Ellen Lindner: Art & Creativity

After completing Crotons I had a lot of colorful scraps.  I always just let these fall to the floor, raking them up with my fingers when the project is complete.  But this time, there were some larger pieces and the colors were irresistible!  So, I had to make another Croton quilt!

Click any image for a larger view

Although I seldom use fusible web, I know that many people love it.  So, I decided to use it for this project, and fused the scraps to a sheet of Wonder Under, (above.)

The first thing I needed to figure out was what size Croton leaf I could create with the existing scraps.  When I laid them out, I noticed the energy created by all the oddball and angular shaped pieces.  How exciting!  I decided to leave the scraps almost completely “as is” and I gleefully started arranging things.

Cool, huh?  This was great fun!  A major adrenalin surge.

Next, I added a yellow-green leaf, (with a little more scrap alteration this time.)

But wait.  The new leaf was lighter than the first one, attracting more attention.  And that wasn’t what I wanted.  I considered adding tulle over it to dull down the colors.  That required an experiment to see how well tulle would hold up to the heat needed for the fusible.

That experiment went well and I proceeded with the tulle idea.  One layer each of red and brown.  Here’s the finished quilt, When Crotons Cut Loose.

Back to the tulle decision.  I’m big on color, so it was VERY tempting to let the lower leaf be bright and vibrant.  But, I felt like an attention getting item like that in one corner threw the balance off.  So, I sacrificed color for what I considered an improvement in the overall composition.  Definitely a matter of personal preference.

You can see a detail shot, plus pricing and other information on my website. 

Ellen Lindner
P.S.  You can audition this quilt in your home for two weeks, before commiting to a purchase!