WINTER'S SUNFLOWER

Winter's Sunflower

32 1/2" X 16 1/2"

Available here

Winter's Sunflower was a lot of fun to work on.  I loved using this color palette of subtle yet striking color against the white background.  I took the photo myself of this sunflower and then added a Marsh Grass bird to sit on top because his coloring was perfect for this piece.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I did making it. 

THE JOURNEY

 

WINTER SUNFLOWER

 Sunflowers are gorgeous in the summer time.  So vibrant and strong in their stance.  However, winter sunflowers are quiet, dark and bent.  They have lived their lives and are now left to feed wildlife during the cold winter days before the seeds they drop begin anew in spring.  I photographed this one in a field nearby.  It is the subject of "Winter Sunflower".

I sketched it out on tissue paper the size that I wanted it to be.

Construction begins with quilting the background.  Then the stem and the pod are added.

More leaves are added.  It begins to take shape.   More will be coming I hope you will take this journey with me once again.

BEGINNING

 Of course you always begin with your fabric selection.  I chose to keep this sky more neutral but added in some blue just so it reads as a sky.

Once the fabric is selected I cut pieces of it dependent on how much I need to fill the area that is sky and then iron fusible on the back, trim it, tear off the paper on the fusible and stack them to I can cut them in strips all together.

 Now I have a pile of strips to use on my sky.

I add them in one at a time.  Since this landscape will have a hill on the right I make sure to place those strips closer together to make the happen.  I made a good start today.

 Here is my sunflower quilt where I used large chunks for the sky in order to create a stormy windy day.

I also chose to create the field these flowers are near in large furrows of plowed fired.  You can use whatever you feel to convey the message you are attempting to send.

I am happy to start again....spring brings so many new outdoor jobs that it is much more difficult to spend time in the studio until it is all finished and I am close now.   Hope you all follow me on this journey.

Reflection & Sunflower

 I was so fortunate to sell two quilts this week.  The first one titled Reflection will go to a wellness center in New Jersey.  It makes me so happy when one of my pieces goes to a facility where perhaps it will give peace to someone when they gaze upon it.

The second on is going to Minnesota to a private collector who has bought two other pieces from me and said she needed a bit of sunshine to survive this winter!