Sunday 1 May 2022

No Prompt: Thread Painting Peruvian Sunflowers

No prompt made it almost impossible for me to make a decision about what to do for this reveal. I considered all the art quilts on my to-do list, and I considered techniques I might want to try. Finally, I settled on "thread painting" as a technique. I've only done this once or twice before, and so it was a chance to experiment with it a little more.

Several years ago, I requested permission of a life-long friend to make a quilt from one of her watercolor paintings. Kathy and I first met in junior high school. We had the same last name of "Nelson," but no relation. Kathy was in the girls' glee club. I wasn't in the glee club, but I was their accompanist on piano. Occasionally, I needed a page-turner, and Kathy sat beside me for those pieces. Fast forward a couple of decades, and we found one another again on Facebook, and renewed our friendship.

So Kathy and her husband served a mission in Peru for their church. This is the story she told me about the inspiration for her watercolor painting:

"The streets of Viru [Peru] are nothing but cement, sidewalks, brick buildings, and dirt streets. I had spent the day there with our missionaries and I was really sad that it was so depressing. I asked Heavenly Father if I could see something beautiful. As I turn the corner, growing out of a crack in the sidewalk were these beautiful sunflowers. It brightened my day, and it changed my countenance. I realize that God finds beauty in all things, and all people. And that just because I only saw a dusty town, God saw a beautiful garden. And He let me see the town as he sees the people of Viru, full of life, love and beauty."

Here is Kathy's watercolor painting:


And here is my finished quilt, created with Kathy's permission:


Here are a couple of close-ups of the thread-painting. I wanted to say just a little more about it. When I started with the applique, I had to decide whether to make individual petals or create the flowers from just one piece. I opted to let the thread do most of the work, and created the flowers from one piece of fabric. Then, I stitched in details based on the shape of the individual petals, putting just a little extra thread down as a boundary between them. Here's a close-up of the largest yellow flower.


I stitched around the edges of the fabric to hold it in place, but where the boundary between one petal and the next was created with thread, I stitched back and forth over the same line of stitching four times, and then "painted" the remainder of the petal following its shape. I hope you can see what I'm talking about, and I hope it makes sense. 


Looking closely below, you can see that I've stitched veins in the leaves the same way.


Finally, the sunflower theme allowed me to stand in solidarity with the courageous people of Ukraine, and so I created the quilt back using the colors of the Ukraine flag. It finishes at 19 x 24 inches.


My quilt has been mailed to Kathy as my gift to her for her graciously allowing me to use her painting as the subject matter for this challenge. I hope you like my quilt.

14 comments:

  1. Love the painting and your rendition is just as gorgeous.

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  2. The painting is beautiful and so is your quilt. Great job with the fabric painting.

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  3. It is beautiful! Thread painting is one of those techniques that I have dabbled in, but once I start, I am always so afraid I am going to "ruin" the fabric, that I don't follow through and stitch enough. Your piece encourages me to try again! :)

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    1. I've only done a little bit of this, but it really is so easy. Someone gave me some advice recently, and it keeps ringing in my ears: if you're not happy with it, throw more thread at it. I like that...and, surprisingly, it works!

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  4. I love the look of thread painting but have never tried it. Your quilt is really wonderful and such a lovely gift for your friend too, that it makes me want to have a go but I can also see the huge amount of work that you put in to this so maybe I will just sit and admire yours instead Barbara :)

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    1. Aw...thanks, Fiona. But it's really so much fun. Give it a try on a small piece and see what you think.

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  5. Your thread painting is beautifully done - it's added so much life to your sunflowers. Your friend must have been delighted!

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  6. This is just such a fantastic quilt, Barbara. Your thread painting adds so much definition, and I love that brick fabric you used (perfect!). I'm sure Kathy is delighted with the quilt!

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    1. Barbara here…I can’t seem to comment without appearing as “Anonymous.” I’ve checked my settings, and I can’t figure it out. Anyway…thanks, Wendy. I appreciate your kind comments.

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  7. Gorgeous, I love the threadwork and the idea of gifting the piece inspired by the artwork is so lovely. I'm sure it will be treasured.

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  8. Your friend's painting is lovely and your your thread painting is incredible :)

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