I started with the sunflower print and chose fabrics and beads to compliment it. The blue splotchy fabric looks like a painted/dyed piece but is actually a commercial cotton print. The yellow fabric just below center is a piece that I had previously painted.
I love adding dangles of beads to
quilts. Even though a quilt hangs rather statically on the wall, the
dangles seem to add a sense of movement and they catch the light in
interesting ways. Using multiple shapes and types of beads in a
dangle creates interest and really adds to the way they catch the
light. I change the order and combination of beads in the dangles
just maintaining a general colorway and types of beads for a cohesive
design.
As you walk by the piece the different beads are highlighted
depending on how the light shines on or through them. On this piece
there are translucent glass leaves and seed beads that make lovely
shimmery dangles that you just can't resist giving a little push so
you can see them sway.
I used one of my machine
stitches to create a line of tiny flowers on one of the very narrow
strips. I find this uses a lot of thread, is time consuming, and is
somewhat tedious. I do like the look of it but I find the free
motion stitching much more fun!
I love the way the beading turned out
on the sunflowers. Originally I was going to heavily bead the
centers of the flowers, but then I thought of this plan and am very
happy with it.
I added a narrow dark blue flat piping
to the binding for a nice detail. I believe I used 8 different
fabrics for this piece, not including the piping and binding (fabrics
which are not used in the body of the piece).
