Wall Interrupted
Remember the quilt I started featuring the old medieval wall in York, England? Well, I’ve made good progress on it. Here it is with almost all the components in place.
I was happy with the perspective (and happy to have it done,) but it just didn’t excite me somehow. I realized the inspiration photo had a much more golden glow, due to the setting sun.
So, I decided to change up the colors, making them more yellow. But, what was the best way to do that? I sure wasn’t about to change out the fabrics! How could I best alter them? I experimented with water soluble pastels, oil pastels, colored pencils and watercolor pencils. The winner was oil pastels and I set out to brighten things up.
And these are my early results. In the photo below I’ve just begun to “yellowfy” the wall, starting with the top stones. Can you see the difference? I think this will really bring it to life.
But, do you know how exciting it is to color fabric stones? Not very. Which is why I’ve taken a break. This is still on my design wall and I’ll get back to my coloring soon. But, in the meantime, I’ve been having fun on the little “Notes to a Friend” series. (Watch for more of those.)
Do you ever take a break from your projects? Or do you work straight through?
Ellen Lindner
Ellen, looks like your stones are coming along nicely. I have had several projects that I put aside to work on later. The worst one was a landscape quilt that I started in 2004 and finally finished in 2010. I was not sure i was ever going to finish it. Have a great holiday.
Chris
Now it looks much nicer. The battlements are very clear.
Thanks, ladies. Chris, congratulations on finishing your quilt!
I have a comment on your York Wall. It reminded me of a quilt I did from a photo of Jerusalem, which is renown for its golden stone. I used tea bags to depict the walls. Brew tea, let the bag dry out, carefully take the bag apart, empty out the tea leaves and you are left with a delicate fabric with a beautiful golden to brown hue. The technique was in Quilting Arts magazine several years ago. So if you ever need to portray another stone wall, start with a hot cup of tea!
Ellen of the Sarasota guild and slice quilt of Savannah Flower Wagon.
Ellen (Simon) This sounds very intriguing. I’ve used old tea bags in some paper collages, but never with fabric. And interesting idea.
Here’s a video showing how I used the tea bags: http://www.adventurequilter.com/e-Learning/Videos/directory.html (It’s the first video.)