Everyday Arches - One Down - Five to Go

Happily I'm finally done with the first in my arches series that I started in a class by Elizabeth Barton at Quilting by the Lake. I would like to sit and rest on my laurels but  - sighhhhhhh - that is not to be.  We all promised to make at least 6 of them in the series.  Luckily we took the time to make at least 5 or 6 good drawings, so at least I have a start on the next one.

This one though is 24" by 24" and is made from commercial and hand dyed cotton.  I used a collage method of appliqueing it to a pellon base and then put some thread work in.  I machine quilted it mostly using just my regular foot with feed dogs up.  I didn't add as much stitch work into it as a lot of pieces have been lately only because I thought the strong features of the design could hold its own.  There is no fusible in it.


When we decided on a theme - Elizabeth had us write a paragraph on it.  She said that our designs should match our paragraphs - which made sense.  As I went through the design process, I noticed that every time I had trouble with it  - it was because my design decisions didn't match my paragraph.  Very cool!

So here it is. . . .

Arches are everywhere.  Their symmetric curves are found in the most unexpected places.  Of course, they're in our local gothic churches, but also on a sewer grate and a milk crate sculpture.  Architecture can be so straight.  I want to explore how the arches' curve looks against it.  There are so many interesting parts  in arch design.  I want to use strong contrast in values and unexpected color palettes to celebrate these amazing everyday arches.