure this will ever be anything more than an experiment.I've made a few more monkey related blocks, too. Need to take some time today and work on a few more.
And there is one more idea in the works and a sketch of a crane that I'm debating on.
Watched Saving Grace last night. Love Craig Ferguson and thoroughly enjoyed the movie, doing a little more handquilting on the pink floral baby quilt.
I love the tree quilt. It looks great on my screen. I would try some colored pencil work on it - perhaps using yellow to lighten the grass and some black to darken the tree - if you want to get more contrast.
ReplyDeleteI like you tree piece. Some days/seasons just feel like what's going on in your background. Keep in mind that the tree will pop more into the foreground when you quilt it. Contrast can be heightened with a close quilting pattern in colored thread back there. Also, there's always the the colored pencils, crayons, or oil stick pastels to change it.
ReplyDeleteI love the tree just the way it is. The darker background reminds me of the forest were the sun does not shine.
ReplyDeleteoh they are eating my comments again! Wanted to say that I think the dark background gives the tree a lovely dreamtime quality. But to echo Gerrie's suggestion, if it were me and the lack of contrast continued to bug, I'd probably haul out the lumiere and do just a bit of highlight/outlining.
ReplyDeleteI adore Saving Grace! It's actually my only frame of reference for Craig Ferguson but I am a huge Brenda Blethyn fan. I love all of her work except possibly a very dark and extremely creepy film (name escapes me) in which she plays a new orleans/storyville madam. Her accent was embarassing to me - don't know how on or off it was from an authentic LA perspective. But it did distract me from some of the more disturbing elements of the plot ...
Gerrie - thanks for the suggestion; I did take some colored pencils and worked around the tree, lightening it somewhat. It does stand out a little better!
ReplyDeleteNellie - true, quilting always makes a difference. Thanks for reminding me that there is more than one way to address a problem. Deciding how to quilt is always a major difficulty for me, but the quilting adds so much more to any piece.
Debbi - I thought of it as being kind of a twilight, early evening scene, but still worry about the trees (there are actually 3) blending too much.
ACey - Now, I like that you and Debbi see it as a somewhat obscured scene. Love the idea of "dreamtime" which fits the mood I envision.
I sometimes watch Craig Ferguson's late night talk show. He's very witty and self-effacing and with a delightful Scottish brogue! Cute, too. Blethyn was marvelous in this wasn't she? Loved watching her.
When I first saw this I thought of the first fat snowflakes of winter that float lazely down not sure if the dots are too yellow tho i like the mood of this piece Julia
ReplyDeleteJulia, I saw them as stars rather than snowflakes, but in the same floaty way. I did do trees in snow, though, in this quilt.
ReplyDeletei am comfortable with the subtle colors on the tree piece, and stitching always changes everything as you said.
ReplyDeleteand i like HER mouth.
a lot
yes came back because I forgot to say that HER mouth is excellent. I had never heard the expression before and now keep smiling to think of it.
ReplyDeleteI love your tree and that quote is great. I must try to remember it.
ReplyDeleteMaybe it looks different in person, but I think the branches are quite discernable. And overall, I think it looks great! The background batik is really smashing. Keep up the good work!
ReplyDeletejude - :) I'm dealing with some women right now who fall into this category. You can't get a word in edgewise to contribute to the conversation.
ReplyDeleteACey - Thanks, I've loved this expression for a long time.
Margaret - Thanks! The saying stays in your head once you've heard it.
Rian - It looks better up close; from a distance it becomes harder to distinquish. I do like doing trees!
I like the tree on the background. It doesn't seem like too little contrast to me at all. I mean, sure, it could be more contrast, but that might change the mood of the piece.
ReplyDeleteLaume - Right, I don't want to change the mood, just want the trees to stand out rather than blend in.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful tree, it looks like an Autumn snowfall, and such wonderful shaping to the branches...The saying is great!
ReplyDeleteJen, Saving Grace is one of my favorite movies. Another hilarious Craig Fergusson film is The Big Tease. Love your tree quilt.
ReplyDeleteDebby - Thanks for the comment about the trees. The saying is ringing in my ears after this weekend!
ReplyDeleteDeborah - Saving Grace was great, and I'm adding The Big Tease to my Netflix que!
This is so beautiful. I love the shape of trees, and you've captured it so well. I agree that the lack of contrast isn't really a problem. I bet what you've done with colored pencils and the quilting will be enough.
ReplyDelete