Thursday, January 15, 2015

Nedra's Modern - Gray is the New Black



I chose to use the "Modern Quilt Movement" as my inspiration for this theme.  When the movement began and quilts in that genre began appearing, I was particularly taken with those that had gray backgrounds with lime green, yellow or orange contrast.  This bright modern look really appealed to me.  I actually began working on a small piece using gray and orange 2 years ago.  

When the theme was announced, I remembered my "modern" UFO but wasn't sure if it really fit the criteria.  I did a little research on modern quilts and found a variety of descriptions.  Thomas Knauer wrote an article in the Oct./Nov. 2014 QNM on How to Design a Modern Quilt which I eagerly read.  He says that all quilt compositions have been done before in some way or another.  Whether repro or modern, they borrow from past traditions.  He instructs one to listen to NPR, read newspapers, watch a documentary, take pictures and pay careful attention to the world around you and make something relevant to what you see or learn. I continued and found another reference that stated that modern quilts have some of these characteristics:

break the rules design and construction
reflect one's own style and personality
asymmetrical
bold and sold colors
use gray as a neutral
simple minimalist design
geometric shapes

My UFO had several of those characteristics (I guess the heart is not a geometric shape but it was not made traditionally).  I liked what I had started, but was never inspired to finish it.  Now I was.

The hearts were cut with a rotary cutter, stitched down and embellished with decorative machine and hand stitching.  The center heart is lightly stuffed.  The background is hand stitched with tapestry yarn in a geometric pattern which contrasts with the heart.  It is wrapped and secured on a 12 X 12 canvas.

14 comments:

  1. Nice composition. On my monitor your background is purple - not grey. Oh well, it adds excitement to my viewing.

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  2. I have to confess, like Carol, that the grey looks purple to me, too! Not that that matters, truly. I love that you were able to use a project that had languished as an UFO, but even more, I love the stitching on this quilt--just beautiful! Too, I like the way the heart is wrapped around the edge--that looks really "modern" to me!

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  3. Yes it does look purple in the photo - it truly is gray. I'm not the best photographer!!

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  4. Hi Nedra, I really love this design. So simple and yet such a lovely interpretation of modern quilts. Your tapestry stitching is beautiful!

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  5. I really like your quilting. I gives your piece a nice texture. The asymmetrical heart works really well.

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  6. Beautiful color and composition! The hand stitching knocks it out of the ballpark.

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  7. Great juxtaposition of theme and your unique quilt. Modern gray and dominant colorful heart. Modern execution with hand quilting=Perfection! Love this quilt--exceptional.

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  8. This quilt is fabulous ! Your fabrics are great.... gray / purple.... who cares :-) Your hand quilting is the perfect touch. And the heart shapes.... Well with my name (Harte) I'm especially fond of this particular shape, and you used them perfectly ! Great job ! ! !

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  9. Your stitching really is a wonderful component of this quilt. I heard Thomas Knauer speak at QuiltConn and he really helped me make sense of the "modern" quilt movement.

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  10. I love this modern quilt. The hand quilting adds so much to the composition and the colorful heart brightens the whole piece.

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  11. I love hearts, and your asymmetrical heart has lots of "personality"! The hand-stitched background adds such a nice texture. What fun that you could re-purpose a favorite UFO.

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  12. Hi Nedra!
    The colors were what appealed to me first - actually like that it shows up as gray/purple! And the design and stitching are fantastic. Love it!

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  13. I love everything about your little quilt and need to just say ditto to what everyone else has said! I especially like the hand stitching.

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  14. So interesting - love the composition and colors! Very modern indeed!

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