Easter and yes, Spring . .

This little 12" x 12" quilt I finished a while back. It was intended as an entry for a competition that I decided not to enter. At the time, the stipulation was a limit on the number of fabrics we could use. There are thirteen in my composition. (A baker's dozen) 

Although, that was back in December, I was clearly working on how to portray the emergence of Spring. 

A subject on most people's mind these days, given the long winter that we all have experienced. 

. . . I think that Spring has finally sprung!

Do enjoy your Easter Holiday!

'Signs of Spring'

Well, I finally finished! 

As I have mentioned in previous posts, this quilt turned out to be a challenge for me in many ways.

With each step, I was trying something new. 

And in turn, ended up stopping and restarting in a new direction many times. 

The construction process consisted of :

Ice dying an old bed sheet

re-purposing a costume print from the Goodwill store

use of commercial prints and batik dyed fabrics

rotary tool and scissor cutting

random/irregular piecing 

machine seaming

hand applique

hand printing the quilt surface using acrylic paints 

long arm and sewing machine quilting

multicolor pieced binding construction

new sleeve/hanging technique

Yes, I am aware that I broke all the rules with this one.
I'm waiting for the 'Quilt Police' to comment.

I have to admit, I really enjoyed it all. 

Making decisions as I went along, I learned so much. . . . I'm ready to start again.

Yuck!

Today is March 20 and my calendar is marked as the first day of Spring.

This is a quick photo taken midday, as the already overcast skies darkened, and the icy sleet came rushing down. Soon the garden was solid white.

You can see that the Skimmia are starting to release their first leaves.

I really shouldn't complain about our weather. 

By most standards, the rest of the country is dealing with alot more 'Yuck' than we have here.

I guess it's all relative.

and some more . . .

Yup, still trying . . . 

At this stage of the game, I had the idea that I could cut out templates from freezer paper and quilt around them. Therefore, accurately sizing the quilting in relation to the leaf shapes.

But, nope. I ended up stitching and then taking all of this stitching out too.

 

So, back to deciding just what it is I want to see in the quilting for this piece.

Is change always good?

There's been some stitching . . .

. . . and some un-stitching.

 

At every stage of this project, I have changed direction. 

I work in one area, step back to evaluate what is happening, and promptly decide that

I don't like the results I am getting.

I have spent alot of time on this one. Doing and un-doing. 

Hmmm? I'm wondering just what will become of all this?

Seasonal therapy

A little playtime can be very therapeutic.

Although I haven't posted much lately, I've still been working in the studio a little each day.

Experimenting . . .