Nearing the Finish Line

This quilt marks a departure for me. I feel I've done about as much as I can, at this time, making non-representational quilts. I wanted to make some quilts that focus on imagery. The challenge in my mind was like this: I know I can draw, but translating drawings into fabric is tricky. I've already had some disappointments in this area, so I asked my sister for her help. Of course, I was put on the spot because I hadn't drawn anything. Duh. So I made some sketches, just off the top of my head, and we decided to work on this one.

This is a thumbnail sketch, and working with it that small allowed me to add all the details I thought I would want. This one was not my first choice, but I trusted my sister's preference for it, so we worked on it first.

I did not get many pictures of the steps that followed, but if you go to Melody's blog, you can find some of the pictures I missed.
Basically, I had to draw the picture again, freehand, in the size I wanted. This was a funny step because I thought I wanted to work in 12 inch square, but when I thought about all those concentric ovals, I decided to go larger.
I made the pattern on the wonderunder release paper that we all have laying around.
Next, I traced the individual patterns for the head, tail, and legs. And then the shell, and the inner space in the shell (it's a different shade of green). I then traced all the ovals for the "decorations." I did this in layers, from the outside to the inside. These patterns were all applied to fused fabric, and cut out.

Here he is, in a mid-point in the process.

And here he is after all the decorations have been applied.
Then I was at one of those design-decision places. What background? Of course, I was interested in contrast, but I wasn't sure I wanted a huge contrast because I wanted the turtle to be the most important thing.

I laid him on light blue and that didn't do it for me. We went through many pastel fabrics, and they all were just too wimpy. I really didn't want to do water colors (blue, green) because the turtle would get lost as his outside colors are the same.

Finally we put him on this beautiful orange and yellow fabric. I was almost ready to leave him like that, but Melody wouldn't let me. Too boring. So, she reminded me of this technique of cutting the background into strips and reversing every other piece. I thought I would try that, but with a wavy line suggesting water. Well, the effect was too subtle. So I went with a light blue fabric in between the cuts. At first, I tried a thin line, but decided the blue should have its own wave. Once I got started, I kept going with this idea. The high contrast worked out really well, and didn't overwhelm the turtle at all, I was relieved to see.

Add some water drops and lily pads (with their own water drops - very important detail!) and the finished product appears below. When dealing with imagery, it is important to me that I don't make "cute." Cute is too easy a goal to achieve, for me. I want to go past cute. I think this quilt succeeded. Because of all the details, and the use of the contrasting colors, this quilt has shown me that I can do imagery without doing cartoons. Of course, the original drawing wasn't cartoony either.

Nearing the Finish Line
January 2008
20 x 27"