Apr 1, 2009

Urban Sprawl Completed


Trust me ....this quilt ended up square. I hung it on my studio wall with an odd ball hanger and took the photo. When I downloaded it on the computer I see it looks all distorted. I will have to retake it on the floor and shoot from above. Regardless, it is finished. I am happy with it. I did add some tulle clouds in the sky for the look of smog but then ripped them all out after. I did not want the message to be about pollution as much as the sprawl of city, suburbia and big box store encroaching on what is left of our countryside. The trees symbolize bars trying to keep the encroachment at bay. It is raw edged fused appliqued, quilted and designed by me. If you view the closeups you can see some raveling on the trees. I want this in my quilts. I feels it adds texture and a naturalistic feel to the setting. I also like to reinforce the fact that my quilts ARE fiber not paint, not printed, but fiber. I personally like to see what fiber brings to a piece in the texture, raveling, threads, weave, print, dye etc. I hope you all enjoyed this journey with me.
A little more of a detail shot.


The campers tent.


The bridge to a quiet spot.


The farm, still holding on, while subdivisions crowd him out and a road divides him from his own house.

20 comments:

Kay said...

I love this quilt! It's actually a theme I thought of using several years ago and never did. Yours is much better, of course :) Wonderful detail in the city scape, and all though the piece.

Libby Fife said...

Love your attention to detail. It came out so well with your stitching and choice of fabrics being just perfect.

Eva said...

Great work! It has the complexity of cities and the beauty of vanishing rural life in it, but not split up into a nice and an ugly zone (which would say much, but spoil it as an art piece), but overall beauty. Yet, the message is clear.

I think, this is even worse in Europe. My husband and I wanted to find a place in Sachsen (East Germany) to hang up my hammock and sit in the shadow for an hour, but we never found a place which was not fenced in, private, forbidden oder conquered by settlement.

Janice said...

Its wonderful! and beautiful and very well done! I agree about being able to see fibre - that's our medium after all.

Unknown said...

I'm with you about loving the nature of fiber, including raveling threads. Nice art, nice blog!

Nellie's Needles said...

You say it all so very well ... both with your words and with your art piece. I feel as though I'm helplessly standing in that camp observing the creeping invasion of the "sprawl".

I like that you proudly present the characteristics of our medium, fabric and thread, in your work.

Exuberantcolor/Wanda S Hanson said...

This is a spectacular piece with so much detail. I have trouble getting pictures that show the squareness of my quilts too. I guess I need to take the time to pin it on all edges to the design wall first.

Zonnah said...

Your quilt is stunning!

Minka said...

Wonderful! I, too, struggle with photographing my quilts.

Anonymous said...

Wow! This is exquisite. Wonderful work!

Abby and Stephanie said...

The details are just amazing. What a treasure.

Jocelyn said...

Oh my what a wonderful quilt. So much detail. Thanks for sharing.

Quilt Rat said...

Great detail......can feel the textural quality of this, Fabulous!

Cindy's Stitching said...

Amazing detail and just beautiful

dutchcomfort said...

Can’t stop looking at this amazing quilt. There¸’s so much to discover!

Mary-Kay C. said...

Wow! That's a really cool quilt. Very, very interesting. There;s different things to see in all parts of it. Very nice.

hetty said...

Wow! This is stunning!

stitchinpenny said...

What a beautiful tale this quilt tells and very eloquently.

Sequana said...

Growing up on a farm in northern Illinois, I completely understand your motivation. I lived on a farm with a road between some of the buildings and the house.

This is so beautiful. Did I miss you saying whether you quilted it by machine or by hand? The colors and the stitching I can see look perfect.

Barbara Strobel Lardon said...

Thanks to all who enjoyed this quilt
and understood the concept. Barbara

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