This week I decided to make my block about repetitive shapes. I have some canvas fabric on which I painted with acrylic paints the shape of a cross, overlapping that shape in various colors and sizes. I then stitched in various sizes of crosses over the painted piece. Finally I painted within the stitched lines of a large cross to create a more dominant shape.
http://www.christinepredd.com/
Yesterday I got out my Geese in Flight quilt I made in 2005 that has been sitting in my cedar chest. It's really never been used except for an occasional taking out, looking at it, and then refolding it and putting it back. I have several quilts that I've made stored in my cedar chest. as well as other bed quilts that are used on a regular basis. I decided to leave this one out for a while laying on my bed. That's the quilt you see in the photo, made in red, blues, and pinks.
It is 72 by 55 inches, and I even hand quilted it back in 2005! It's my husband's favorite of all my quilts.
I've been itching to start a new long-term project so I decided it could be time to make another quilt like this one. Today I purchased the fabrics for this quilt which is in the other photo. I'm doing this one in shades of purple, blue, and teal and green with a hint of yellow. I'm thinking that I might add a few orange geese here and there also. I work best when I have some type of plan when I make a quilt, so I decided that I will give myself 6 months to piece this quilt top. The first quilt has 672 pieced geese in flight sections, each of which is 1.5 by 3 inches in the finished quilt.
And I hope to make this quilt larger. Once the quilt top is pieced I will have the winter to quilt it either by hand or machine. Time to wash the fabrics before I start cutting!
http://www.christinepredd.com/
My block this week began when I decided to use line to create a simple image. I also wanted to create a little depth perspective in the block which was a challenge to do with such a small space. I started with a piece of background fabric which I had painted some time ago. The sailboat lines were fused. I stitched the background to give the semblance of water. The lines were originally white but they were such a sharp contrast that I toned down the color to fit in better with all the previously made blocks. I finished up by adding white highlights to the water.
http://www.christinepredd.com/
In the summer of 2010 I was able to visit the Oklahoma City Memorial, the site of a terror incident
on April 19, 1995. When I came home I decided to make a quilt about this memorial. My quilt shows certain parts of the memorial including the Survivor Tree which is depicted against the orange flame like background. Although this tree was damaged by the explosion, it managed to survive due to the care of people involved with the memorial. I wanted to depict the charred tree with new growth of green branches coming forward after the explosion. I also chose to show on my quilt the Field of Empty chairs in honor of the 168 victims of this act of terror. Some chairs are smaller for the memory of the 19 children who perished. I decided to add a ghostlike figure of a person in one of the chairs to remind myself that each chair represented an actual person.
Besides the outdoor aspects of the memorial there is also an indoor museum which you can tour and read much more and see many more exhibits about this terrorism event. There is a lot to talk about from that museum but some of the things I remember the most are exhibits of shoes, purses, and keys found in the wreckage. I decided to post about this now since April is the month of the anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing and also since we have just experienced another terrorist attack. Some of my favorite quilts to look at again and again are those that are reminders of events or places I have been. If you ever have the opportunity to visit this memorial exhibit in Oklahoma City I would highly recommend it. My quilt measures 24" x 24".
