This patch of coneflowers is on one our morning walk routes....and I've been watching it progress. I absolutely love that all the stages of the blooms that are on display....there is something about the spindly way these flowers begin that make them look a little cartoony and whimsical. Christine let me know that the inspiration photo for my "swoop of color" project was done by Ellen Lindner. Christine and I took an online fabric collage class from Ellen several years ago...and I've been following her ever since. She's one of my inspiration artists. http://adventurequilter.com/ You can read about my "Sticky Fingers" class project here: http://joyfulputtering.blogspot.com/search/label/glued%20fabric%20collage It makes perfect sense that this is her work. It's called Florida Native #2 and you can read about it here on Ellen's blog. http://adventurequilter.com/quilt-gallery/around-the-neighborhood-gallery-partial/florida-native-2/ Although I'm practicing the skills from Isobel's class....as I look at Ellen's imagine again I love the simplicity of it. I'll go simple next time....I certainly didn't this time. I prepared my background as directed in Isobel's class. I stitched a "stem" line as a reference and fused down some Kaffe Fassett stripes to give me some guidelines for petal placement. Then I started adding fabric pieces.... ...and decorative machine stitches. I was reminded that contrasting colors are better. The purple stitching stands out...but the green under the yellow petal gets lost. This is why I practice. Time for fibers.... ...and hand stitching. This is where I stopped....and probably not in time. There are things I like....and things I would do differently next time. I will likely do another piece inspired by Ellen's organic leaf shape....but keep it WAY more simple....leave more breathing space and do less stitching and embellishing. But It's all a learning curve....and that's how I roll. Practice, practice, practice. It's time to move on. The day was way too bright to take photos....so the coloring is yellowed and off....and I know I say this all the time...but it does look better in person.
