Starting with the easy decisions.....

 Like the birds and the river - they're easy fabric choices and the most important elements as well.  So I like to get those done first because everything else will have to work around them.  I know I want the birds to be black with very dark greens and purples.  The river fabric is one I really like and it fits perfectly with what I envision.

Next is the harder part, filling in the rest of the elements.  Some projects come very easy to me, you draw a tree and the bark will naturally be one color while the leaves will be another.  Definate shapes and objects speak for themselves in their color choices many times.

But with this project you can see that the rest of the quilt doesn't contain any specifically drawn objects, just random shapes.  To me, that makes it a little harder and I feel like I need to start treading carefully with my next choices in color, pattern and value.

Getting ready to draw that first line....

 I recently got out my huge roll of butcher paper (18" wide, you can find it online where paper supplies are sold or at restaurant supply stores) to start making my full-scale pattern for my new piece.  The size is going to be approximately 38" high x 56" wide so I cut several lengths of paper, attached them together with a glue stick and then scotch-taped over the seams for extra strength.



 I then like to take my quilting rulers to mark out the size I want.  The large square ruler is my favorite to use as I then end up with a grid that later helps me when I draw.  Using an ordinary ball-point pen (it's subtle but permanent as there will be lots of erasing later on), I divide the quilt into squares or portions of squares and trace around the ruler, using the large straight one to also help me stay "square".  Then I like to take a Sharpie felt pen and outline around the edge of the pattern - just having that line down already makes me feel like I'm doing something with all that white space and gives my eye some point of reference.

Now to give me a little more of a structure to work within so I can have fun with drawing the details (which I'm still thinking about), I sat down and figured out the main lines, sections or "bones" of the piece on a bit of paper.  I also used a contrasting yellow line to divide this sketch into quadrants so I could more easily draw these lines onto my pattern.  At this point I just need a steady hand and a good eraser to start making those first lines.

Value and Composition

It's been a busy week and I've been thinking about my birds darting over a flowing river the whole time.  Yesterday I had my first chance to go through my fabric stash and pull some likely prospects.  Even though I might not have the chance to start drafting a pattern for this quilt right away, I like to make time to gather potential fabrics so I can have time to mull them over (I'm big on mulling) and do a little bit of tweaking here and there.

As I mentioned previously, I want to make sure that my birds will stand out against the background so it's important to establish the right values now between the birds, the river, the foliage, foreground and the sky.  I believe that value trumps composition (though composition is a close second), so I need to make sure the value contrasts are good from the start. What I like to do to test this is to gather any and all fabrics that I like and arrange them vaguely in the placement they might have in the finished piece.

The blue with the linear pattern in the middle is going to be my "river" (at least for now) and I want that to have a strong presence, though not more so than the birds.  The birds are going to be a very dark value so, going by that criteria, the river needs to be a middle value.  The potential fabrics for the birds are folded together at the very bottom of the picture so I can judge the contrast. With those two anchors in place, I went looking for foliage, rocks/gravel and skies.  You can see that I chose mostly light values for those and ones with very muted tones as well, almost neutral in color with very pale grayish blues, tans, celery and moss greens.  There will probably be a little more adjusting, but I think I've got a good base to build upon for this project. 

Something that intrigues me....

 While biking alongside a river a few weeks ago, I noticed that lots of tiny swifts were darting back and forth over the water.  There were so many and it was fascinating to see them weave back and forth, dodging each other while staying on the same flight path over the running stream.  It seemed to me that, if you could draw a line of their flight paths, it would mimic the same flowing lines as the water and that's an idea that I've been mulling over ever since in my mind.

My main concern in creating a quilt with this subject was how to make sure that the swifts (or would I make them swallows with their great silhouettes?) would stand out against a busy background of water and foliage?  I finally came up with an answer that I liked while hiking a few days ago and have been playing around with the sketches that you see here.  (Very rough sketches, I might add with lots of notes to myself so I don't forget any details.)

What if I make the background muted tones?  Not pastels, but a lot of monochromatic grays, browns and black and white fabrics?  Then the birds could be done in a strong value and color that would easily contrast and stand out.  I don't want to do detailed birds (I am piecing, after all), but a large quantity of birds that could be broken down into three or four pieces, easy shapes to sew on a small scale.

So you can see here that I've been playing with the basic bird shapes.  One or two I like, others look like bats or UFO's.  The piece definately needs to be a horizontal shape, given the flowing lines of the water and the birds in flight that I want to use. Maybe I'll take some sections of the background and do a little detail in some pockets of color.  But I'm excited about this idea and think it has a lot of possibilities.  Time to start sorting through my fabric stash now that I have a vague idea of the color palette that I want.....

Where to Begin?

After working for so long towards putting my Arboreal Musings exhibition together, I find myself at a loss for inspiration for the next project. 

I have an idea or two I've been mulling around, but nothing that "clicks" yet.  When I'm stumped like this, there are several things I try to do, the first of which is looking through my fabric stash at any forgetten gems that might spark something.  I was lucky enough to have a friend give me all the commercially printed fabric from her stash and had a great time going through two huge bins of fabulous and interesting prints.  Unfortunately, though, nothing spoke to me at this time but I see huge future potential in the pile (pictured here) that's currently on my studio floor.

Another trick I try is looking through art books, any medium or artist that grabs my interest as long as there are lots of beautiful images to gaze at.  Sometimes getting out and hiking, taking a walk or a drive through a beautiful, scenic area will help.  My last resort is to make myself sit down with pen and paper, turn everything off, eliminate every distraction and start doodling every idea that crosses my mind.  Wish me luck!

Opening Night

 Opening night of my first solo museum exhibition was a dream come true for me.  The Longmont Museum did a wonderful job of lighting all my pieces and doing all of the signage.  And there was a lot of signage to do.  You may wonder about the title "Arboreal Musings".....well, the "musings" were different quotations involving trees that I've been collecting for years and that I felt did a perfect job speaking for my pieces.

One of my favorites, and the "title" quote, is pictured here.  Aside from Krishnamurti, there are quotations by Lincoln, Churchill, Mu Dan, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Robert Louis Stevenson, Yeats and Seneca.  And I was often asked, which came first, the quote or the quilt?  The quilt, of course!  Now to figure out my next project and where to go from here.....    

Arboreal Musings

I spent time this week helping to hang my upcoming exhibition, Arboreal Musings, at the Longmont Museum.  While I haven't seen the all of the signage up yet or the final lighting, I am already thrilled with the way my work looks in their beautiful gallery.  The opening reception is on Friday, August 3 from 7-9:00pm and the exhibition will run until September 23.  I will also have a presentation and gallery walk on Thursday, August 16 from 7-8:30pm for those interested.  If you're in the area, please stop by!