Sunday, April 10, 2011

"Wind Beneath My Wings"

Alisa Burke’s fabulous Sketchbook Delight class has inspired me to try designing my latest quilt with the help of watercolors.  My usual modus operandi involves scanning a pencil sketch of my design into the computer and then auditioning different color palettes using Photoshop Elements.  This time, I drew the design on heavy paper and used Sakura Koi watercolors and a paintbrush – risky business for me, since I was pretty much committed to my color choices each time the brush hit the paper.
The theme for this art quilt came from our two latest challenges in ARTAA, my fiber art group: “Bugs” and “Kites.”  In a never-ending effort to complete my projects before the deadlines, I decided to combine the two themes into one.
I had already chosen the background fabric, so I did my best to mimic its color gradation with the paints.  White and gold marking pens added the elements that I planned to incorporate with thread.
The cartoon of the design was copied onto acetate, and my trusty overhead projector was used to enlarge the acetate drawing to its full size on newsprint. 
Here’s the quilt in progress; I always grow more excited at this stage, because I love the task of choosing the fabric that will do my bidding. I also know that the machine embroidery portion of the show is coming soon, and I’ll share more photos as I travel through that phase.  As always, thank you all for joining in the creative journey with me.
Diane

14 comments:

Bee said...

This is wonderful!! I love your colorful, vibrant designs! Alisa's sketchbook class seems to have had quite an effect on both of us and I'm sure many others too. It is so interesting to see how other artists work. Thank you for sharing your process!

Lisa ONeill said...

Looks so fun - can't wait to see the finished project!

Calicojoan said...

That's fabulous. I'm glad to see your getting time to get back into your passion. Hope all is improving on the home front! Look forward to seeing your new creations!

Joan said...

Tis looks really lovely Very inbteresting to see what you are doing !

Cathy said...

Gorgeous - I can't wait to see it!

imquilternity said...

Diane...you just never fail to amaze me! I l-o-v-e your design and watching it come to life is thrilling! As usual, your colors are wonderful and the touches of black and white just make it sparkle!!

Diane Wright said...

It's nothing short of fantastic! I'll be watching and marveling. Thanks for sharing!

Anonymous said...

I do believe I will take this online class, too--once my semester is over. I certainly like what you are doing. Beautiful!

Robbie said...

As stunning as usual! Can't wait to see the finished piece!! Just wonderful!

Tangled Stitch said...

Diane, it's just beautiful!

Chris Daly said...

Oh Diane, Another beautiful piece! It is so filled with joy.

Quilt Rat said...

Absolutely Fabulous!!!!
I can only imagine how spectacular it will become once you add your amazing stitching to this one.
Almost makes me feel that there is hope that winter is now nothing more than a memory

Unknown said...

It is absolutely gorgeous! I love the process and the colors that you have chosen!

Victoria said...

You have such talent, Diane! Your illustrations are so beautiful, and the way you can translate them into a quilt is fabulous. I know last time I said you should think about illustrating greeting cards, now on top of that I think you should do a line of fabrics!

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