Four-in-Art Quilts: May 2016

Tuesday, May 3, 2016

Rhapsody in Blue

I loved thinking about this theme. My quilt was inspired by Gershwin's piece, Rhapsody in Blue which always makes me think of a vast city at night. Gershwin improvised some of the first performance of the piece so it seemed right to make an improvised quilt while aiming for the illusion of a cityscape of tall buildings lit up in the dark. I used shot cottons, all of which have a blue warp thread, and some gold silk. As the piece progressed it seemed to need a frame too. I originally wanted to include a swirl of flying geese in diminishing sizes to represent the glissando on the clarinet at the start of the piece but I was too cowardly and now I wish I hadn't been, though I'm not sure how I would have fitted it in!

You can see more on my blog here.

Sunday, May 1, 2016

Colour: Music

This quarter's theme was Colour: Music, an easy theme I thought... I had an idea right away but in the end I really struggled to bring it to life.

As soon as the theme was revealed, I thought of a quote I had heard years ago, about how the colour purple might be described to a blind person as the deep notes of a trumpet. I searched for the quote and couldn't find it, but the image was quite visual to me, with purple sound waves emanating from a trumpet in profile.

The light is poor today and I haven't been able to get a photo which accurately reflects the colour of the purple trumpet and sound waves. I'll try to replace it on a better day.

I have issues with this one, and if you're interested you can read more here, but suffice to say that this is such a good stretching exercise for me and sometimes it just doesn't quite come off!

Color & Music: A Violin Study

Color & Music: A Violin Study

A White Light is made of all the colors, and this quilt is that white light, split by a prism into the colors. The violin is a major instrument played among 3/5 of my children.

A perfectly fanciful musical backing to my Color and Music quilt.

More pictures and details can be found at my personal blog: http://rachel-thelifeofriley.blogspot.com/

Accordion in Blue

When I was 7 or 8 years old, my mom decided I should learn to play the accordion, influenced no doubt by Myron Floren of The Lawrence Welk Show. I would have preferred braces or even the piano, but clearly an accordion was more portable. For this Four-in-Art reveal, color: music, I knew it was time to revisit this experience. And since I "hear" music, all kinds, in blue, the was especially fun.

The only picture I have of me with the instrument is of my first recital and it's a black and white, yet I remember the scene in color and with all the sights and smells of that Spring evening. For this reveal I copied the b/w photo onto PFD fabric and then began the tedious task of adding the colors I remember - my dress, the corsage, those flower baskets. I used various pens, pencils and crayons, heat setting when done. When copying, I did a black to white conversion, hoping to get just this perfect line impression.

When it came time to quilt, I added a bit of depth with line quilting the floor and a portion of the accordion. For some movement I added flying geese made with Liberty London prints which worked well with the Allison Glass blue background.

And as luck would have it I happen to have a resident accordion - no, not mine from childhood, rather one shipped to me from a friend in Washington state (had belonged to her grandmother and she just needed more room in her closet for shoes! - how could I resist?!).

My feature song for this recital was "How Much is That Doggie in the Window" so on the back I included a cameo of a doggie as well as the label with musical notes.

My life as an accordion player lasted for about 4 years and in later life I realized what a wonderful experience it really was! I played at local festivals, was the lunch time entertainment at my elementary school one Christmas and credit that exposure with an attitude of "I can do just about anything". When conversations drag, I have been known to pull out the " accordion card" and it picks up immediately!

Good Friday • May 2016

Good Friday

made and quilted by Elizabeth Eastmond

of OPQuilt.com, May 2016

The idea for this quilt came to me while inside La Sagrada Familia, a basilica in Barcelona, Spain on a recent trip. The color and music and atmosphere of that place were awe-inspiring in the best sense of the term and I knew I wanted to try and create something to remind me of that, as well as filling the requirements of this month's challenge: Music (and with the yearly challenge of Color, as well).

For more of the story, please visit my blog, OccasionalPiece-Quilt, or OPQuilt.com for short.