A thimble full of color

My scrappy tumbler project has grown.

Little by little...choice by choice... slowly done by hand, basted on printed thick paper templates, tiny pieces of fabric scraps come together.

It's a study in:
Line and  repetition.  How do the lines intersect? Where do they cross and how does it feel when they come close but don't match?

Scale... from 1" to 2.5". How does the scale effect the mood of the piece? large next to small...

Color... Mostly chosen from one side of the color wheel, cool colors of green to turquoise to blue to purple, then one step toward red. The red sparks it to me. The red and the flashes of yellow in the green. Warm against all the cool colors.

Shade... from deepest dark black to almost white aqua. The variation makes it sparkle.

Print to solid ratio... if there is a print, it's blendable. I chose to include only a couple of recognizable prints, for instance the tiny thimbles of black are actually black with tiny stars of bright color. Otherwise the print looks mottled, hopefully like tiles or glass.

Right now before borders, it is about 20" X 26". I have pieced in the stonehenge border fabric with an eye to putting one of them on the outside. Or both.

My inspiration for this piece are tile mosaics hanging on the wall in the Baltimore Museum of Art.
Etruscan I think. Old for sure. The broken areas make it more interesting to me. The colors no longer brilliant but faded to an organic soft look.

My friend asked why I am so invested in working small, with little scraps of fabric when I own so much yardage. I feel free when playing with my scraps. And it's physically easier to work small. And I get such joy from seeing the colors blend in artwork.

This has been on the cutting table, slowly growing long enough and it's about ready to finish.

How thrilling!

Funny that they tell you when they're done, isn't it? 

Interested in more handwork? I believe the label on the right, "this is gonna take a while..." has more posts!