In the Beginning…
What can I say, the cloud formation, backlit by the setting sun, is how I envisioned heaven as a child. Can’t you just see celestial beings going about their activities floating, flying, and skipping through these clouds? It is such a powerful and yet gentle image simultaneously. I won’t be adding the celestial beings to my current piece. I have begun work on it.
When I choose a photograph to interpret I do so by overlaying it with a grid. The image below is the same photograph, but printed on letter size paper. I then add the grid lines with permanent black ink. After that I work just as I read, from upper left corner to the right, then move on to the next line/row starting at the far left. It is easy to get muddled where I am at. So, each time I finish a block, I add a check mark.
I have zero interest in producing a realistic image. Instead, I examine the colors in each gridded section and then make the block in similar hues, values, and proportions. Because the blocks don’t follow the lines of the image the result is unexpected. The process of selecting what to place where is intuitive. Since I don’t know what the finished piece will look like, it is a great motivator to keep working in order to discover what will emerge.
There is a first block, then row
If you compare the top row of the gridded image with the first row I have pieced, it is easy to see how both go from predominately mid value blue hues starting on the left to ending with just a few whites and grays on the right. I purposefully selected a block that would emulate the serpentine curves of the clouds.
Now What?
One of the reasons I prefer working with squares and triangles is because the leftover scraps are few and those are easy to incorporate into other work. Not so with the scraps remaining once I have cut away the arcs for each block. What would you do with these lovely, but awkward shapes?
I am linking up with Nina Marie’s Off the Wall Fridays.
I always enjoy seeing your behind the scenes posts. The colors in this are lovely.
Thank you, Norma. I’ve been curious about how things are made ever since I watched our babysitter transform yarn from a very long string to a doll’s blanket.
They are interesting leftover pieces! I would likely find a way to create a mandala with them.
Why does your response not surprise me. 🙂 Yes, a mandala is an excellent suggestion. Thank you!
I have had this pumpkin seed leftover dilemma myself and I made a quilt appliqueing them in a meandering pattern. They are an odd shape to make use of, for sure!
Ah, pumpkin seed, I was wondering what to call that shape. Excellent suggestion. Appliqué is what I thought of, too. I could certainly create a chain of sorts. I also thought about using them like petals, perhaps overlapped slightly to create flowers.