Not the Elk

My art group (Art That Works) has been working on an exhibit for the last year inspired by photos we took at Charles Towne Landing, the state historic site were the first colonists reached the Carolinas.  The exhibit is our first public exhibition.

Charles Towne Landing – Impressions in Fiber, will be held at Charles Towne Landing from April 14 -27, 2012 during regular park hours, 10am – 5 pm.  The exhibit will be held in the Visitor Center.  Various artists will be available to answer questions during the Founders’ Day Festival on April 14, 2012.  

I have two pieces in the show -  Charleston Thatch and Not the Elk.  

Not the Elk is the piece I was testing my leaf quilting for in my last post.

The picture I based my quilt on was this cheeky guy snacking on the corn feed in the elk enclosure, while the elk was busy eating the natural vegetation.   

I started out with mostly commercial fabric, a piece of computer printed fabric and bit of painted fabric(the bowl).  I did most of the piecing with free form curves.

I added some fused pieces of fabric for grass and thread painted both the grass and the raccoon before I layered the quilt. The piece looks a little flat at this stage - it is amazing how quilting adds dimension to a piece - especially if you add an extra layer of batting to highlight an area.  The raccoon has two layers of batting.  I used a pillow case finish as I did not want any binding on this piece and did not have time to do a facing.

I used a lot of my practice leafs from the last post to build the foliage behind my enterprising thief.  

If you have a chance to visit Charles Towne Landing in the next two weeks - I hope you will take the time to visit our exhibit.