Be Inspired by Your Photo
“Be inspired by your photo, not owned by it.”
Sticking to this as our class motto, the ladies in Design Your Own Nature Quilt produced exciting work. This often required working slightly outside their comfort zones, but they were willing to do so, achieving great results.
Donna used a photo of two Trillium. She rearranged them within her composition, and is planning to later crop the right one. This will enhance her design even more! Donna will add further details with thread painting. Click any image for a larger view.
Linda’s poppies are really going to dance! She created interest by using a variety of fabrics for the flowers. Soon, curving stems will complete the image, giving it even more motion.
Pam worked on a woodland pond. She completed the background vegetation and water, and was just beginning to consider the stones around the pond.
Lou started with a great orchid photo. She dramatically darkened the background to create more contrast for the flowers. She also modified the surrounding vegetation quite a bit. Lou’s handling of the two big leaves was brilliant: she cut each half from different fabrics and created the vein effect by simply leaving a gap between the two pieces.
When creating vegetation, it’s easy for all the green fabrics to blur together. Lou’s dark background helps with that. She’ll define things even more with contrasting stitching.
Sharon’s photo of a rock arch was a dramatic starting point. She translated it to fabric very well, achieving a wonderful sense of depth. (Plus, she completely finished the layout in class. ) Sharon will add some shading in the foreground with stitching or art media.
What an exciting and fun class! I love teaching it, both in person and online.
Ellen Lindner
P.S. I often create fabric collages inspired by nature. Here are a few examples, including the inspiration photos. (I always use my own photos, to avoid infringing on the copyright of another photographer.)
