Fabric Needle & Thread
Geography and architecture have always been an inspiration to me: the lines, the textures, the colours! And after spending 21 days on the Rick Steves Europe Tour, there was a lot that could be channeled into art.
I had so many photos. Almost 450 of them! How do you choose the highlights of such a fantastic trip??
I reread the emails I sent home -- the words and pictures that I had thought were important for my family to enjoy while I was traveling and I took my cues from that.
I start with the beginning and the end of the trip ... well, because I can.
Photos are enlarged, templates are made, fabric is cut .... and believe it or not, this is the fun part: the mini-art quilts are put together and stitched.
The Haarlem windmill 16 x 23 cm (6.5 x 9 inches) takes 7 1/2 hours. The Eiffel Tower 22 x 36 cm (8.5 x 14 inches) takes 8 hours.
The 36 photos I started with decreases to 25 and then to 16. I have yet to decide how big the overall art wall quilt will be.
I loved Rothenberg ... can't decide which photo to choose so I pick two: the centre of town where we met the Night Watchman and a break in the town wall.
Both take 8 hours each to complete and are the approximate size of the Haarlem windmill shown above.
Venice, Florence, Rome:
The Santa Maria Novella Basilica takes 9 1/2 hours to complete; the Rome Coliseum done in 5 hours. Gold thread is added to the basilica trying to match its grandeur.
I have found a beautiful piece of background fabric ... it represents the misty, rainy days we had on our trip as well as the rivers, lakes and ocean. Darn, I don't want to cover it all up with postcard size quilts
Perhaps Venice could be an outline instead of a full picture ...
The Cinque Terre is too beautiful ... too many photos to choose from; I close my eyes and point. Manarola wins and another 9 hours to create templates of buildings, cut out fabric, and add the stitched detail. The little black pieces of fabric for the windows shred when I sew them so outlines of the windows are stitched and fabric markers are used to colour them in.
The map of Italy only takes 2 1/2 hours to create the outline and the major autobahns. I try to remember the route Joey, our bus driver, followed.
The ski-chalet building style dominates Switzerland's valleys ... thinking that maybe I can get more pictures added to the Europe Art Quilt, I eliminate the background and keep the building ... and then realize, it doesn't really suit the overall look. This building may need to go on the back as part of the label.
Beaune, France ... I am nearing the end of the trip and all the maps need to be completed and pinned in place. Pictures need to be trimmed and borders need to be added to the pictures and maps.
I left gaps in several areas so additional outlines can be quilted onto the background fabric -- the buildings and canals of Amsterdam, the tulips of the Keukenhof Gardens, a Venice canal, a gondola ride to the top of Schilthorn and the gold dome in Paris. The route we followed is highlighted in brown stitching.
Final size: 92 x 104 cm (36 x 41 inches)
I would like to say I am done ... just over 112 hours to complete BUT ....
there needs to be more than the Venice outline picture ...
Back to the studio ...
Venice, with its unique buildings and carvings, slowly sinking into the sea.
Final size 54 x 76 cm (21 x 30 inches) with its quirky carvings of men's heads in the arch.
I forgot to record the time it took to create this piece from the drawings, templates, fabric selection and sewing as it was one of those things I was so immersed in that I simply didn't noticed the passage of time.
Rothenberg Town Wall
Coliseum, Rome
Santa Maria Novella Basilica, Florence
Windmill in Haarlem
Eiffel Tower, Paris
Rothenberg Town Centre
Manarola, Cinque Terre
Beaune, France
