Hills Garden 40 x 40cms
I like to make small collections of my hand printed and dyed fabrics – some are experimental, some offcuts, some just precious pieces. It often takes a quite a long time before the collection becomes a ‘something’! The leaf prints in the quilt above, were done when we lived in Kalgoorlie and I later over dyed the fabric & added more leaves.
As I added other fabrics to the collection, I thought of the colours & patterns of the native plants in our garden – so this quilt gradually evolved.
I entered it into a juried quilt exhibition but was unsuccessful. However, I am quite pleased with the finished quilt. I’m not sure if I should keep trying for quilt exhibitions as I’ve not yet been accepted. It would be really helpful if they could provide some feedback but I know there are a lot of entries which make that too hard. At least I’ll have it for my open studio coming up soon.
I love it. I like using precious bits and pieces too.
Thanks Sandy. It’s satisfying isn’t it.
Working with these types of collected bits and pieces is exceedingly difficult, mostly due to the variety of sizes and shapes to be incorporated into a cohesive piece. I know, as I’ve tried this from time to time, and don’t always feel I’ve been successful. And I still have an idea and some pieces that would work together similarly to your piece here but every time I go to work on it, I can’t seem to make it work – probably need more bits!
I think getting a piece accepted is getting harder too. As you say, so many people clamoring for the limited number of spots available and jurors having to balance the many excellent choices with putting together an exhibit that makes sense (the pieces play well with each other). If you’ve truly never had a piece accepted in a juried show, I’d encourage you to keep trying. I’m sure you’ve heard this before but it is true: the piece rejected for one show may well be accepted in another. It’s such a boost when one does get in. I’ve been fortunate to have a few pieces juried, and have exhibited in quite a few non-juried exhibits, all good and educational experiences. Now I’ve entered a different phase of my life and creative journey where the exhibiting is not that important – my timing feels impeccable what with the shutdowns due to the pandemic! I suspect I’ll come out on the other side eager to show my work publicly again.
Glad you will have a place to show this one off during your open studio. It’s such a pleasing composition and color palette.
Thanks very much for your comments Sheila, I have to admit it’s becoming less important to me – I have been in some juried shows but not with quilts. I probably need to concentrate primarily on quilting to be successful at it – I’m a bit all over the place with my art!
Hope you’re doing OK with all that’s going on in the world.