The challenge issued by Anne - current Chair of Bristol Quilters - was to make a quilt (no particular size) that must in some way be weather-related and must also use a piece of the fabric issued at random - I got a piece of red and white spotted fabric.
I like a bit of drama, so a storm seemed appropriate. I also like buildings and perspective and so the idea for my quilt began to ferment in my mind. I wanted some relevant text in the piece and so used the quote "Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass, it's about learning to dance in the rain". I know this has been used over and over, but it is still relevant and I like it.
The plan was to paint the background in murky, rainy colours - very muted. The sky was to be dark and stormy with a flash of light to show up the figures dancing in the rain. I also wanted to put in silhouettes of figures huddled against the weather - again to create a contrast with the (hopefully) exuberant dancing pair.
I like a bit of drama, so a storm seemed appropriate. I also like buildings and perspective and so the idea for my quilt began to ferment in my mind. I wanted some relevant text in the piece and so used the quote "Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass, it's about learning to dance in the rain". I know this has been used over and over, but it is still relevant and I like it.
The plan was to paint the background in murky, rainy colours - very muted. The sky was to be dark and stormy with a flash of light to show up the figures dancing in the rain. I also wanted to put in silhouettes of figures huddled against the weather - again to create a contrast with the (hopefully) exuberant dancing pair.
I started with a rough drawing, marking in the perspective lines.
I wanted a large area of sky so I could emphasise the storm and create a bit of drama.
Next I took a photo of my drawing and, using an upsizing app on the Mac, I scaled it to the size I wanted. (the finished quilt is 20" X 28")
I pinned this onto my design wall and started playing with positioning of the text and various anonymous figures.
Putting something weighty in the bottom of a piece helps with the perspective and anchors the picture.
This doesn't look very impressive but is the beginning of getting the lines and some colour onto the cloth.
Below is the finished quilt.
I played around with some colour to represent reflections in the wet street and made sure I used the red and white spotty fabric. I had thought of using it for umbrellas, but that seemed just too obvious.
I quite like the little bit in the binding to balance the red in the quilt.
Dancing in the Rain.
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