This is a LOT harder than it looks. I'm pretty good with color and fabrics and the other day I was ready to blow this thing to bits. I also have a really good stash, and it's STILL a huge task. So why am I putting myself through this form of hell (which I am really enjoying, btw, no matter how much I may moan and groan)?
Well, I consider Wanda the Queen of Color in Quilts. I wanted to learn how Wanda does her magic with color so I could improve the magic I do with color in my quilts. So I decided to take Wanda's Colorwash 360 class. Trust me, I am learning. I have set myself up for the grand Mac Daddy of challenges - I'm making a Very Large colorwash (20 x 20 blocks. Usually they have 17 x 17 or some variant thereof. That's 111 fewer little squares of color that I am trying to beat into submission) and I am using regular cotton prints, batiks, and fabrics from the Kaffe Collective and other big prints in my stash. But hey, you know me. If it was easy, it wouldn't teach me anything.
(I uploaded these photos really big, so you can click them and then click them again to see all the different fabrics, etc. But this is fair warning: on my computer monitor at work, this whole thing is totally washed out. (ha ha.. washed out.. get it? Colorwash, washed out, wringer? Very punny!)
However...
WANDA!!! Stop reading right now! Go find something else to do. Go back into your studio and do whatever magic you do down there. The following pictures ARE NOT for your viewing pleasure. If you keep going, you are going to have a heart attack, and WE CAN'T HAVE THAT! So close your computer and go find something else to do. Go bake some cookies or something...
Now shoo!
OK...
Is she gone?
*** that's Five Sigma, you can look it up.
I'm going to bed now.
9 comments:
They do say a busy carpenter always has a bench full of plans, tools, wood and more. If your table and desk was so clean and tidy I would be wondering if you had stopped quilting. Love your colourwash.
Your colorwash is so lovely--it really sparkles out of the center beautifully...
uh my room mostly looks like that, too. Creativity engenders messiness...hugs:))) Julierose
Ha Ha!! So glad I'm not alone, my sewing room looks much like yours. The rest of the house is fairly tidy but the sewing room is another universe :)
I thought I was pretty good with color and value until I took Wanda's class. Then I learned how much I did not know. I wanted to make a bigger colorwash- one of mine was 17 squares by 10 squares, but I did not have enough fabric choices. I think I will try one like yours combining batik and prints and see if I can get it bigger.
The class pushed me further down the pike and I am grateful for that. Love your progress.
Your studio looks like any other studio I have ever seen (but not Wanda's). That's where the magic happens!!! LOL Anyway, I like the dark corners of your quilt - like coming out of the tunnel to the WOW in the middle.
You are on a very puny roll ;-) I am completely fascinated watching your's and other's colorwash quilts evolve. Not only that but I love when Wanda discusses which side it up!
I tried this when it was a "thing" about 20 years ago and it most certainly is harder than it looks. But, like any skill, you can develop it. As for your studio, I think we create differently and highly organized might not be your most creative method. Not that I'd know about that...
With that lead in how could I not read farther???? I may be organized to a degree but I'm also a master in the fine art of piling. I find all kinds of treasures when I go through the piles.
You and Wanda are two of a kind. I'm sure you are both learning lots. Teaching a topic always helps clarify it in my mind and it must work the same way for her. I thought your first version looked great but very iteration you've shown looks even better.
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