Thursday, September 15, 2011

Rita's Harmony Quilt - World Harmony

(Before describing the Why and the How of my quilt, I need to explain what you are seeing.  This small quilt is done as a gallery wrap which means it is wrapped around a 12 inch square wooden frame that is ¾ inch thick.  Because of the wrapped and folded corners, I could not eliminate the background the quilt was standing in front of without erasing some of the quilt edges or changing the color of some of the edges of the quilt.  That is why there is a wide black border around the quilt.)


In thinking about the design for Harmony, I thought about the ideal of World Harmony, the harmony of the color wheel, the harmony of black and white, the harmony of opposite shapes (circles and squares) and ended up putting all of those together in one design.  I am sure I completely overthought the whole thing.
Everything is fused applique to the white background.  The continent design on the Earth is done with French knots.  I machine stitched around all the appliques with gold thread. The hearts are small pearl buttons.
I had to smile when I saw already mentioned, "I'd like to teach the world to sing in perfect hormony" as that is my alternate title.  Our local quilt guild, Homespun Quilters' Guild, is having a challenge in February to make a quilt based on a song. My challenge entry is now finished as well!
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8 comments:

  1. AliceSeptember 15, 2011 at 3:29 PM

    Oh, Rita, this is lovely! The amount of work you put into this quilt is immediately apparent. And then reading about it and clicking on the image to enlarge--well, that highlights all the detail and embellishments.
    So funny the way several of us thought of that song! I am so glad, now, that I abandoned MY vision of how to portray the song and moved in another direction.

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  2. Linda HicksSeptember 15, 2011 at 5:31 PM

    Well. Rita, you certainly make the case for gallery wrapping with this piece and of course it is repeated in the wrapping of the world. So many things to look at and enjoy in the details!

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  3. CarolynSeptember 15, 2011 at 10:31 PM

    This is beautiful, Rita! I love the French knots on the globe and the way the "people" seem to be stepping onto the planet. Alice told me you were very, very good, and your quilt proves that she was right!

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  4. JudySeptember 15, 2011 at 10:41 PM

    Wow Rita! You really did a beautiful job! All those french knots, AHHH! I'm guessing that the checkerboard is pieced. I love the black and white making the colors stand out.

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  5. RitaSeptember 16, 2011 at 8:14 AM

    Judy, The checkerboard is also fused applique. That seemed a lot simpler to get everything where I envisioned it.

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  6. Judy HartmanSeptember 17, 2011 at 12:07 AM

    I love your concept, the colors and embellishments!! Beautiful!

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  7. SaraSeptember 17, 2011 at 10:54 AM

    Rita - I LOVE this. The french knots are a fabulous touch. It is great that you could meet 2 challenges at once.

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  8. JaneOctober 23, 2011 at 6:31 PM

    I love the colours & the idea in this quilt. The world in french knots is inspirational & I think the buttons are an exquisite touch. It's amazing how the vintage Coke song came back to so many people!

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