Tuesday, March 20, 2012

"It Might As Well Be Spring"

"It Might As Well Be Spring"  ©2012   Diane Evans
I learned a new word a few weeks ago while working on the New York Times Sunday crossword puzzle: “grok,” a synonym for “see,” “get,” or “understand.”  I love this word – it sounds like the name of a character from “The Lord of the Rings.”  Say it three times fast; it makes you giggle.
I decided that I would use an altered version of my new favorite word as an acronym – in my little world, G.R.O.C. now stands for Get Rid Of Clutter.  You could let the “c” stand for “chaos” or “calories” or “cellulite” – whatever your heart desires on any particular day (actually, my heart desires getting rid of all three of those things, but that’s another post entirely).
Notice that my desire to GROC meshes nicely with my goal of changing my “To Do” list into a “Ta Da!” list, since I will undoubtedly be “GROC-ing” as I finish up my languishing projects.
The design was traced onto fabric from an original sketch I had done many moons ago; the piece was then outline-quilted with black rayon thread and stippled with green rayon thread.
I gathered together my Derwent watercolor pencils and Plaid Folk Art Textile Medium.
The medium was painted onto one section at a time; pencil was added while the fabric was still wet.  I learned to apply the color heavily to the edges of the motif first and then to fill in the design with a light touch to achieve a shaded look (my inner child was unleashed at this point -- gosh, how I love to color things . . .).
After completing the coloring . . .
. . . I fused the composition to Timtex and backing fabric, zigzagged the edges with more rayon thread . . .
. . . and inserted it into a mat, suitable for framing.  (This piece is now available in my Etsy shop; click here for more details.)
And, in keeping with the spirit of GROC-ing, I’ve added a few more books to my page of “Books For Sale.”  Click on this link and see if you can find a great bargain for yourself – or for someone else who doesn’t currently have the need to GROC . . .
Diane

16 comments:

imquilternity said...

Oooooh...it's lovely! And it sure looks like fun coloring inside the lines. I love the colors you used.

Diane Wright said...

I love your quilting...envy is probably the better word.

And, I couldn't believe it but you are selling many of the SAME books on your etsy site that I have just stacked in my "sell" list when I, too, attacked my studio's clutter. I'm happy to see you have several sales pending. I should talk to you about etsy someday.

Karen @ Pieces of Contentment said...

Looks amazing and like heaps of fun too. Great finished effect.

Rhonda Halushka said...

GROK is from Robert Heinlein's amazing book, "Stranger in a Strange Land". And that is a very beautiful welcome to spring piece!

Lisa said...

Beautiful! I saw a tutorial somewhere on the internet using this technique and it is in my brain to try some time! I Got Rid Of Cobwebs today but I could have opted for Children LOL!

Quilt Rat said...

Too funny.....my husband and I use the phase
"can you grok it?" All the time. :-)

I absolutely LOVE this piece.....you inner child is a fabulous artist!!!!!

Anonymous said...

This is great. How do you manage such perfect quilting?

I love the new word. My dentist gave me her word-a-day calendar, and I haven't seen "grok" yet. I like your respelling of the pronunciation. I hope to do a lot of GROCing this year. I will "kvell" over every accomplishment.

Bee said...

Beautiful quilt!! Thank you for sharing your process. It looks like so much fun and the finished project is lovely! Also, thanks for a new word! I'll have to see how many times I can use it tomorrow. LOL Great acronym.

The Dotty One said...

Haha - GROC - I'm going to remeber that!

This piece is great. And thanks for showing us the process too - I've never seen watercolours used like that before...very interesting and I love the effect.

Hope things are getting spring like where you are!

Victoria said...

Grok... love it! (I can hear myself now talking to my daughter... "Do you grok that you have to clean your room?" And her wearily replying, "Yes, I grok it, mom, I grok it.") Ha!

Your design is wonderful, and what a great technique for coloring fabric! Thanks for sharing, Diane!

Nana said...

Wow, I just found your blog and how I love it!!!!!

Nana

MulticoloredPieces said...

Hi, Diane. I liked your GROC word/idea--it has a good sound. Lovely piece, too. Very pretty colors.
best, nadia

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