Start of Day Three

Wow!  I slept too late!  Yesterday was productive.  I sat down to work on the quilt about 9:30 and by 2:00 had it cut out and pinned together, batting, backing and all.   So I took the dog for a walk, turned in some clothes at the consignment store (yeah, and bought a couple new things -  I didn't expect to find anything spectacular, but how could I pass up this silk blouse for $9.99? or the jacket with $129 tag still attached for $12.99?)

Then I decided at 4:00 that I should cook something different than the usual fare.  So I Googled a recipe for White Chicken Chili, and headed off to the store for ingredients.  That turned out yummy but late of course.  So by the time I got back to sewing it was almost 8:00.  I did sew down all the pieces, and started quilting one of the background areas.   I changed the title to "Marriage?"  I really enjoy the process of illustrating an abstract concept with color and fabric.   When I look at abstract art in museums I like to make up stories in my head about what it might mean, usually before looking at the title.

So here's a progress shot -

I worked very improvisationally, with no sketching anything out.  Once I had the central idea of the "river of marriage" in the middle and the two sides approaching it, I was able to just flow with it.   I'm happy with the idea, and sort of happy with the shapes, but it still feels more "cut out" than color field. And the pale blue ties more to the pink/green side and not to the deep purple.  Conceptually it should have been a blend or middle ground. I really kept trying to do the piece without that blue, but it kept insisting on jumping back in.  the gray/purple blobs should have been the river color.  Oh well.  And  I didn't have any ideas how to make the colors blend with each other better.  I wanted them to, but I don't feel this is essential because many of H.F.'s didn't though many others did.  It's a study.  It's an exploration.  It's not a finished work of art.

I think a lot of us are getting hung up on what a C.F. piece "should" be when even the critics don't agree which pieces fit that category.  The fun is in the exploration, so I'm not stressing about it.  I am happy that we had a challenging challenge like this during a week when I actually had some time to play.  UFO's be damned!  :)