Blog hop – Art with Fabric – 2016.10.13

Welcome to my stop on the Art with Fabric Blog Hop!

A couple of months ago, Alida from Tweety Loves Quilting contacted me to see if I would like to participate in the Fall edition of her Art with Fabric blog hop.  Of course, I immediately said yes!

The concept is for each participant to create a quilt or fabric project inspired by a “conventional” (i.e. non-textile) piece of art – such as a painting, a drawing, sculpture, architecture, or even a book, song or poetry.  There are more than 20 participants who will post their artistic fabric creations between October 10 and 16, 2016.  The complete schedule is on Alida’s blog.

 

My inspiration – I love the challenge of interpreting architectural structures with fabric and thread – making them look solid and three-dimensional by using perspective and value.  So for my inspiration, I picked a massive piece of public art located in Westminster Pier Park, in New Westminster BC.  The WOW Westminster is a 140-foot installation, comprising four forty-foot shipping containers precariously cantilevered to form a W-shape.  It was designed by Brazilian artist José Resende and was installed in 2015.

I find the WOW installation to be visually appealing, due to the strong diagonal linear shapes and the interesting contrast with the bridges behind it.  I’m fascinated by the angles and perspective of this piece of art.

I wanted to capture the impressive size of the sculpture, so I took many photos from various angles. These are two of my favorites. In the first one, I like the position of the bridge in the background. But I much prefer the orientation of the W in the second photo.  So I decided to use artistic license and combine the two photos for my design.

img_2192-good-bridge-position-saturated  img_1682-saturated-good-w-position

 

My art quilt – I won’t make you read all the way to the bottom to see the finished quilt – here it is.   (But if you’re interested in how I made my full size pattern and how I constructed the quilt, continue reading.)

terryaske_wow_full_1

And here are a couple of detail images.

terryaske_wow_detail-1  terryaske_wow_detail-2

 

My design process – as noted above, I combined two of my photos to make the design for my art quilt.   On the computer, I edited each photo, using the ‘pencil sketch’ effect to make a line drawing, then created a mirror image.  (I use the mirror image to trace the pattern pieces onto paper-backed fusible web.)   I printed both photos at full size (20 x 20 inches).  Then I cut out the W and positioned it over the other photo.

wow-combining-2-views

 

For an architectural structure to look realistic, it’s important to get the perspective and shading right.   I needed to make sure I had enough value differences  to make the structure look three-dimensional and solid.  So I auditioned a lot of orange and rust-colored fabrics before starting construction.  I love using commercial prints in unexpected ways, so when I found some floral prints in the right colors and values, I used them for the foremost container.  From a distance you only notice the color and value.  As you get closer to the quilt, the prints add visual texture and interest.  I’m especially fond of the dark pink patches in one of the prints.

wow-design-wall

 

My construction process – I constructed and quilted the background and the W separately, then stitched the W to the background at the end of the construction process.  I used eco-felt for batting.

I cut black eco-felt in the shape of the W, then fused the fabrics in place.  I folded the outside seam allowances to the back of the felt and glued them in place.  Then I quilted the corrugated ridges.

cutting-black-felt-to-w-shape fabric-fused-and-glued-to-black-felt fabric-fused-and-glued-to-black-felt-front

 

For the background, I quilted the sky fabric to white eco-felt.  Then I added the trees, river and foreground.  I quilted the background before I added the bridge.  I positioned and fused the bridge components, then straight stitched the edges and the cables.  I used pencil crayons to add details to the bridge towers.  Then the platforms beneath the W were fused and quilted.  And finally the W was attached to the background by stitching through all the layers.

background-quilted terryaske-positioning-the-components

 

The edges are faced.  The finished size is 20 x 20 inches. I haven’t come up with a title yet.  The working title is WOW, but I’m thinking of words like: angles, perspective, diagonal, rust.  I’d love suggestions for a title for this art quilt.

Here’s another photo of the whole quilt.  I love how the colors pop when it has a black background behind it.

terryaske_wow_full_black

 

Thanks for reading all the way through.  I hope you enjoyed learning about my design and construction processes.  Make sure you check out the other participants in the blog hop – the complete schedule is on Alida’s blog.

 

 

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15 Responses to Blog hop – Art with Fabric – 2016.10.13

  1. Sarah says:

    Wow! This is awesome. The detail, color values, perspective. All of it. Very impressive; it was fun reading about your process!

  2. This is just amazing! I love what you have done. The perspective is wonderful and the bridge in the background adds greatly to the piece.

  3. What a powerful piece, Terry! Your ability to capture the perspective of the sculpture is remarkable!

  4. JCinTX says:

    Wow is right! Thank you for sharing your process. I’m so ready to jump out of my “box” to try a new technique. Your post today is just the assist to take that jump!!

  5. Mary W says:

    I am impressed. What a beautiful quilt. You captured it perfectly. Thank you for sharing your design process as well. Great work.

  6. very cool composition and interesting to read your process! very striking!

  7. Wilma Brock says:

    Thank you for your explanation and photos of the whole process, Terry. I think the design and final results are wonderful. Love how you merged and simplified your photos too. What computer program are you using to get line drawing?

    • TerryAske says:

      I’m using Picasa – unfortunately no longer supported or available for download. But I’m sure there are lots of other photo editing applications that do the same thing.

  8. Lena says:

    It’s a striking piece, Terry, and your use of color and value is truly remarkable. I usually struggle with quilts names, but some wordplay on the word “perspective” comes to mind, like “Put it into perspective” or “From my perspective”.

  9. Maria says:

    Amazing art quilt. You have captured it perfectly. I loved reading about your construction
    Process. I like Lena,s suggestion about a title. From my Perspective. Congratulations!.

  10. Wow certainly is an apt title. This piece is so wonderful in many ways. Thank you for showing your process. I really enjoyed reading about it. Your talent is undeniable.

  11. Wow! The perspective in this is right on and accentuated by the quilting lines makes it pop. Bravo! This shows you are a true artist 👏👏👏👏

  12. Yet Another Dimension sprang to mind. Impressive indeed!

  13. That is so amazing….I am totally blown away

  14. You perfectly captured so many elements, from the perspective, to the texture, to the colors, to the lines! I am really fascinated and inspired by your process, so thanks for sharing your talent and for joining the blog hop!!

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