Four in Art: Illumination (Number 4 in the 'Light' series)

If you've been reading for a while, you'll know that for three years I've been a member of the quilt group 'Four in Art'.  We have been making a quilt every quarter to an annual theme and quarterly sub-theme.

Our annual theme for this year is 'Light', and this quarter's theme, chosen by Janine, is 'Illumination'.

I've absolutely loved this year's theme - so much to think about.  The particular nature of the subthemes this year also made it possible to return to some sources of inspiration and with each quarter I got more and more interested in the qualities of light and in light as a metaphor.  So my thought processes for the final quilt in this series turned towards these again and spun off something like this:

• Illumination as in lighting, light, sources of light
• Illumination as in illuminated manuscripts - where 'illuminated' comes from the Latin for 'lit up' or 'enlightened' and refers to gold or colourful decoration of important and precious texts ...

...which might be a source of

• illumination as a metaphor for intellectual or spiritual enlightenment

...which all sent me on a train of thought back to

•  the beauty and colour of cathedral windows...
• ...as a source of illumination which in turn made me think of motes of coloured light dancing on old stonework (a different quality of light to that in Stained Glass Shadows)
• and back to the idea of colour and gilding in illuminated manuscripts

I wanted to incorporate all these inter-related elements.  So this quilt has all the things!

Patchwork cathedral windows represent the real thing, casting dancing coloured lights on old stonework.

The quilting, a combination of straight line and stippling, reflects rays of light on weathered stone.

But you could also imagine illuminated texts, with gilding and beautiful colours on paper or velum, and these texts are themselves a source of 'illumination'.


The gold represents beams of light (illumination in the physical sense), or gilding, and also contributes towards the idea of illumination in the metaphorical sense.

Illumination
30" x 30"
Oakshott cottons and gold silk
Aurifil 50 and 28wt in two colours
Faced binding

Sadly, this will be our last Four in Art reveal!  Thank you fellow members for being a constant source of inspiration and enthusiasm, many thanks to Rachel, our current chairperson, for organising us, and, most especially, thank you Elizabeth for being the drive behind such a warm, supportive and thoughtful group.

Please check out the other Four-in Arters who also reveal their quilts today;

Betty, Elizabeth, Janine, Nancy, Rachel, Simone or on the group blog.

and stay tuned for The Endeavourers, as Janine, Nancy and I move forward with a new group next year.

Tidying

or not... I'm trying to sort out my fabric collection (never sure whether there's enough of it to qualify as a stash).  Sometimes it has to get worse before it gets better.

It's a good thing I have a friend to keep me company.

The great thing about sorting all this stuff out is that it gives me the opportunity to revisit and gloat over my precious hoard from the Stitch Gathering.

Thanks to all very generous sponsors: Avery Homestore , Frixion pen by Pilot, Frister & Rossman thread box from sewingmachines.co.uk, assorted buttons and thread from buttoncompany.co.uk ,Coats Crafts UK for a collection of goodies including Millward needles, Hexagon Flower Block by webfabrics.net, Liberty Art fabrics, Nairn Oatcakes, Beechwood Quilting, Groves, Robert Kaufman fabrics, Aurifil - and to Ali of Very Berry Fabrics for this lovely scrap pack.

I am a bit of a Liberty hoarder having already been tempted several times by fabric in Ali's store, so I had brought along some of it for Sheila Donnachie's crazy patchwork class at the Gathering.

I love the way that Liberty combines with other fabrics, and this class was good timing as I have been thinking about the relationship between Japanese boro fabrics and English crazy patchwork and have a plan for a little project which combines a bit of British/Japanese inspiration.  Ali had very kindly sent me some fabric earlier in the summer so that I can try out this idea - and since I plucked up courage to throw financial caution to the wind and bought my lovely new sewing machine there's no excuse not to post more about this very soon!

Sunday Stash/Not at Quiltcon

Someone's been a very naughty girl.

Egyptian cottons, bought at the Scottish Quilt Show.  It will take ages to get round to using them, but they had to be had. They were incredibly cheap and the colours are radiant.  I also picked up some more perle cottons from the Avery stand just because.

I heard about this - a Scottish Quilt Retreat!! - from Jo Bearpaw Avery.  It sounds great.

Just like the last show at Ingliston, my M-I-L and I were probably among the youngest people there and the quilts were mainly very traditional - it's not that there's anything bad about that, but it would be nice to see some more modern quilts too, just because a good mix is stimulating.  The skill involved was amazing, and this, My Garden by Louise Bell, stood out for me because the fabric for the flowers, leaves and insects was beautifully fussy cut to create different shades and textures, and I love the dandelions!

My Garden by Louise Bell

My Garden by Louise Bell

This photo (c) Louise Bell, http://www.louisebellquilts.co.uk/, all pics used with permission.

Linking up with Fiona at Finding Fifth

Ship's Wheel

Finally, finally, I have finished my paper-pieced block for the Travellin' Pic Stitch Blog Hop.   It took a while to decide on the design (if you like, you can read a bit of the saga of indecision here) but eventually after trying out a few pics and pallettes I finally settled on a photo I took of the Royal Yacht Britannia:

 picked a pallette:

and drew up a block:

which was somewhat overambitious!  I modified the design a bit and made the middle section an octagon to make it easier to paper piece.   Here's the finished block:

It could be tesselated by adding triangles like this:

I wanted to play a bit with the nautical theme, and make it slightly ambiguous, which is reflected in the (maybe odd) choice of fabric.  It could be a compass or a flower.  I really enjoyed the challenge of selecting a pallette and block inspired by the photo - it took me right out of my comfort zone since my previous experience of EPP was limited to hexies and these are not my usual colours at all.

I've appliqued it onto a piece of linen, quilted it in the ditch and in the centre by machine, and then hand quilted round the edge using stranded embroidery thread.

Things I learned from this:  use a new sharp needle - I know it's not rocket science, but it really does make it much easier to sew, especially if like me you baste your fabric to the paper.  It also makes it a lot easier to slip through the fabric without catching the paper when you come to piecing it together.

I also realised that if you are hand-drawing your design rather than using a drawing tool, you may get some inaccuracies in measurement  - I did, it's a little wonky - but you can make sure that it still fits together properly by numbering the paper pieces and sewing them together in order.

Now it's just waiting to be turned into a table mat, or cushion.

Welcome!

 ...to a new port of call on the Travellin' Pic Stitch Blog Hop, EPP-ing in fantastic locations all over the world, from 1st October to 30th November.

Laura and Katy are off on their travels and while they are away they have asked participants to take a photo in a fantastic place, create a palette using the colours in the photo, and make an English-paper-pieced block.

I'm Catherine, and I'd like to invite you to stop off in Scotland.  Edinburgh is a beautiful city, with beautiful surroundings, so there are plenty of views to draw inspiration from - like this:

Palette using Palette Builder at Playcrafts

or this landmark off my favourite beach just down the coast, which you might recognise from my blog header:

I love these colours and I was all set to go with a plan and some Liberty.  Then I went for a walk by the docks and got distracted.  There was a fantastic light and I think that the port, with its boats and mysterious industrial machinery, is just as beautiful in its own way.

Anyway, I thought that it would be an interesting challenge to use a picture from here, taking this one and turning the wheel into a Rose Star. 

And it was a disaster.  First I had to abandon one of my fabrics. I always check different colour combinations in natural and artificial light but it didn't occur to me that two apparently identical colours might look different. You can't really see it in this picture, but these reds don't match in artificial light.   I also love the yellow in the source photo, but didn't like the effect on the block.  This flustered me and after that I kept sewing bits on upside down. 

In the end, I just wasn't happy with it, so it was Binsville for that one, and I turned to this instead.

(This is the Royal Yacht Britannia, and if you ever want to see the rank system translated into naval accommodation, and to have a nosy at the Queen's bedroom with its surprisingly small bed, it is fascinating and well worth a visit.  I like the contrast between this, and the little harbour patrol tug in the background.)

I decided to do this one by eye - and to leave out the yellow.  I also narrowed down the various blue-greys.

I wanted to do a round block with a nod towards the nautical and industrial, so I've been drawing up trial blocks, but by yesterday I was panicking with bits of paper and fabric all over the floor, and today we're three hours further north and I have to sheepishly own up to not having finished.  I really hope that you at least enjoyed a glimpse of this part of the world - and that you'll come back and see if I've managed.

You can find all the details of the hop here.  Do have a look at what the other participants have been up to, including Fiona @ Celtic Thistle Stitches who was up yesterday, and Amanda @ AmandaMillar who is your host tomorrow.

And even if you're not an official participant you can join in and link your block up on 30 November to have a chance of winning some lovely prizes generously sponsored by Paperpieces.com,  Fabricworm,  Pink Castle Fabrics,  Marmalade Fabrics, the Fat Quarter Shop, WantItNeedItQuilt,  and Aurifil.

Inspiration

This week: pattern, spotted at the museum:

What about you?  What's inspired you this week, whether it's something you've seen while out and about, a craft book you've read, a piece of work by someone else, a fabric, or something else?  Please do link up if you have a post you'd like to share!