Stitched together

It was time to buckle down and finish sewing this together.  I stared at it for a week to try and find things that bothered me, and decided the time had come.  For me, it always makes a difference in the appearance of a piece to see it actually sewn together rather than all the separate pieces on the design wall. Couldn't decide:  do the deeper colors of the branches work?, does the background work?, is  it a balanced composition?, do I need to add more leaves?, should I do some thread painting on the blooms?,  add a border or not?,  etc, etc,

Reading Elizabeth Barton's blog post on eight steps to overcome quilter's panic recently only added to my indecision.  I printed out her steps and pinned them to my wall.  I have so much more to learn.  She posed some probing questions to ask yourself as you try to critique your work.  These 8 steps are tremendously helpful.  I must admit, while I was creating this piece I thought it was going well.  As I put it together, I asked myself the questions from Elizabeth's 8 steps. ( Dang!  It is really difficult to critique your own work.)   Just when I thought Pinkie jumped through most of the hoops sufficiently, I read Elizabeth's last statement of the post :  Remember not everything works and if you think everything IS working you are probably wrong!


YIKES!   Okay, so nothing is ever perfect. Decisions, decisions.  Now that is together, I will  let Pinkie hang around a bit longer before I do the normal (for me) thing.  Quilt it and hope for the best.  

I highly recommend using Elizabeth's suggestions.  Her blog has a wealth of information and inspiration.  She is a fantastic artist and I have heard great comments on her teaching skills.  I hope to be able to participate in one of her workshops one of these days.  As I said, I still have so much to learn. 

14 comments:

  1. I think it looks wonderful Mary! Once you've got it quilted, it will no doubt be spectacular. Thanks for the link to Elizabeth Barton's blog, she gives some very good advice and great ideas for self critique, something I should do a little more of, instead of just slapping everything together!

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  2. Well, sometimes you are right too. I really love this. I love the colours and how they work together and I think the composition is beautiful. I look forward to seeing it quilted. I love each one of these flower quilts you make, they just get better and better.

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  3. It works beautifully in my eyes!! I love the background gradation from light to dark, and the various shades of pink in the blooms. Really has depth! Again, beautiful!!

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  4. I love it! You make them look easy but it terrifies me to even this of taking one of these projects as a possibility.
    You have an amazing talent! Thanks for the link. I like hearing that not everything works and if I believe it does, I am wrong. It might be the truth in not only quilting but so many things in life!

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  5. I think it looks great! can't wait to see it finished!

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  6. I love Elizabeth's work and read that blog post as well...I think some of that is just part of the process we have to go through. It's looking good and I know it will be wonderful when it's done.

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  7. This is so beautiful to me - just perfect!

    ; )

    I understand that the conversation an artist is having with her art can be a lonely one. Here there must have been a good dialog. ( I am just rambling here, trying to say how much I love your work.)

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  8. I just love it! I think the deeper colored branches are wonderful, they bring your eye around. Can't wait to see how you quilt it!

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  9. To my eye, it's perfect. I love it!

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  10. Looks good to me!
    I really liked the deepening of the greens as the piece comes more into the foreground. The leaves all standout and nothing dominates to the exclusion of anything else. You have placed each piece so beautifully.
    I have no idea how you mange to sew it all together.

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  11. GORGEOUS!!!! It's leaping off my screen! I can't imagine what is not to like here...it glows,radiates,moves... Light and darkness... Beautiful work.

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  12. Ditto what Victoria said.
    Plus sometimes we just have to take the leap and believe it to be correct.

    Happy sewing

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  13. I am so behind reading my blogs! You have been busy.....I love how it feels like the light is coming out of your piece, it feels very real and life like to me!

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  14. Congratulations on your beautiful color choice and incredible advance sewing! Thanks for stopping by my blog and leaving such a nice comment!

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