“Inch by inch, row by row, gonna make this garden grow. ” ~ David Mallet
This week, I started quilting Mother’s Little Helper. You would think, after 30 years of quilting, the latter half of those years enamored with intense free motion quilting motifs, I would learn this is a slow, inch by inch process. NOT! I was certain I could easily whip out 30″ x 30″ worth of quilting during the 20 or so hours I spend in the studio each week. Of course, I can’t. I have never have before. Nevertheless, it is gratifying process.
Analyzing My Work
Before I could even begin quilting I needed a game plan. I do this by analyzing the piece. What are its strengths? What do I want to bring forward vs. send to the back? Did I want to add detail with the quilting? What caught my eye, and brings the message I am aiming to convey, is the psychedelic nature of the piece. My goal is to maintain that impression by further pushing the pill stack forward and allowing the floating sensation to continue.
Committing to a Design
Note in the detail image, how the pill stack becomes more 3D. This is achieved by echo quilting three rows of stitching spaced approximately 1/16 of an inch apart. I moved on to the background quilting, once I completed the echo quilting. I could have done tiny stippling. Instead I have chosen to do echoed tear drops. Why? Since the reason for the piece is to showcase lives lost to opioids, tears make sense.
I am linking up with Nina Marie’s Off the Wall Fridays.
Cute might not be what you are aiming for but it’s really, really cute!!
No, I was thinking cute. It seems a little creepy to me, like octopus tentacles. I do want to convey just how innocuous taking opioids can feel, how tempting, so cute does feel safe. I’ll take it. 🙂
The idea of using tears in the quilting is terrific — and I like the 3-D effect on the stack of pills. Will you do the same for the pill bottle?