So Long Road2CA 2015

Road2CA wrapped up today, and so did my quilting vacation. So many beautiful quilts, lots of vendors, and great classes--what more could a quilter ask for?  So sad to have it end!

I've been lucky to attend the last three years, and each time feels like a new experience.  And I'm always thrilled to learn something new!  This year was no exception.  

Wanting to try landscape quilting, I enrolled in a 3 day class with Lenore Crawford, landscape artist extraordinaire.  I brought my own picture, one we took in Santorini, Greece.

It originally had my husband standing over on the right, but I photoshopped him out.  Sorry dude!  Later, I discovered I had wasted my time because I could be choosy about what elements to leave in or take out.

This was after day one.

Very slow progress.  Finding the right fabric to portray both the color and value was the hardest part, as my small stash I brought was barely sufficient. Everyone else had these beautiful batiks, but unfortunately, that wouldn't work here.

Day 2.  The sky dilemma.  

  

In the real photo, the sky is a clear, slightly greenish blue. That color solid was not in my stash.  The piece in the above photo was borrowed from another student for consideration. After class, I was on a mission to visit all the vendors seeking my sky.  No luck.  Then I remembered I had won some fat quarters the night before, and one was a solid blue. Hopefully it would work.

Day 3.  Finishing up.

I decided to use the solid blue I had.  While not quite the depth of the real picture, I think it balances the dark at the bottom, and white of the walls.  The lighter color adds to the luminosity of the scene.  One thing I'll avoid in the future is so many white walls--really hard to find enough light fabrics for variety.  And I've never used the backs of fabrics so much!

This piece is far from finished.  There is still lots of painting to do for shading and highlighting, plus the gate, tree, railing, and window bars have to be added.  Still thinking about how to do that.

If you ever get the chance to go to Road, or any quilt show for that matter, take some classes.  I'm glad I took this one, because now I know more about the process, and it makes me want to do more!

Happy Quilting!

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