The Space Between, Part 2

I have made some progress on my latest piece for a juried invitational called “The Space Between,” which will be co-curated by Leslie Tucker Jenison and Jamie Fingal. I ignored my own advice, and quilted this piece, rather than thread sketching it first on just the top layer. So this piece is a bit wonky right now. It is exactly four weeks since my mother’s death, and I am still not thinking clearly. But it is helping me to work on this piece, to do something creative. 

I am hoping that with the rest of the quilting, it will lie nice and flat. If not, I will probably add another backing and perhaps some trapunto-ed areas behind the quills of the feathers or the whole feathers, and try to quilt out the wonkyness. Each piece brings with it its own challenges, and I try to not get too stressed out, reminding myself that such challenges often result in my learning new skills, or trying some new technique.

I am using only black and white thread, Aurifil Cotton Mako 50, a very fine thread. Black on the feathers, and white for the swirls in the negative space. The swirls make me think of air, or wind.

I thought you might like to see the photo on which this piece is based. I arranged four bluejay feathers on white paper, and shot them using the macro lens on my camera. Here is the photo: