Monday, January 18, 2016

Art Quilt "Dressed Up"

I made a fantasy nest art quilt this week.  Well, aren't all my nest art quilts fantasies?  But this one has that sparkle and razzle dazzle that made it feel all dressed up, hence the name.

My favorite fabric right now is the fabulous Ombre fabric called "Daiwabo Selection" for E. E. Schenck Company.  I have previously used this in several other art quilts in other colorways.  This color, or lack thereof, is the one that fades from white through gray shades and into black.  I could really envision this fabric with a light center and radiating to dark on the outside.  So I cut it into triangles and pieced them together to give me the background that I wanted to have.  Then I started laying out the nest in the center.  And guess what?  The nest totally covered up the light effect that I was aiming for.  So I had to piece the remnants into another background so that I could use the nest on this fabric.  You never know how things are going to turn out, and the fun about small art quilts is that you can switch directions easily midstream.  Having a design board is invaluable for checking the design as you go.  After I laid out the quilt and put the top tulle on top, it just looked like a bulls-eye.
Quilt top looking like a bulls-eye


So off came the nest to ponder the background again.  When I go to sleep with a problem looming, I sometimes wake up with a bright idea.  So, in the wee hours of the night, I decided to add a branch and a small shadow underneath the nest.  Both of them felt like they had to be sheer fabric so as not to distract from the nest and the background fabric.   I fused some misty fuse to the sheers, fused them to the background, and laid back down the nest.  The next few pictures show the progress.

Pattern for the branch


Using the pattern to cut the branch


Branch and shadow fused to the background


Quilt top reassembled


I decided to quilt this in straight lines to enhance the background fabric.  And some of my fun eyelash yarn seemed like just the right thing to couch down on the outside edges to finish this quilt off.


Dressed Up by Joanne Adams Roth

I hope you like it!





Close up of eggs of gold lame
Nest materials


2 comments:

  1. The branch is the perfect addition! What a great name for this nest. I can't wait to see those lame eggs in person!--Terry

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