Marseille V- Frioul

I have almost finished with my work. It turned out so well- OK, I know, I’m giving myself compliments !
I only have to add the border and an embroidered label on the back.
I have tried a curved border for this work :
I will have to rectify a bit : some curves are too curvy.
I also have added a detail shot to show the free machine quilting with embroidery thread :

I also tried to stamp and paint a bit, first in my sketchbook : I have to tell that I’m not used to use stamps and that my stamp collection is rather small, very small (I have a cherry-, bird-, rose- and tree stamp)!
I couldn’t try embossing powder on transfer paper because I didn’t find neither nearby.
But head up, be creative ! The result on fabric was – let us say – better that expected :
I used fabric-paint on my stamps and – don’t grin – again the caran d’ache neocolor 2 that I watered.
Lenna, I promise : I will buy some stamps and embossing powder in Houston.

Tonight I will exercise a bit more, I have some dried leaves and I will carve some design in a potato !

“A strong positive mental attitude will create more miracles than any wonder drug”.
Patricia Neal

Write you soon
Nathalie

Border - continued

I made some changes in my border.
I love this version : jagged edges like the cliffs I saw.
I also tried to put tulle – in all sorts of colours - over the landscape but the result wasn’t what it should be. It toned the vibrancy too much.

Now I can start to sew this work. This is making me happy.

Have a new work in my head :
I posted two pictures :
Would love to try this in a mixed media technique : fabric, paper, plastic, paint…
Still don’t know. I will have to make some sketches and see how I can alter and combine those pictures.
DH is coming back tonight from a 4-day business trip in Italy.
Since the meetings were near Venice, he also was invited to visit the city with a guide.
Some have all the luck !

“In the right light, at the right time, everything is extraordinary.”
Aaron Rose

Write you soon
Nathalie

To border or not ?

Not always easy to answer that question.
My first idea was not to add a border but then I said :
Why not ?
and
What if ?
Let give it a try.
I have to say that I layered the border in a hurry and the choice of the fabric is not ideal ; I only wanted to visualise a type of border I had in mind.

If I add this kind of border I will have to change the colour of the border and pay attention to obtain a more jagged edge between the central theme and the border.
I will also have to keep in mind that this quilt will be “uncomfortable” to machine quilt.
It’s not THAT big but with the border it will measure +/- 52 x 36 inch .
In a way I want to add this kind of border because it reflects the abrupt cliffs from the isle of Frioul !

“Winning is important to me, but what brings me real joy is the experience of being fully engaged in whatever I’m doing.”
Phil Jackson

Write you soon
Nathalie

Nature Quilt Marseille V

Working with the “Art Quilt Workbook” written by Jane Dávila and Elin Waterston learned me to like working in series.
The quilt I’m working on, is- already- number 5 in my series about my trip to Marseille.

As some of you know, I’m following a workshop ‘Design you own nature quilt’ conducted by Ellen Lindner.
I really enjoy this workshop, where you have to adapt a picture in a quilt.
I started from a picture I took on the isle of Frioul and made some transformation while sketching.
I like Ellen’s way of conducting workshops because she lets you do you own thing and only advises if you ask for. She’s –for me- more like a coach.

These are on-going pictures :
Here I added some light greenery :
And here some dark green leafs :
This work is really taking shape. The diagonal line of the flowers gives this work some dynamic . It’s coming to life.
I will start to sew the shapes soon. I still want to make the flower heads dimensional : I will make some thread leaf and flower heads.

"Imagination is the key to my lyrics. The rest is painted with a little science fiction".
Jimi Hendrix(1942 - 1970)


Write you soon
Nathalie

A step at the time

Since I have a lot of work in our shop, I do not have as much creative time as I wish. But I’m going a step at the time. I enjoy it when you see a work changing.

I took this picture when I thought I had added enough green.
I find it useful to take on-going pictures because I can see ‘from a distance’on my computer screen.
You can’t see the ‘total picture’ well when you have your nose on it.
This is even more truth when it’s a bigger work.

After I took the picture above, I decided to retrieve some green stems. Maybe I will decide to add them again later, but not on this stage !

Here I started adding my flower heads.
I cut them in a ‘naïve’ way.
Don’t think, DO !
Some more flowers are added. So far, I like the result !
The vivid colour of the flower heads is adding rhythm and balance to my work.
It begins to swing.

I think I will add some yellow/orange flowers near the light green on the bottom right.

“The greatest mistake you can make in life is to be continually fearing you will make one.”
Elbert Hubbard (1856-1915)

Write you soon
Nathalie

Frioul

After sketching and hesitating about the ‘what if ?’ and ‘how ?’ I finally started with the fabric version of ‘Marseille V-Frioul’.
I first tried with different sky fabrics but I wasn’t happy with the result, the sky transition was too abrupt.
For the water fabric I had less problems after deciding adding a blue organza on the surface, I wanted the water to shine a little.
It is not very noticeable on the picture.

Without organza :
with organza :
I retrieved the different sky fabrics and used a fossil fern fabric.
It is a different fabric than the middle fabric of the first pictures.
I didn’t remember I had that one in my stash.


I’m happy with my background and I will continue to build my quilt on it.
I will add the green fabric this evening.

“The advantage of a bad memory is that one enjoys several times the same good things for the first time.”
Friedrich Nietzsche

Write you soon
Nathalie

Marseille V Frioul-Quilt

I went wild with a Frioul-sketch. I went on the hard rock tour with a gothic touch.
I changed the colour of the cliffs into blue and made a gray, anthracite and black heaven.
Just had fun, without intention of making this in fabric.
It could be a 'State of Mind', some friend of my kids found the result 'too cool' or 'f..'
Now, back to a more conventional way of working.
Again a pastel sketch :
And the watered version :
I think that this is it.
I have eye- movement with diagonals
I have focal points – in the fabric version there will be less- my watered colours went on a walk in my sketch.
I made the design abstract – I wanted that.

I quickly picked some fabrics from my stash :
Some greens

Some blues
And the focal colours
I’m almost ready to start.
Still have a question :
What size will I make this work ?

"I can do to him whatever I like. I'm allowed to torture him as much as I want. He's mine. "
J.K. Rowling

Write you soon
Nathalie

New project

Started with Marseille V.
This is a picture I took on the ‘ile de Frioul’ near Marseille.
This picture was also the catalisator for my Marseille-series.

I knew I would do this picture in fibre but I had no idea how I wanted to realize it.
It had to express power and fragility at the same time.
It had to be realistic enough in its abstraction.
Do you still follow ?

Since I’ve already done several workshops with Ellen Lindner and that I had in mind making this art-quilt in collage-form with free-cut shapes, I knew she was the right person to help !

So I started to play :
A very basic sketch :

An off-balance watercolour sketch, just to get a colour idea :
A watercolour sketch with some description :

A paper collage, to get an idea of what it would give in fabric (with a lot of imagination !) :

Changing some of the details to get more swing :
I’m far from ready with this picture. I will alter this design more.
Still playing with more ideas.

I have, for instance, a finishing flower idea : making dimensional flowers with embroidery thread so I obtain a fluffy effect.

"In these matters the only certainty is that nothing is certain".
Pliny the Elder (23AD-79AD)

Write you soon
Nathalie