"Windswept Poodle"

"Windswept Poodle" 12"X12"  by  LeeAnnaPaylor 

This is my STAT quilt for our challenge to interpret the artist Edward Hopper.
I had two working designs based on his diner piece and his apt building piece. Edward Hopper loved to paint shadows on houses. When I consider common characteristics of his artwork, I think of strong shadow and light, of grayish skies, of isolation. I decided to do another poodle piece, this time reflecting a house.

I want the viewer to see how alike the house and poodle are, repeating colors and mood.

I decided on these fabrics with a couple batik scraps for rocks and foreground. The black and white fabric grades from light to darker and I've had it for years. Waiting for the right project.

I rooted through probably 50 or more sky fabrics til I found just the right shade of gray-blue with the right clouds. In person it is perfect, but my new studio lights still mess with my colors on camera.
The post (HERE) discusses my cutting disorder.

Isn't it interesting to see a finished quilt and think of course it looks like that!
When designing them however there are hundreds of little choices like how wide to cut the word fabric, what shape to cut the rocks and how large, where shall I put them, how small should the house be to give distance, how far down shall I put the poodle in relation to sky and grass, and what part of the picture should he be in? Just what angle should the ears be cut to appear to be whispery in the wind? Just a few of my choices.

I seamed two extremes of one fabric with two rectangles together, then seamed a piece of gray across those two on an angle. I then free cut the poodle from this created new fabric, to imply hard shadows and angles. It worked! I love how it came out. I went over it when done with pencil, to further shade the back and beyond the poodle into the sky.

I went in with rayon thread, and created free motion seagrass over some un-raveled wool. I ended up pulling some wool out of the stitching as it was too solid but now I like it. I took this pic in the dark, and it gives you a better sense of the mood of the sky color.
I liked several Hopper quotes, and you know I like words, so I printed out this one, "More of me comes out when I improvise" then traced it onto fabric with a pen. That is so true for me. I do much better work when I improvise, don't second guess, just keep moving. This whole piece was made in 3 hours. After 2 months of thought.

I free motion quilted the whole and then created a new binding technique. I didn't want any kind of frame around the piece to contain it. I only wish the photos were as striking as the real piece looks, as it makes me smile in a very satisfied way. It worked this time. This photo taken in the dark conveys more of the real color.

Edward Hopper painted pictures that made one wonder what his people were thinking. I wonder what this poodle thinks? Thanks for looking, please tell me your impressions. LeeAnna