Blocking and Finishing Underway

After completing the hand stitching, the next step is to block the quilt.

Blocking consists of pinning quilt to a padded surface with consistent tension across the entire quilt. The pinning removes any torsion that may have been established with the quilting.

I use yellow headed pins to do this and pin it down onto carpet. Once pinned, I thoroughly steam it with a steam iron held just over the surface about 1/2 inch until it is thoroughly moist throughout. Then it will need to dry for 2 days before removing the pins. At this point, the piece will have the low relief sculptural finish that I designed.

The next step is cutting it to size and putting on the bindings.

It gets exciting to be this close to the finish line!

Nancy

Hand Stitching Completed on Commission

Love incorporating details in the leaves. This first photo shows the sky through a hole in the leaf.

I used a variegated thread that had a warm tone to it to outline the area of the leaf eaten out, to move the color of the Kousa berry around the surface of the quilt.



This second photo is of a couple of other leaf holes and show another leaf in the background. A bit of shadow is seen on the leaf below.


I love the little eaten areas on leaves, showing that the leaf has served something well.

This bottom photo is of some subtle stitching to convey the connective lines between the larger leaf veins. On the leaf they are very subtle and can only be seen when holding the leaf up to bright light.

The hand stitches can convey a whole additional level of detail in the work.

Next comes blocking the piece and finishing. It is coming together.


Nancy

Background Quilting of Commission Piece Underway

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

Quilting on Commission Piece Continues

Today I finished quilting the leaves, stems and berry. The quilted berry is shown at right.

Now I begin the background areas. These will be closely quilted to let the motifs stand out. The large areas of the background allows more rhythmical movement than in quilting the motifs. While I like the results of close quilting, I get impatient at this stage to see the final product. But there are many more steps before it is completed.

This quilting is accomplished by hand guiding the fabric sandwich through the sewing machine. It is a bit like drawing with the pencil held stable, and moving the paper under the pencil.

After the hand-guided machine quilting is completed, I will add hand stitching and that brings another element of detail and interest. Here I can play with small bits of color and additional texture that a machine cannot do. I planned some of the hand stitching today as I sat in the dentist chair waiting for procedures to begin.

Nancy

New Commission Underway

CMC- Mercy Hospital commissioned me to create a gift for the doctors' lounge.

Christie Taylor of Hodges Taylor Art Consultancy presented my work and other artists to the hospital. The hospital, where my husband was born, is undergoing renovation. As each area is renovated, new art work from regional artists is selected to grace the area. Some of my favorite artists are represented, including a fabulous fig tree by Micheal Sherrill in the entry area that is large enough to sit under. It is an honor to be creating a piece that will be in such great company.

Several aspects made creating the initial designs easier. One, I was able to see the exact location and environment where the art would be hung. Secondly, I was told which piece of my art work most represented what they wanted.

Working from my photographs of a couple of different species, I created designs and selected possible fabrics for the piece. The hospital selected a design based on the Kousa Dogwood so I am ready to proceed.

This is a photo of the a branch of the Kousa Dogwood from my garden. Next time I will share some information about this tree and why it seemed so appropriate for a health care setting.

Nancy