There's nothing like discussing one's work with like-minded friends. I am lucky enough to have two groups of such friends and spent part of today with one group. This was a meeting of two other women who are interested in making art quilts. It's another case of shared enthusiasms leading to even more excitement; I always feel rejuvenated after one of these days.
C was working on her white fabric floating flower. It's a lovely piece that has evolved from an experimental scrunched up piece of fabric that was then stitched to hold its shape. Bugle beads were added and surrounding fabric cut off. Now her plan is to "float" the flower on linen which we all concurred would be an excellent idea."seascape" that she had started some time ago and was hoping to get back to. All of her work is done without agonizing over planning which is something I envy and hope to be able to emulate some time.
Another innovative quilter is K has been working on a series of "seascapes" for as long as I have known her and even before that. She is the Queen of Scraps not only because she keeps them and has bags full, but also because she really uses them to great effect. Her pieces are usually on the small side, but today she showed us one in progress that is much larger and has great promise. K is fearless when it comes to trying new materials in different ways.
I learn a lot from these two, and I also get invaluable help from them on my own work. Today I had only that rough sketch I've mentioned with me, but they were able to understand what I hoped to do. They helped me with some questions I had about techniques. Then we talked about "Another Chapter . . .", my Vermeer inspired quilt. I haven't been happy with some of the quilting I did, and they agreed that it should come out. That's what I wound up working on today - picking out the unwanted stitches. Fortunately they also had suggestions about what and how I should requilt the resulting bald spots!
It helps to have someone else take a critical look at one's work.
your art quilters group sounds like a really good group of friends. But then, I know K and have loved her work for a long time. She is fearless !!!!
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