Spots Dots Speckles & Freckles

I've had pedal to the metal this week trying to get this finished in time for the catalog of the MADI Museum. This is a companion piece to Yikes Stripes!

As I mentioned in my last post- all the color choices were by simply good fortune- or perhaps previous good judgement. Every fabric except the black were already in my stash. I simply made a block with every spotted, dotted, speckled or freckled fabric I had.

Because the fabrics were terribly busy when placed next to each other, I used black sashing. To quilt, I picked a point to have everything eminate from. The illusion is created that all the background is behind the spotted blocks. I used metallics and went from a very dark purple to a royal purple to a lavendar to a metallic clear ( greenish) and then a metallic charcoal. It kinda looks like there is an explosion going on behind the scenes.

Here's a detail showing the explosion point.

This is the back. Guess how I painted it! I flung paint off my brush to create spots, dots, speckles and freckles! The grid you see is the varigated thread where I quilted. There currently is no quilting on the spotted, dotted, speckled or freckled fabrics.

I am off to the Best of Missouri Hands Art Smart Conference in Jefferson City this weekend. On the way home I'll be visiting a gallery near Lake of the Ozarks that called me for a possible solo exhibition.

I really like getting calls like that! Bring them on!

Yeehaw! award and new work

Big deal award! Niche Award!

Niche Award! Yep! It happened! I won the award for the Pieced/ Quilted Category! I told you EVERYONE would know! I'm still not real sure what this award gains me other than another national award on my resume'- I am not complaining!!!!! I just know it is a big deal and I got it! This quilt is A Matter of Perspective and that is the quilt that garnered the award. Now on to my next excitement......

This quilt has grabbed me by the short hairs and won't let go. All the fabrics except the solid blacks are "Spots, Dots, Speckles and Freckles"- it's name! There is such energy and the colors are totally by accident. They were the fabrics in my stash that had spots, dots, speckles or freckles. As it turns out the colors are happy, optimistic and so retro! But with the blocks directly against each other there is just TOOO much energy. So I am taming them down JUST a tinch by adding black sashing between the blocks like this....
Aaah. Isn't this better? So far the blocks are connected into rows but they are just pinned to the design wall. I have fairly elaborate plans for both the back and the quilting. The challenge is that I have SOOO much I need to be doing like selecting the 10 images for the MADI Museum catalog, and sending 2 dozen scarves to the Arkansas History Museum and finishing that gorgeous liturgical stole and being interviewed for a magazine article. But this piece is just haunting me and won't let go. So I may miss out on some sleep here for a few days. I really want this to be in the MADI catalog- as a finished piece.

But I haven't quit dancing the happy dance! Quick! Once around the cutting table -Yeehaw!