I was a little stuck as to how to proceed with the monochrome theme. I had the colour – blue – but what next? It was too obvious to think of the sea or sky and I have done such pieces before. As I searched for some ideas I came across a paper collage I had done some months before which was sort of monochrome… in feel although in fact it has 4 colours!
I decided to use applique as this suited the collage style and , as I liked very much the torn edges of the paper, I thought that I might be able to replicate these through stitch. As I worked, the idea of shattered glass and falling fragments came to mind as something that could be developed into a larger piece. However, as I did various stitch experiments I discovered that, without being able to use a contrasting colour, none of these worked very well.
I therefore abandoned the idea of trying to replicate the frayed edges and settled instead on developing the idea of fragmentation through adding additional, small bits of fabric appliqued onto the larger blocks. Again the monochrome constraint was hard to manage - the piece lacked any zing, there was nothing to catch the eye. I therefore added some final very dark blue pieces and some hand stitch in very light blue to add much needed contrast. Finally, I chose to bind the quilt in light blue fabric, rather than face it as I usually, so that some additional contrast could be added.
This was a difficult challenge for me
Shattered 24W x 28 H
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