Nellie"s Needles

Saturday, March 20, 2010

"The Lake" Quilt Begins

The prep work of tearing old army blankets from World War II that had been at the family cottage "forever" into "batting" for the twenty-five panels was done the other night.
Fabric backings were also torn to size and ironed.  The fabrics were those that had been passed on to me.  The blue one had been two lengths sewn together for a make-shift table covering by somebody.  The stains and faded areas won't ever be seen because the backing for these panels will get sandwiched between the top and yet another piece of fabric that will be stapled into the foundation frame.
Two bags of scraps were dragged out along with containers of raveled threads, trimmings, and yarn ends,
The first two panels were laid out at the same time so that lines, shapes , and colors flow from one to the other.  The panel on the left is already quilted while the one on the right is pinned.  It's since been quilted and I'm about to lay out a third panel for the horizon row yet tonight.


Quite a lot of yarn has come to me from the collection of a friend who was a weaver.  I'm pleased to feature them ... and Elvis who will make an appearance in every panel.  His image is being taken from the chiffon scarf that can be seen at the left in the top of the above photo.
Elvis is quite obvious at this point.  He'll blend in a lot more later on when I get to the point of shading, emphasizing, and obscuring with the oil stick pastels.

  This installation piece will progress a lot more quickly than did "Prairie Performance".  There are three levels of work ... laying out the composition, the first round of quilting which is part of the design, and then the second round of more spare quilting that attaches the panel to the mounting fabric.  The prairie flower panels had seven layers of work.

8 comments:

Vicki W said...

I am so excited that you are taking us along on another of your installation pieces. I really enjoyed watching the last one develop. Does this one already have an intended home?

Unknown said...

how great to use old blankets! I knew I shouldn't have gotten rid of my dad's blanket. I too am excited about the journey you're taking us on. Thanks!

Joyce said...

It's already looking interesting. I love the pile of scraps, threads etc. What a riot of color!

Heather said...

What a brilliant use for those old blankets. It's taking shape already and I'm looking forward to seeing it's progress.

Julie said...

Amazing to see everything laid out ready for your quilt. Thanks for showing us your process and I'll look forward to seeing this develop. I don't think I have enough scraps yet to start my own ;o)

allie aller said...

I too will love watching this manifest! The Lake is my very favorite subject, as you well know...
and you will do it justice!

Barbara Strobel Lardon said...

Oh! Here you go! I love watching this process and there is Elvis to watch for again too! I will be back each posting for this one.

Nellie's Needles said...

Post Script:

This piece ended up taking nearly 6 months to create. Also, there were 4-5 layers of work, rather than just 3, on the lower panels that represent the foreground.