Standing Tall

These are delphiniums that I had in my Georgia garden.  They do not like the heat & you have to really nurture these flowers.  They are actually high maintenance.....sort of like Divas of a Garden.  Actually quite worth the trouble because of the beauty that they bring to a garden.  They bring height & almost purple blue color that not many flowers have. 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                     

                                                                                                                                                                                                                      

Sometime before I got to plant these flowers, I made a sketch of delphiniums & the following 26"wide x 23" length wall hanging was born.  This way I could have them to look at during anytime of the year.  I'm planning on making this one into a pattern but, I need to make some of the shapes a little larger so it's easier for handling. 



Below are some closeups of very small butterflies & the quilting.  All inspired by the garden.

Wish I could just magically snap my fingers & create one but, like all other quilting it takes time......



From Tuscany to Texas Hill Country

This photo was taken during the spring when my husband & I traveled to the hill country here in Texas. Since I haven't lived in Texas for years, I was pleasantly surprised to find red poppies blooming in the hill country.



                               


This red poppy quilt was made a few years ago, inspired by a trip to Italy.

Earlier this year I decided that this flower need more depth & highlights & shading.  It was already quilted & if I ruined it by fusing on top of it, I would not be too concerned.  I'd take this as a learning experience & make another poppy quilt if I needed to.  I fused more fabric to it & quilted these pieces down.  It worked out just fine. 

Sometimes you simply have to live with a quilt for a while before you develop of sense of how it should be completed.  This happens thru developing your skills & wanting to challenge yourself to improve your techniques.  It's exciting when this happens.  I recently did a demo for one of my minigroups with a much smaller poppy by demonstrating how to take a drawing......

   and creating a thread painted image.........

This little 5" x 7" image is nothing more than a white muslin fabric, spray starched several times to avoid hooping, & then simply thread painting.  Thread painting is simply filling in the shape with several shades of thread.  It's a lot of fun to do.  This little piece is not quilted & I haven't decided if I will quilt it.  I may just mount on painted canvas.