It's that time of year again

Why is it that this is the time of year I have to make a new nude. For some reason it just has to come out now and can't wait any longer. This time I have two that are nagging me so this is just the first I hope. This piece has been building slowly for a while. I had the image I wanted to use, I love the shapes in this, but I couldn't quite see how to get the focus where I wanted it. I've played with a lot of different crops and light effects, and this is what I have ended up with.

The colour of this one also caused me some problems, I knew what it felt like to me but somehow none of the colours was conveying that. This group came about when I was looking for something else, but had the life and zing I wanted so finally I was able to get this one into fabric. The quilting will probably have to wait a few days so I can have a go at the other design I have ready to go. I don't want to wait too long though as I have changed how I have assembled this one, and it is only held with temporary products. Once I have quilted it it won't need anything and I am hoping that this method will give me a softer finish. Alternatively it will all fall apart before I get is finished and be a complete nightmare.

My final dilemma is the title of this piece. I thought it was going to be called Dance, but I think that might be a bit flat. Flamenco has been suggested as an alternative, which seems pretty good, but the quilt is refusing to tell me which it prefers. There is a poll to the right if you would like to tell me what it says to you.

Nude with rope

The professional photographs arrived on Saturday. I am thrilled with them and I highly recommend getting your quilts professionally photographed. As promised I can now show you some better pictures of 'Nude with rope'. Please do click on the pictures to see the full size image, I have scaled them down a little, but there are still a good size.

It was interesting watching the photographer set up the quilt for photographing. It makes a huge difference as you make quite small changes to the lighting. The proof is in the images though. They are so much better than any I managed of this quilt. He has even managed to pick up the background quilting.

Hopefully with these pictures you can see it isn't painted, but is made up of several shades of blue fabric. They are lightly fused into place then quilted to secure. I find that bodies normally show me how to quilt them. The only exception to this is faces. I find them very hard to see quilted, and in general I prefer them before I quilt them. This one was a pleasant surprise. Something about the way the light is hitting her face made it clear to me how I needed to quilt it, and when done I still liked it. For me that was a very big deal.

Now I have these very good pictures I can start looking into getting large prints made of some of my work. I love postcards but I would like to be able to offer something with a higher level of detail. I would love to have posters of some quilts, but I guess I would be in the minority so instead I will look at getting high quality art prints produced. Of course, I am always interested in hearing what you guys think of the idea. Would you rather have a poster or a print?

Busy and feeling crummy

Well I suppose I can't complain, I didn't get a cold while I was finishing off for the NEC so as timing goes it could have been worse. Still it isn't what I wanted, I will be off to Hever early tomorrow to help hang the quilts and deliver a couple at the same time, so I am really hoping I will feel better by then.

As you can imagine the cold has slowed me up a bit, but I have still been making good use of my time. I have been worried about keeping 'Nude with Rope' rolled up. She is too long for me to roll her from the top down and I am sure rolling side to side is doing no good at all. While I was quilting yesterday I realised the, I missed her being on the wall where I could see her when I worked (she lived there until she was quilted) and that I had a set of stick on brackets I wasn't using. I had tried to stick the brackets to the bedroom walls but they aren't flat enough. A couple of minutes work and she is back in place, and probably a lot better off for it.

I don't think I can claim it is the most elegant hanging system, but the rod to the left is usually hidden behind my blocking board so it isn't too bad. The really nice thing is the brackets are easy to take down again as they are just stuck to the wall with special strips. They aren't cheap but it beats filling the wall with holes. Hmm filling with holes doesn't sound quite right does it but I guess you will know what I mean.

Carrying on the decorative theme I also hung up 'Guide Me'. It is hiding the quilt pile for me. Always an improvement. Although it won't be there long, I have to send it to the Edinburgh show before the end of the week and I guess I will have to find another quilt to take it's place. Still I did take this picture of it which is the best I have managed so far. I guess the lighting in here is good for it, so before it goes I may try and get one of the whole thing. It won't be easy it goes floor to ceiling and I can't get more than four feet back to take the picture, but I have to try.

Lastly here is a picture of the quilt I am currently working on. This picture was taken a day or two ago so things have moved on a bit since then, but given the show is this weekend I think you can wait to see the finished version. The Hever show is a lovely one to take the family to, there are two mazes at the castle and lots of gardens. I haven't looked around the castle itself so I can't comment on that, but I know there was more than enough in the grounds to keep us busy for the day. If you take a camera there are lots of potential quilt inspirations. I have a pattern for a quilt I drew up after last years show but I haven't had time to make it yet. Maybe I should think about it for next year.

When I am working on pictorial quilts I take a lot of photographs of them. I find I can't see the picture after a while and taking a picture makes it clear to me again. This one was taken just after I put her nose in. It didn't look anything like a nose when I first stepped back but I was quite happy with it when I saw it in the photograph. As you can also see I don't work on finishing one are before going to the next. I find I get bored when I try to do that so I often jump around a bit. The only rule I do have is to work from the back forward. I can only do an area if everything behind it is done. Even so there is a lot you can get away with. As you can see the parasol handle is in but I haven't finished her clothes, which are behind it. This piece is called 'Mariko' it is loosely named after the very kind lady who emailed me the entry form so I could actually enter this show.

Decadence

Ta da! Another nude, I bet no one is surprised. I am hoping this one will be seen as a bit more sensual and less sinister than the last one (which I will finish and post detail pictures of). The title of this one probably gives the game away as to what I am hoping people will see. Soft warm opulent, sensual. I don;t think any of my nudes are really intended to be sexy, it's not the point. People, and women in particular are so curvy and full of wonderful shapes, I just have to make them as quilts. I guess it is a common thing with artists, they look to nature for inspiration and this is what I found. Part of the attraction is the satisfaction I get from seeing the shape come together with just one colour and the challenge from trying to quilt it. Women are so smooth that putting quilting lines in that don't detract from their shapes is really tricky, but I love doing it.

The colour is most true in the first image. None of them are perfect, but that is the problem with taking pictures indoors late at night. Even with all the white balance settings I have i still can't get it quite right. Even though I took lots of pictures of this as I worked on it to try and get an idea of a distance view, I have just spotted something I don't like, but it is there now and I have to live with it. I guess that is always the way. Every time I finish I find something I don't like and will do differently next time. I suppose that is good as it means I am learning from each piece, but it is annoying too.

The quilting in the background is quite hard to photograph. It is in dark red thread on the black marbled background. I wanted to soften both the colour and the texture of the background and I am very happy with how that came out. The quilting pattern also felt good to do which fitted the piece perfectly.

I would like feed back on this. Is this one less disturbing? Does it have the feel of decadence I was looking for? Clicking on the pictures will bring up a larger version.

The quilt is about (not trimmed and bound yet) 45" x 35".