coral-reef1 I had some camera problems, so I haven’t been able to post in a few days. I think I’ve fixed it, at least temporarily, so I’m ready to share what I’ve been working on recently.

First, my big news of the day is I was accepted into the McLean Project for the Arts ARTfest! It will be held this Oct. 4 in McLean Central Park. I was there last year and I’m very excited to be accepted again. So, I need to get busy and get some new pieces finished.

This piece is called “Coral Reef” because the colors remind me of tropical fish. I really enjoy working with these improvisational blocks. I just pick out a color scheme and pull together lots of different batiks to start. Then I cut them freehand in groups of 5 or 6, shuffle the stack so there’s a different fabric/color in each position and sew them together.  The sections purposely don’t match and I think that makes it more interesting–sort of like controlled chaos.  Originally I had the wonky log cabins and the circles alternating, but I decided that was too random–there really wasn’t a good focal point, so I limited the circles to the center. I like combining these wonky log cabins and the circles; this is the second time I’ve worked with them in a quilt.  The other piece is called “Carnival” and you can see it in the Large Art Quilt Gallery.

So far this is just a top–I have to decide how to quilt it. On pieces this busy I usually pick an overall freemotion design, but I might try something new with this one. The question is whether or not the quilting will show up if I do different designs in different areas.  Decisions, decisions. I’m open to suggestions!