How do you know what subject to make into a quilt? Someone asked me this question the other day. For me, it has to be a subject that is beautiful. I really love to grow flowers & make them into art quilts.
It helps to start with a photo. Below is my sketchbook that holds a photo I took back in March-2010. I also glued some blue fabric swatches that I thought would work well for a bluebonnet. This year, I finally got around to making the quilt.
Deciding what to edit out of the design might be the most time consuming part of the process. I'm a detail oriented personality & I do love the details of certain things.
Selecting the background is probably the second most time consuming part of the process. Some fabrics are obvious that they will work well & sometimes it's trial & error.
Select fabrics for leaves that won't disappear into the background. You want greens that will stand out from the background & yet will look like they belong with the entire scene. They should get along, like people.
As a placement guide, I use tracing paper which is thin enough to still see the fabric. I have not shown tracing paper in any of these photos.
My bluebonnet design has a lot of small pieces. You can use simple shapes for the flower but the results are not the same. You need all the fabric pieces that will give you the depth & highlights in the flower.
Finally! It's not yet quilted but, it will be soon.....someday.
The size of this bluebonnet is 24" wide x 32" length.
To be continued........
