Wednesday 17 May 2017

Art with Fabric Day #3


Day #3

Our theme for this year's Art with Fabric was "Women" -
We were to find an art piece made or composed by a woman and which depicted "women".

I love the Art Deco style and I found the works of Tamara de Lempicka. A woman who 'made it' in a very much man's world of the time.




Her painting "Kizette" is of her daughter which was really very sweet, although somewhat off in proportions..... The cute face of the child has a wierd adult body..........

But apart from all of that - I decided that I would make my version of it with the paper piecing quilting technique - but of course......





This is the design that I made and it measures 20 x 24" (51x62cm)

Im actually a little sorry I didn't make it wider, but that was only once I was just about finished and there was no going back......








After choosing fabrics for the project it was a matter of where to start.....

The skin colour fabrics are sooooooo hard to find and I had to go down the road of "I'll use patterned fabrics - it will be okay"......





I started with the hair and trying to get the curls with highlights and dark areas to look like something.....

The patterned fabrics in the hair went really well and I was happy with how it all turned out.




Then came the face and the skin tones.....

I started with the eyes and then moved on to the cheeks and mouth, but Im still not entirely sold on using patterned fabrics for the face.......













This was the finished top...

My daughter kept on telling me it looked like a young version of myself.....

I suppose with the blonde curly hair and blue eyes it could have been....

But no! that wasn't what I was going for....
I now have a Lempicka of my own.
A strong woman doing it her way in a man's world - kicking butt and taking names!!!
My kind of lady....






And then came the "fun" of doing some FMQ on the top.....
Its genuinely nerve wracking....
I had no idea what the hell I was doing...... and I could only work on it for around a half hour and had to stop. My arms were numb all the way up to my elbows.... FMQ is not for the faint hearted.

Looking at it up close makes me want to just throw it out..... but hanging on the wall and standing back and letting everything just come together, I can say "Okay" and lift my finger and make a sign of a tick in the air.





















Our other blog artists you can visit today are:



A special Thank You to Alida from Tweety Loves Quilting who put this blog hop together and oversaw everyone and their submissions. Thanks for all your hard work and all your encouragement!!

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18 comments:

Sew Surprising said...

I love it, just perfect, and your quilting looks great, dont know what you were worried about :)

ForMomCrochet said...

I don't know much about that artist or her artwork- but looking at the photos- you nailed it! Very impressive! We really are terrible critics of ourselves:(

Lisa England said...

I agree with both of the above comments. I think it's gorgeous!

Yvonne said...

What a beautiful project. It is absolutely stunning.

Roxanne said...

This is so fantastic! I have wanted to see one of your blocks quilted. I didn't know what you would do. I like it.

beaquilter said...

awesome piece!

Joan W. said...

No suprise...excellent design and workmanship!

Anita Jackson @ Domestic Felicity said...

Very Nice!!!! You did a lovely job!! I am somewhat envious of your skill!

Sharon said...

Stunning! And if you decide to throw her out let me give you my address! Someday I will tackle a piece like this...but for now I will admire your amazing work of art...well done!!!

Tami Von Zalez said...

Well done! I would like to do a piece like that someday and it was helpful to see your process.
Totally agree on FMQing, it is exhausting detail work that I kick myself when I choose it for a project. I have abandoned my latest FMQ wallhanging and doubt I will return to it. It became work and unfun.

Tu-Na Quilts said...

Beautiful piece of artwork!!! Yours that is. Very nice attention to detail and I think you nailed the coloring, shading, and use of colors in it!! Well done!!

Cut&Alter said...

Wow Janeen this is just stunning. I love how you interpreted it into a paper pieced design and then the execution of the quilt and quilting is fantastic!!

quiltedfabricart said...

This great! Wow! Faces are really hard to do in fabric and you aced it. Looking at it all in pieces before you sewed it together is kinda scary but it came together beautifully. Bravo!

AlidaP said...

Your piece looks fantastic!! Your intricate designs are always spot on. And I think the quilting looks great too. Honestly I criticize myself about quilting all the time: I tell myself I am ruining all my piecing and bla bla bla... one week after I start using and enjoying a quilt, I cannot spot all the mistakes I saw before! FMQ to me is just to add texture, and I think you accomplished that beautifully on your piece!! Thanks for joining the blog hop and for sharing your talent and inspiring work with all of us!!

Adele Mogavero said...

Absolutely Stunning! You did an amazing job!

Andree G. Faubert said...

Hi Janeen, What a great representation of the painting. I can imagine that the FMQ was really nerve racking. You did a great job!

Jennifer Fulton Inquiring Quilter said...

Janeen, this is stunning! I'm not surprised that you would render your piece in foundation paper piecing, but wow the result is some kind of wonderful! Like you, I'm not a great FMQ but I try. You on the other hand really rose to the occasion and the final result is a quilt that is stunning.

Marian said...

Awww so now I found the real post I was thinking you were the day after me... anywho.. I do love this, it's really amazing and very cool how you worked out the fabrics... Sometimes it takes a little work to get our fabrics right. The quilting is amazing you really have put a "pride" moment in this piece.. Would you like me to gather some skin fabrics I have and send them to you for future projects? I'd be happy to, it's the one type of fabric colors that I to look for since I do so many people pieces. :) Either or, it truly is stunning Janeen.