Sunday, January 24, 2010

help needed - I'm a bit stuck

I have been thinking about this piece for the longest time. I started it the summer before last when we went to Zante. I dyed the fabric and painted on the gantry shapes. I then block printed on a grid. I then bunched the whole up and painted it with copper too look like rust. I have running stitch quilted the grid and done a back stitch round the gantry pieces.
I have seeded in the gaps and will continue this as and when...



My question is this piece is totally without focal point in my opinion and I don't know where to go next. I was thinking of this for Dijanne Cheval's 2 colour quilt challenge. There has been a lot of talk about slow cloth for a while and I have to admit apart from the fact it evolves slowly I don't know if there are any other rules, this has been a truely slow cloth for me :) I thought about adding pieces of scrim or muslin - hand dyed or painted to the grid? Or maybe it needs something else? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated - cause I am totally stuck? Thanks all

5 comments:

Nellie's Needles said...

What is the scale of this piece?

Have you considered cutting it? Right now it's all about squareness even though there are circles. The dynamics of the piece changes greatly when looking at just half of it.

The colors are appealing and the textures are wonderful. There's also the possibility of painting another, or more elements after the stitching is finished. If that were to be done, the paint would sit on the bumpy surface.

Ann Christy said...

What about applying so separate pieces to the surface in the bronze colour to give it another dimension. I love the colours. It is looking really good. By the way a late Christmas present arrrived on Friday - it was your book - I think it is brilliant. You both did a great job - it is inpsiring.

Lainie said...

Hi there - slow cloth doesn't have rules - it's an approach and a philosophy, not a project or a technique. I am not the only one to use the term, but I have been writing about my idea of it for a long time, and you can read about what I think its essential qualities are on my blog. I started the Facebook group, along with wonderful slow-cloth artists Jude Hill and Glennis Dolce, which has generated some of the talk I think you're referring to. If you're interested, please do come and visit -- all are welcome.

Lainie said...

oops, sorry, forgot the blog link. It's http://lainie.typepad.com. On Facebook, the group is called Slow Cloth - just put it in the Facebook search engine. We have a very diverse membership - not just quilters, but dyers, knitters, entrepreneurs, textile designers, collectors, researchers, weavers, spinners, fashion sewers and designers.

Summerset said...

Hmmm. I like the color choices. I agree with you, it needs a focal point. So far, it looks like you have a background and border, but nothing to focus on. You know what would be cool? Something dimensional in copper, like those interlocking cogs found in clocks or machinery made separately and the attached with brads or something so that they could really be spun independently of the background. Alright. Enough of me! Enjoy working on your piece.