The hand guided machine quilting of the background really makes the motifs stand out. I begin in the smaller areas that are in the center of the piece. With every change of direction, I have to move the entire quilt. Small areas require a lot of moving in comparison to the number of stitches.
This part of the construction process goes somewhat slowly, but with each finished area, the piece is better revealed as what it will be.
This photo shows one of the challenges that I had with the colors in the piece. There are a lot of overlapping leaves in the design. I needed to make sure that it is clear which leaves are in front and which leaves are further back.
I used several different techniques to convey depth in the artwork. One technique is overlapping the edges of the motifs. Another more subtle but really important technique is the use of warmth and coolness of colors. Greens that are more yellow will seem in front of greens that are more blue. Shadows also help clarify images. Shadows are visible in the stem and in the lower leaf.
Nancy
Posts
