Stitching

I have been doing more quilting on the commission piece I am doing. I love the way stitching changes the way the fabric appears and gives it so much more depth. I have also put pictures illustrating the classes I teach on my Seriously Textile blog.

Omega on her blog mentions the concept of space in relation to a number of things, the musical pause that adds depth and perception, the comfortable space. I must admit when I work I always try and leave some space for the eye to rest on or wander to and pause for a moment and then wander on. It is something I learnt from looking at Japanese art and enjoying African and flamenco music- the music is all about rhythm and the spaces in the rhythm. If you think of a quilt as a series of rhythmical interpretations of a visual world the space makes the finished object much more interesting, and you can use hot colours and still give a feeling of contemplation.I think this is also one of the reasons why I am very drawn to assymetry because it gives you the physical space to create the space moment without creating an imbalance.There is an exercise I sometimes do in classes that i teach asking people to express emotion in a small piece of fabric by using two colours only- it is interesting the results that come out of this exercise and how some shapes for some people define moments. The other thing I do with this exercise is to look at symmetry and balance and how it plays a role in your work.