When I sat down at the sewing machine Sunday night, I did not have a clear plan in place. But I had an idea. I’ve been taking photographs and looking at old ones to see how I might create something similar in fabric. While I still love the evergreen photo (you can see it here at: https://sewingmylifetogether.com/2014/02/17/photography-and-a-new-quilt/), I was not sure I could make this photo in fabric with the tools and materials I have on hand.

But the one that caught my eye was one from last summer. I love the beach and beach scenes, particularly this winter when we have so much snow.

So I chose this photo:

Big question: What do I have to do to recreate this image? (or create an adaptation of it). Here is the ‘anatomy’ of the steps I take.

First, I have to create the beach grass. I pulled out my burlap, and spent a couple of hours fraying the different colors. Here are some examples:

The first photo is the total amount of  fibers I culled from several sets of colored burlap; the second is fabric which is grey/blue in color that I am fraying. Finally, here is a photo of yellow fabric that I have yet to fray:

Next, I auditioned fabrics for the landscape:

Which one should be the ocean? The fence posts? The umbrellas?

By the way, spending my time doing this is nerve-wracking; it’s not like sewing a quilt and following a pattern. I could spend many hours trying the create this and not have a quality finished product.

So I found some lace, chose the sky and the ocean, and at about 5:30 tonight I have completed this much:

I still have several hours of sewing the beach grasses, the flowers, and last but not least, the fence posts. I may have to bring out my fabric paints for this one.

Give me a few days; I’ll either have a completed project that I like or I will have one to toss.

What is important is that I am loving this process, even though I am nervous about the results.

 

 

17 Feb This entry was published on February 17, 2014 at 11:44 pm and is filed under Fabric Landscapes, fabric shopping, Interests, Landscapes, Life, Quilting. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post.