Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Alice's Canyon: Sunrise Over the Urban Canyon



I had many canyon photos of my own, but none seemed just right.  So I turned to the Internet and found many lovely images.  One in particular I was eager to try to render in fabric, a “slot canyon” that was spectacular, but I knew that to use another’s copyrighted image as the basis of my quilt, I needed to ask permission.  Alas, my favorite picture’s photographer didn’t reply to my email! 

But then the phrase “urban canyon” popped into my mind!  Yes!  I sketched several make-believe cityscapes.  When I came up with one I liked, I drew it more carefully using a ruler on 12"x12” graph paper.  This I traced onto freezer paper, and I used those shapes as templates for my quilt.

At first I used fabrics printed with window-like squares for the buildings.  After I laid out the first version of this quit, I asked my husband, “Can you tell what this is supposed to be?”  He studied it, and then said ruefully, “I’m sorry; I really can’t!”

It was a classic case of his not seeing the forest for the trees!  Yes, those “trees”—those colorful buildings with their fanciful “windows”—were ideal, but just not for a quilt this small.  I then applied Wonder Under to solid-look fabrics of black, gray, brown, and blue.  These I cut using my templates and assembled version #2.

I called Bob in again—Eureka!  He knew immediately that what I was picturing was a cityscape, in fact, an “urban canyon.”  I fused all the buildings and the street to some fabric that reminded me of a sunrise.  Then I fused the front to some all-cotton batting.  Appliqué stitches served as the chief method of quilting, both buttonhole and zigzag stitching. I couched several lines of black and brown Perle cotton thread down on three of the buildings, to delineate the fronts and the sides of these structures.  I then added some random machine quilting in the sky.

I finished the edges with a technique I learned at the Sue Benner workshop last fall—multiple zigzag stitches in several different colors.  As Sue does, I left dangling threads at the four corners.  The back is a cityscape print that I’ve treasured since 1999; it depicts Seattle (the part I used); Washington, D.C.; and New York City.  The NYC portion includes the Twin Towers, and thus this fabric is precious to me.


Here's the back showing the skyline of Seattle.

I wanted to show you how the quilt looks when I pull back a bit, to show
the dangling threads at each corner.

10 comments:

  1. Alice this is just lovely!! You conveyed your idea perfectly and the sunrise fabric is just spectacular. Love the backing as well. Sorry you didn't hear from the photographer. I received an immediate response from Gene Burch which amazed and thrilled me!

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  2. Oh Alice, I think we really are kindred spirits! Needless to say I love your interpretation of the theme! Wonder if there will be any more cityscapes? I love the perspective that you chose, you really do get the sense of being in a canyon, even though it is a city.

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  3. What a fun unexpected interpretation of a canyon. It really works! Love the colors and the perspective and the layering. Great job Alice. Don't we all have many canyons in our minds!!!!!

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  4. Love your fabric choices! This turned out so nicely and it will be great to see it in person.

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  5. Really very nice, Alice. And when I am in the big city, I think it is a trip to the heavens...and what colorful ones you present. Perfectly evoked thoughts. Enjoyed your odyssey in the making.

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  6. I like the depth perception you created in such a small space. Your building fabrics seem to shimmer with the reflective quality skyscrapers would. Love the twist on the theme as well.

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  7. I love the originality of your theme, the subtle colors and the sunrise. I remember when I used to drive into downtown St. Louis, I felt as if I was driving between a giant's teeth.

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  8. Alice, this is beautiful. I especially loved the background you used. I had trouble with my sky and when I saw yours, it was a Duh! moment. Love it!

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  9. Hi Alice - Stunning ! I hadn't thought of an Urban Canyon, and you depicted yours perfectly. Your perspective is wonderful, and I loved your narrative about couching thicker threads on to help define the building edges which helped immensely with the perspective. What a great job you did with my challenge word ! Many thanks :-D

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