Another Prairie Flower Study

This one began as the first prairie flower study.
I had gone online to research photos and information. The foreground flowers were constructed with bits and pieces based on my findings. I kept them loose and impressionistic, but still recognizable. At this point I was most excited and pleased about this project.
I added more bits and pieces for the impression of flowers in the background along with some wool roving plus bits of yarn and thread. After layering on the tulle I quilted the foreground flowers. To my dismay they lost their "punch". So I made an additional strip of larger flowers and machine quilted it. Then I positioned the new strip of flowers over the bottom of the quilt and made a wavy cut through both layers. The edges of the strip and quilt were butted together and connected with two rows of zig-zag stitching. Additional quilting lines of grasses secured the seam.
At this point, it had become a lot of work and I wasn't feeling too happy with it. That's when I decided to make a small study in the style of my lake pieces. Now, that was FUN and I very much liked the result. So, I made another one. Both are featured here.

Back to work on the larger study. I finished the machine quilting. It looked static and I was thinking about starting over. However, there was a deadline. These studies had to be in the mail for a client presentation and there was no time to begin anew. Just before I fell asleep that night, it occurred to me to cut it up and rearrange the pieces. The next morning I printed several copies of the above picture. Each was cut into 5 vertical strips. I played with varying arrangements and settled on this one.

Prairies Flowers I - 28"x 29"

Yeah, it worked! Fracturing the picture improved the dynamics greatly. I'm pleased with the flow of the foreground flowers ... they seem to be swaying in a gentle breeze. A wide zig-zag stitch holds the panels together. A hand-dyed flat rayon yarn is couched over the seam.

On the back the seams and outside edges are concealed and at the same time secured with flat tubes of fabric. The shaped top and bottom have interfacing and are lined with the backing fabric.

A flat metal bar was cut to size and sewn into the sleeve. I adhered Duck tape to the cut ends so as not to damage the quilt.
Before attaching the sleeve I marked the appropriate corresponding holes for hanging. A buttonhole stitch attaches a metal ring around the hole cut in the fabric sleeve.

My solution to the problems in this piece has led to the proposed configuration of a very large wall piece. I could construct it in banner style pieces of up to 12 inches wide. Whereas, a one-piece construction style would limit what I can physically handle. A large piece could even have each panel finished separately and hung individually side-by-side. Then there would actually be a slight swaying movement to the flowers ... and grasses ... and clouds.

WOO HOO!!! The clients were pleased and there will be a commission. They even purchased the three studies.