Keeping an Eye on the Garden

June 2008
13 1/4 x 18

$250
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I usually plan my quilts very meticulously — but this piece came out of play time. I started it last summer out of my desire to reconnect with my artistic side — something that tends to get lost in the summer schedule. I had a collection of fused fabrics that I cut on the bias and curved as I ironed them to make the stems — a neat technique from Laura Wasilowski. Then I added the three flowers, the leaves, and the whimsical bubbles.

I had just read The Golden Compass in which the children in the book use a special knife to cut holes into other dimensions (which is all about quantum physics — but I digress). I had this piece of photo transfer with the eye and thought it would be almost like a Rene Magritte statement to hang it in the sky. My original thought was for it to be square — but then it had to become a flower — and as the focal point of the piece, it had to be showy.

This quilt sat around for a while before I quilted it. The black background was nice to set off the colors in the piece, but the quilting had to jazz up the background. I knew exactly what to do when I found this wonderful variegated thread with purple, orange, and magenta. The sequins, beads, crystals, and charms followed.

Fiber Art Fusion: Transformation, The Art Place, Marietta, GA, July/August 2008