For all of us who survived Thanksgiving, Black Friday, and Cyber Monday, I hereby offer you Totally Free Tuesday! Well, at least a free offer from me in the form of a Christmas tree skirt article. Click on the image below to download a piece I wrote for Quilting Arts GIFTS.
Are you crafting holiday gifts for loved ones this year? I am, but since a number of family members allegedly read this blog, I can’t share with you what I’m slaving on after hours (and into the wee hours of the morning), otherwise I’d ruin the surprise.
I can tell you while partaking in a Thanksgiving Day repast and scheming holiday gifts this past weekend, I was also able to carve out a couple hours Sunday afternoon to work on my very own Rock On! Art Quilt. Since I am technically ineligible to participate in this Quilting Arts Reader Challenge, I am taking this blog opportunity to share what I would do if I could play along.
My Rock On! Inspiration
While many of my adolescent comrades in the early ‘80s were listening to U2, Def Leppard, The Scorpions, Howard Jones (and yes, I did, too), my band of choice was most definitely Dire Straits. Like many, Mark Knopfler is a favorite musical artists/guitarist of mine and “Telegraph Road” is––in my humble opinion––pure genius (and a bit apropos given the current economic climate).
My stitched tribute doesn't quite feel compelling enough to me, but as I enjoy watching the creative thought process of others, I’d like to share mine as well, and get your feedback for when I embark on an improved version (feel free to leave a comment in the comments area).
First, I wanted something with a dramatic sky so I digitally altered a photograph I had taken of a sunset and printed it on muslin. I then printed the body of a Fender Stratocaster on a chiffon fabric to place on top.
Problem was, the end result was a little too dark for my taste:
So I tried a lighter version, using a pink organza for the guitar, then also transferred a royalty-free image of a telephone pole to ExtravOrganza to fuse on top.
I thread-sketched the birds, wires, and pole with black thread:
And decided to add some birds flying away in the distance, so I created some freezer paper stencils that I would later thread-sketch:
I auditioned a few of the song lyrics, but decided against it:
So I opted to simply free-motion quilt the guitar...
And when finished, I added some beading for detail.
I think I have a decent prototype for a better, more dramatic version where I'll put something a bit more graphically compelling in the background. (In the meantime, I'll put this in my sketchbook for safe keeping.)
I should mention to personalize the backing fabric, I screened some guitars, of course:
I hope to make a few of these small Rock On! art quilts to complement Robbi Joy Eklow's "Groovy Guitars" quilt that adorns our den:
More Rock On! Art Quilts are arriving daily and I think this will be one of our strongest challenges to date. I hope you'll participate.
An author/artist interview plus more freebies will be given away a bit later, so stay tuned!