1906 "Country Diary" inspires a modern art quilt

I've been experimenting with painting on fabric using Inktense pencils. I love the watercolor look... and I love that these pencils are so easy to use. No mess, no clean up.  This little piece is really just an experiment and as usual I did not have a plan when I started. I've learned so much I can't wait to actually plan out the next one.

This is very much still a work in progress --- I have only quilted half of it (as you can see on the right).

It's hard to see in these photos... but the black swirl is piping I made and attached. Finally made use of that 4D zipper foot on my Bernina to make the piping! Pretty easy to do actually...

The string is ordinary twine. And on the upper left are two pieces of antique lace.

I've also used two layers of batting to get extra depth. One is traditional Warm & Natural and then I put another layer of wool batting on top of that. The plan from here is to finish quilting, add more fibers to continue adding depth, and frame it out with more piping as the binding.

I'll share one more thing about the inspiration for this bird. 

I drew him myself... (and drawing is definitely not my forte)... by studying him in the book: "Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady" written in 1906! My quilt buddy Amy G. introduced me to this wonderful book and I just had to get one of my own. It's filled with beautiful detailed drawings and tidbits of this woman's musings on nature. I can picture her walking around the English countryside more than 100 years ago and sitting down to capture all that she saw.  

I love taking these old drawings and attempting to make them modern. Thanks Amy G!

If you're interested... there are still copies of this book floating around and can be found online through the used bookstores that sell through Amazon. Be sure to get the hard back... the paperback is too small to appreciate the details.

I'm linking up with Nina Marie's community of art quilters!



http://ninamariesayre.blogspot.com/