This is a photo I took of the beautiful round red barn at the entrance to the Shelburne Museum in Vermont, where my family and I visited this summer. I loved this photo for its diagonal movement, rich textures, and the wonderful colors. It is a simple composition, yet these details make the image complex, and I find that my eye can linger on it for a long time and not be bored. I like the subtle curving of the barn, which is unexpected.
And this is a photo of the quilt I am making from the photo. I tried to replicate it as closely as possible, but brightened the colors a bit. It is about 14" x 19". This shot shows the quilt before any thread painting, which will add a lot of detail, highlights and shadows. All the pieces are fused down with Heat-n-Bond Lite, and it took me longer to make that stone wall out of fabric than I think it would have taken for me to make a real wall out of stone! Whew!
I find taking photos of my quilts while they are in progress a really good exercise. When you look at the piece smaller, from a distance, you see things you would miss looking at it from only a few feet away. For example, I can see now that I am going to need to add a lot of darker gray in the window to get the shadows right. I need to add darker shadows in the stone, as well. And some lighter highlights on the right side of the barn.
By the way, if you get a chance to visit the Shelburne Museum (about 20 minutes south of Burlington), go! It is fabulous in so many ways, great for kids, and they have excellent quilt exhibits, too.
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