Favorite
I have many favorite things. Top on the list at the moment is finishing Ciel de Noyer. Even better than a finish is finishing on time. 🙂 OK, I am fortunate that I get to set my own deadlines. So, that can be a favorite, too.
Ciel de Noyer
When I shared a similar image of the hot air balloon last week, Rebecca Grace asked “Is that subtle painted shading making it appear that the balloon is floating just above the surface?” What a great question. Comments, like this, that help me see how others view my work are a favorite way to help me learn. No, I didn’t paint in the shadow. The Senior Executive Director of Studio Operations (SEDOSC) has been honing his lighting technique for taking photographs of my work. The balloon has 3 layers of batting behind it versus the single layer behind the rest of the work. The shadow comes from the angle of the light.
What I love about quilting is the dimensionality of the work. Simply put, areas with little to no quilting pop, while densely quilted areas recede. Free motion quilting is one of my happy places. It has taken years, decades is more accurate, to develop a system of basting and equipment that allow quilting to be a favorite part of creating a quilt versus something to dread.
The Hidden Side
One of my favorite things to do at quilt shows is be a white glove volunteer, allowing me to peek behind a quilt. Often that is the best place to see and understanding the quilting. Can’t say this holds true for Ciel de Noyer.
What surprises me about the back side is how the balloon and clouds take center stage. One of my favorite ways to create a backing is to piece it from fabric that is unlikely to make it to the front of my work, but still references the front in some way. It could be color or theme or both. When I spied the last bit of sun, moon, planet and rocket ship fabric in my stash I knew it would make a perfect hanging sleeve.
Rainbow Scrap Challenge
It should come as no surprise, since my focus was on finishing Ciel de Noyer, I had little time to focus on my favorite shared activity, the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. I did mange to finish sewing two more columns together. So, now four out of the fifteen columns are seamed to their neighbor.
I’m linking up to the following posts:
