Better Planning This Time

Fresh on the heals of my recent “rough draft,” I used my lessons learned and jumped right into the next piece.

I wanted to use some of my hand dyed fabrics with larger scaled prints. This is fairly new to me and I often find it challenging. A good reason to do it! I pulled out the fabrics (I was willing to cut up) and studied them.

I could see that the four pieces on the left could play together nicely (I hoped,) so I let them dictate the color scheme.

My sketchbook offered lots of composition ideas so I picked a favorite. This time I was smart enough to color in the values of the design. A huge help!

I drew it onto the muslin base, 36 x 24.

However, I could see this was not large enough for the fabrics I intended to use. If I cut them up enough to work at this size their designs would be disrupted too much. So, I got a new piece of muslin and scaled everything up to 45 x 30.

First, I auditioned fabrics and colors, incorporating several of my large-scaled pieces.

Some experimenting was called for.  During the audition phase fabrics were folded and put loosely into place.

 I was loving these colors!

Soon, I began to cut and place fabrics, pinning them to the muslin base on the design wall. I was happy! (And having fun!)

It sure is easier when I have a plan!

Stay tuned to see where I take this.

Ellen Lindner