A Double Portrait: Spring and Summer

 My quilted portrait started with a watercolor I painted as part of an online workshop in intuitive portrait painting offered by Melanie Rivers:

A quick and easy portrait from a workshop.

Melanie has you use only 3 colors (the perfect example of value doing the work), and I really liked the effect of the pink and yellow face with green hair.

I thought it would be fun to translate into fabric, and used applique, thread sketching, and textile paints to create it.  

As I was stitching the flowing hair, it reminded me of Botticelli's Primavera, and the reverse with its warm color palette reminded me of summer -- which, in Italian, is Estate, which I never knew before!

Uffizi Gallery, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

 

 

Spring/Primavera

For the lines of hair, the heavy metallic thread I was using needed to be put in the bobbin, and worked from the back.  I liked the appearance of that face too, and made sure that side had good hair too.  :)

Summer/Estate

 

A detail of the thread work on the back.

Of course there are things that I would change or do differently if I were to do this again, but I loved working on this.  It was like having a good friend with me in the sewing room.  :)

I really love the fabric line that I used to make the facings around the portrait -- it is called Fresh as a Daisy by Laura Muir, from Moda.  I would love to make another version of this portrait using those fabrics!

If you would like to read more about how I made this piece, you can visit this post at my home blog, TextileRanger.com.

Hank the Tank

So, this one was a tad difficult to get going on. I had so many ideas. I’m not the best at drawing, I have a habit of getting the proportions wrong – most things I draw look a little bit squished. 

Thinking that might not be the best look on a person I thought it might work for one of the dogs if I go with a cartoony look. Nothing says cartoon more than a Basset Hound! So Hank, our old rescue that we had to say goodbye to during the second covid lockdown, popped into my mind.

We have photos and quilt creations of Charly, Wilbur (in sihouette above) and Maggie but none of Hank, aka Hank the Tank. He was the biggest Basset we ever had and a complete and total pet. All he wanted was to be minded. As long as your arm was around him he was ok. A good philosophy for life I think. A hug a day keeps the blues away.

We got him at the age of 10 from a lovely lady who had to move house and couldn’t take him with her. Bassets have a lifespan of 10-12 so we weren’t sure what we were in for but we had him for 3 Christmases’ and we loved him.

He got thinner as he got older and my main mission in life was to make sure he was eating enough so I spoiled him rotten. Towards the end he wasn’t able to jump and couldn’t get up on the couch so we would take turns sitting on the floor with him watching TV. We all missed him so much, but Gordon more than he had missed any of the other Bassets we had had before, which was a surprise. Maggie was very mopey for a few months too and eventually we plucked up the courage to get a puppy so now we have Humphrey who is heading towards being as big as Hank and he’s only a year and a half.

So I wanted to do something with Hank as the main subject for ages and I thought Portrait, could be anyone, pet etc. fit the bill. Great you would think, so why the difficulty getting started?

I couldn’t decide how to make a pet portrait of Hank.

• Go really cartoony with Ticker Tape and make something to go with the Wilbur quilt I made a few years ago?
• Go some bit realistic and make an applique quilt with different shapes and colours applied in layers.
• Try a collage style pictorial quilt - I am very drawn to these at the moment. I did make a collage flower and discovered you need lots of fabrics in various shades for this one! I’m fairly sure this would take ages to do too.

I dithered, I dathered (I’m sure that’s not a word!) and I got nowhere very fast. My friend Suzanne reminded me that I am slow to start a project and can take my time to get going. Deadline looming I settled for what I thought would be the quickest and went Ticker Tape.

I have taught this in a day long workshop and estimated 2-3days to complete Hank. Well, that was waaaay off. My friend Paula says however long you think it will take you to make something, double it. For me and my slow starting ways I am thinking triple it. So, I didn’t get this finished in time. But I like it and I like where it is going (even if the eyes are a bit cray-cray). There will be a finished Hank portrait at some stage in my future!

 

I have learned procrastination is the universe telling you a decision needs to be made, getting started is harder than finishing, never be afraid to rescue an old dog (they all break your heart a little bit no matter how long you have them) and sometimes the deadline isn’t the point, enjoying the process can be just as important.  

 

Looking forward to seeing what everyone else has done with this month’s challenging theme.

POP ART or The Poppy Diptych

 

I was really not looking forward to it as my portraiture skills are around about zero and my sewing mojo was altogether elsewhere. But, coming back to my blog after a time away, I found a host of new icon options to click on so I had to do a little trial and error investigation. To my surprise, I discovered I could alter a photo of our dog, Poppy, with coloured shadows and highlights and that put me in mind of the Marilyn Diptych by Andy Warhol and suchlike. 

You can find out more about how I altered the photo and made this quilt over at Rainbow Hare

I'm very much looking forward to seeing what everyone else has made for this challenge :)

Repeat Offender

West of Scotland  

Repeat Crime Department 

 

Booking and Arrest Report 

 

 

Last Name - Gull

First Initial -    C

Date - 01/02/23   

 

 

Address -                             No Fixed Abode

Occupation                           Scavenger 

Marital Status                       Unknown

Age                                       8 years

Sex                                        Male

Weight                                   1.3Kg

Height                                   63cm

  

Offence 

 

 

Defendant is charged with the theft of an ice-cream from the hand of an individual on the 5th August 2022. Alleged crime occurred on the Largs seafront in full view of several witnesses, who were able to identify Mr C Gull as the perpetrator of the crime. 

 

 The victim had recently purchased a two scoop ice-cream cone from the Nardini Ice-Cream parlour. Victim was about to take his first lick of said ice-cream, when Mr Gull swooped down from his perch on the nearby lamppost and knocked the ice-cream from the victim's hand. Mr Gull then proceeded to consume the ice-cream cone now lying on the Promenade, leaving the two scoops of ice-cream to melt in the sun.

 

 

 

 

Previous reports (see Booking Reports 250421IC, 310522IC, 160722IC) highlight the serial nature of Mr Gull's offenses. Mr Gull has also been reported (Booking Reports 230621CH, 010722CH, 290722CH) for serial thefts of chips from individuals on the Promenade enjoying fish and chips with a sea view.

 

 

 

Arresting Officer     PC Thistle 

Location                    Largs Seafront

Booking Officer       Desk Sergeant CT Stitches

To find out more about the making of the mugshot head on over to Celtic Thistle Stitches