Sorry it is a bit late but it has been a rather full week. Including one computer giving up the ghost. Of course it is the computer I use to upload my pictures. Not a problem, we managed to get some pictures off the camera. Shame the lighting and focus was so far off. I will take some more pictures once we have the computer sorted but I thought I might as well let you see how far I got, as best I can.
The challenge this month was to make a piece based on the poem about the jabberwocky. It had to be abstract and include texture. Straight away I knew what I wanted to do. I wanted to show the Jabberwock as it might appear to the person it was attacking. The rectangle is what you are really seeing, all the embellishments are supposed to be the details you noticed before it got so close. The base quilt is made of a solid panel quilted to be the belly scales and individual scale shapes lightly quilted to allow them to raise up, it gives a good scale texture but doesn't seem to photograph well. The binding is also made of individual scales which radiate out from the centers of the sides. The claws and teeth are three dimensional embellishments added after quilting. This allowed me to tuck the claws into the scales. The back isn't the neatest I've ever managed, but how much art is judged on it's back?
The tail is very curved, and sticks out a long way from the wall. It is stuffed with wadding I inherited. I would have liked to have been able to have it hang at an angle but when I tried it pulled the quilt out of shape and still hung straight down. I think this is something I will come back to, maybe I can come up with a way to avoid this. Perhaps by using a stretcher frame? The wings are the only part not quite finished. The ribs are stuffed but not fully sewn closed. I will do that and then hand sew the webs between the bones. I am going to use the belly fabric for the rest of the wings. The wings will then be sewn into place over the stitching for the binding, which is how the tail is held on. This method seems to be pretty secure and unobtrusive.
As ever comments would be welcome. I think in a normal week I would have had time to finish this quilt, but it would have been tight. The wings took a silly amount of time because they are so skinny to turn and stuff. Anyone know at what point an abstracted image becomes abstract?
3 comments:
Oh I love this piece! When I came up with the challenge for this month, I had no idea how many different interpretations there would be for it. Each one has been an "Of course!" moment for me, although none of them were my own idea of the poem. I always saw it as sort of whimsical and crayon colored.
You may be able to couch a thin wire to the back or the edge of the tail so it can be moved around to whatever shape (including spiral!) you want. I've had good luck doing that with some of my pieces.
Rhonda
Hi Rohnda,
glad you liked it. Nice to know that it appeals to the person who set the challenge.
Ferret,
I REALLY like the form of your piece & find it very interresting! Hope you find a solution to your dilema, so that it hangs the way you want it to, as I will be watching for the final outcome on the FFFC list.
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