Finding time to make art and fix #48
Structures #48 In progress
Even though I’m leaving town for a 2 week workshop with Nancy Crow early Sunday morning and my todo list is miles long I’ve been trying to also find time to work in my studio this week.
In the past I’ve put off making art the week before I leave on a trip because I always have a long list of other things that must get done. I feel guilty in some weird way about going about my normal life making art in this situation. Which is just silly, so this time I decided not to do this and on my list of things I must do this week I included "quilt 20 hours".
After I completed Structures #70 and #71, shown in the previous post, next up on my list of things to work on in my studio was to fix the above quilt. I basted it a while back so it is ready to quilt but there was a small part that was really bothering me so let it on the wall to contemplate what to do about it.
To make the pieces fit together I ended up having to add a lot of extra strips to the blocks in the area circled above.
The result was that this area felt boxed in to me. The movement across the surface stopped as a result of all these parallel lines you can see in the above image. This is one of only 2 or 3 places in the quilt I ended up with 3 thin strips like this together but these ended up around 3 sides of just 1 block. I knew I had to fix it.
So I unpinned the upper 1/4 of the quilt top from the batting and backing and ripped out the seams around the offending area. I used the pieces I removed to make a pattern for the shape to be inserted back and then pieced more blocks to fill in the area without the need of spacer strips.
This is what that area now looks like and I’m much happier.
I rebasted the quilt and I’ve selected thread and I’m ready to start quilting. One nice thing about now owning so many sewing machines is that I can have all of my supplies completely packed for the workshop but I’ll be able to work on this quilt until it’s time to leave for the airport.
Posted by Lisa in: Making Abstract Contemporary Textile Art
Diane Clancy said,
April 28, 2007 @ 8:21 pm
Lisa - you are amzing! It didn’t look good before and now it is just right.
I sometimes have to fuss with a piece of a painting that I have gotten messed up with. It just doesn’t feel right until I fix it.
Than it makes me happy!
I know you will have a wonderful workshop - I look forward to hearing about it when you return~
~ Diane Clancy
http://www.dianeclancy.com/blog