Architecture Challenge

This is my almost completed top at the point where I decided to make a big change.  For me the dark part of the loop was not dramatic
enough (even though proportionally it was in keeping with the inspiration photo); and I didn't like the way the edges of the dark loop were stitched and, why, oh why, was I too lazy to change the thread color when I was piecing it!

So I covered it with sheets of tracing paper taped together and sketched out a wider loop ...   

... and then pinned fabric to my sketch to see 
if it was more the way I wanted it to look.

Here is the finished top and if I can drum up more patience (this was more labor intense then I anticipated), I will take out that loop again and make it using made fabric ... so that it would look more like the pinning job above ... and also fix a slightly flat edge in the loop which doesn't please me.  I didn't see these subtleties while I was in the process.  For now I will leave it on my wall and think about how to proceed.  At least the deadline has been extended! 

Architectural Challenge - First Try

Well, I sat, uninspired for a long time.  To tell the truth, I am still.
I decided to make fabric with my blacks to use for the shadowy window areas.
I was using some white linen for the stucco portions for texture.
I scaled my photo to fit the challenge thinking it would be good working size.

This window is the upper most left one.  I wasn't going to trim the left side until more was done and I picked my "brick" fabric.  I can make this work, but I am asking myself, why? There are other things I'd rather be playing with. 

But...

I'm not feeling the love and joy of creation with this one. Maybe I am too literal?
How do I find my Modern Groove?
I may try again in a few days and change the color palette or something or I may sit on it longer.
Let me know what you think?

Starting ...

Here's my sketch to help with the correct size ...

I've condensed and edited the original photo.

Starting to fit chunks of made fabric into the sketch

and sew together parts ...

Architectural Challenge

Inspiration photo before/after

I said it might not happen, but it did: your comments totally influenced my Architecture challenge decision, and deck stairs and geraniums it is. Here's the original photo (left) and after some Photoshop play (right), so I have something more abstract to work from:

"After" is the result of several rounds of copy/paste/flip/rotate/scale, followed by application of the "dry brush" effect. This would make a lovely quilt at, oh, 60"x72" or so, but is now way too complex for a smaller work, so I'll be sampling in some way.

I've not yet started working with fabric, other than to acquire yardage, as this palette bears no relationship to my stash (other than those pops of bright red!). A wildly fauvist approach to color would be fun but is not where inspiration is leading. All those grays will be giant step away from usual for me, so that's what I'll be doing. This required a stop in at my LQS where I spent 3X budget for pale green and gray fabrics, including a "Bali Pop" jelly roll ranging from ivory to black that will be very useful.

Of course, even a fistful of fat quarters and a Bali Pop quickly adds up to more yardage than a small quilt needs, so my insanely over-ambitious muse is whispering, "a triptych could be fun."

Sometimes I wish she'd just shut up or go bother someone else for a while. I'm aiming for one and we'll see what happens.

Architecture inspiration

I have been through several ideas for inspirational pictures for the Architecture Challenge. The first that popped in my head was a picture I took at the Canary Islands a couple of years ago. I loved the rounded shape of the white stairs against the red.

However, looking at it now, the picture itself was not as great as I remembered (are they ever?), so I moved on to my favourite architect and favourite building – Casa Batllô by Antoni Gaudi (none of the following pictures of the building are mine). On my first visit to Barcelona we only got to see the exterior, which by all means is simply amazing

 

 

but when I happened to stroll by on my second visit there years later, the building, at the time owned by an insurance company I think, was open to the public as part of the celebrations of the 150 year anniversary of Gaudi’s birth. It was the most amazing feeling walking around in the house I had read so much about about in my Gaudi books, looking at all the details everywhere. I was surprised to see all the clever and highly decorative solutions to simple things like ventilation and light shafts. I bet yours look nothing like this.

Wouldn’t it be the perfect inspiration for a quilt! I thought so, but then I remembered we are to use made fabrics in the quilt and somehow that did not work with what I had in my head. You can read more about the building here.

Having spent too much time browsing through Google Images, in the end I landed close to home, at a trade school near where we live. The building is a couple of years old and I still haven’t been inside even though I was following the building process eagerly. The façade is very modern and striking, and would fit perfectly for this challenge.

I want to use this opportunity to experiment with free-form-but-not-improvisational piecing, so as a first exercise I made a rough sketch, just catching how the light and shadows and angles create dept.

Next I did another sketch focusing more on proportions and angles.

I think I’ll use this as a blueprint and I already have the made fabric ready to go. I just need to finish another quilt first, oh where, oh where did that inspiration go...

Brenda's retro building inspiration

I found this image on a 40-year-old catalogue for filmstrips (anyone remember those?) I like the strong colours, the black outlines, and the way the buildings are jammed together into a walled sort of city. I kept the catalogue because I thought I might want to make a quilt, so Victoria's architecture challenge seemed to be the right kick-in-the-pants (er, deadline) I needed. I'm thinking of playing with some of my hand-dyed fabrics for this one.

Architecture Challenge

This past January I had the opportunity of visiting the Dali Museum

in St Petersburg, FL.  What an experience!

The building is dynamic inside and outside.

It excites your eye as well as your mind at every turn.

The concrete stairs energetically rotate upwards to the geodesic dome.

Professional photographer, Joe Drass,  Photography by Joe Drass,

gave me permission to post his photograph here and to use it as my inspiration.

Sophie's Architectural Inspiration

After quickly jumping on the architecture challenge bandwagon, I soon panicked a bit when thinking about the timeframe in the context of other projects and decided to simplify my original adobes on the hillside idea.  I chose this photo of an old adobe church in Santa Fe.

Last summer I walked past San Miguel Church each day on my way from home to work and back.  It is one of the oldest, if not the oldest, church structures in The US. I snapped this photo with my phone on one of those trips back and forth.

On the subject of architecture inspiring quilts and other art, over the weekend, I went to the Fiber Arts Fiesta and, probably because of this challenge, noticed some of the work (weaving, hooked rugs, and quilts) with an architectural theme. I loved seeing all the ways that architecture could be interpreted in fiber and thought some of the challengers might be interested to see them.  Here a little mosaic of some of my photos from Saturday.

1. Detail from Window Box Challenge, 2. Detail from Trip Around New Mexico, 3. Skyscape, 4. Moonlight 2, 5. Purple Doors, 6. Purple Doors - Detail, 7. New Mexico's Turquoise Trail, 8. New Mexico's Turquoise Trail - Detail, 9. Slices of Baltimore

Abstracting from Photo

My husband just returned from France where he took some great photos of buildings.  Here is one that inspired me because of the lines and colors.

 

 

I decided to play around with it to see if I could come up with something different.  A new way of interpreting the photo.

 

I think I am heading in the right direction.  I will let this percolate for a while longer before I make final decisions. 



Indecision

Having an uncharacteristically indecisive time choosing an inspiration photo for the architecture challenge. Would love some feedback on options under consideration:

1) My house is on a very steep lot. From the front deck I look out over the roofs of the houses across the street. I love the angles and shapes and color of this one, directly across the street. The shadows and lines of the corrugated metal roof change with the direction and intensity of sunlight, and there's something about that gridded front door that intrigues me:

2) On the other hand, I also love the distant view of similar roofs off to the North. They're a bit far away (maybe a mile, this was taken with zoom; that's my neighbor's lawn and palm trees in the foreground). It was hazy when I took this pic, details not very sharp. It would be fun to play with those shallow white and red triangles in a sea of green, pulling them in to middle ground distance:

3) With architectural elements on my mind, I paused partway up the stairs to the deck, and saw how interesting the lines and shadows are, especially the pops of red from all those recently-repotted geranium cuttings:

I could easily work with any of these, so long as I'm in a mood to do something primarily angular. On the other hand, there's one other nearby possibility that I've had in mind for quilt play for some kind:

4) This is one of the bridges over Honoli'i Stream, seen from Kahoa St., where I often take a walk. I think it dates from the 1930s. Although the far end of the span is hidden by foliage, you can see how tempting those multiple arch shapes could be to a quilter:

I've changed my mind several times already on which of these to work with (yes, eventually I could play with them all, but available time is meager so I do have to chose just one for now).

This morning #1 and #4 are in the lead, neck-and-neck, but #2 or #3 could make a comeback any minute.

Which option appeals to YOU most?

(No promises I'll heed prevailing opinion, but am curious to see how fellow 15MP-ers view the possibilities!)

{Stephanie}