Tuesday 1 November 2022

Bustraphedon - Back and Forth

 I am a bit of a word geek, so when I happened across the word "bustraphedon" in a book, I kept thinking what fun it would be to create a quilt with that word as the theme. I had a plan in mind for this theme. My finished quilt is nothing like that plan. In the end, I went with a literal approach, using the early 17th century Greek definition "as an ox turns in plowing". 


I decided to play a bit with flying geese units to create movement indicating the back and forth of the oxen and farmer plowing the field. The farmer and oxen is a freehand sketch using an online silhouette as a guide. I fused the farmer and oxen to the quilt top and straight stitched around the outline to secure it. 

For the quilting, I went with straight lines for the sky, which I think helps with the movement idea. I was a little reluctant to quilt the lines over the farmer and oxen, but it seems to work just fine. 


When quilting the ground, I followed the curves of the improv piecing using a variegated brown thread, which blends in with the lighter brown and is more visible on the dark brown, adding yet more movement for the eye to follow. 


I managed to make the entire quilt with fabrics from my stash. I was a bit puzzled about the color for the farmer and oxen, but I think the gray fabric works okay. 

This challenge theme was more difficult than I anticipated. I'm curious to see what the rest of you have come up with! 

Wendy

11 comments:

  1. I rarely find Wendy that my final piece for a theme bears any relation to my original plan, so you are not alone :) All of the elements of your lovely, little quilt are just perfect for this quarter's theme, you knocked it out of the park!

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    1. Thank you. I enjoy the process of making the challenge quilts; it's always fun to see where it leads!

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  2. I love it! I like the contrast of the geometric flying geese and the gentle curves of the soil, and the way that the subtle silhouette of the farmer and oxen ties them together.

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    1. Thank you. I was not entirely happy with the intensity of the blues in the flying geese, but that was what I had in my stash, so I went with it.

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  3. I think this quilt is wonderful - not only does it illustrate the theme but it does it in such a beautiful and striking way. I think your silhouette farmer and oxen are perfect.

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    1. Thank you, Catherine. I was a bit stressed over that silhouette, but it worked out pretty well.

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  4. Great interpretation, Wendy! I love this!

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    1. From Barbara. I don’t know why I show up as “anonymous” sometimes.

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    2. Thanks! I have no idea on the anonymous thing either. I've been gone all day, so I'm off to read the other posts!

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  5. I love this quilt. I really like the way you've included the ploughing and the sense of direction and the composition is beautiful :)

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  6. Wendy, somehow I missed this post, and I'd actually been waiting for your reveal! I really like your interpretation of the theme. Bustraphedon is a completely new term to me - I have to keep going back and re-reading it! The flying geese in the sky, the farmer and his oxen, and the curved piecing in the field all work together in such a neat way. Great finish!

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