Gardens, parks and landscapes was very representational to me and it took me some time to get my groove on what I was making. My previous piece was about a sculpture park in Colorado so it felt like I had already made this piece. Anyway I decided to make a companion piece to it as I really enjoyed my trip to Colorado last year and especially catching up with friends Mary and Jim McCauley in Fort Collins for a few days. So I went back through my photos and decided to combine a couple to reflect my stay.
Firstly I loved the gorgeous Irises in Mary’s garden It was mid June and they were in full bloom. Back home of course it was mid winter and the garden has died down. Seeing these reminded me of my Mum, also called Mary and her love of Irises. They were her favourite flower. So the two Marys had something in common.
I love this photo that I took on our trip up the Rocky Mountains. This place was not that far up and we stopped to look at the water fall. It was a short walk into the area and I came across these trees and absolutely loved them. I especially liked the markings on the trunks and decided they were so textural and would definitely feature in a quilt one day. Well that day is today! So my vision for this round was to combine Marys garden with this Rocky Mountain spot!
Called Mary’s Place it combines the beautiful colour in her garden and our trip to the mountains. Why the tilted pots you might ask? Well, also at Mary’s place were these wonderful pots!
So I decided that I wanted to include the tilted pots but instead of being literal with my interpretation I would use the pots to display the colours in Mary’s garden and in parts of her house.
Techniques used were the green dyed and thermofax printed fabric I made for my previous piece, then a selection of my printed fabrics for the pots. The tree trunks are made of roasted fabric – yes that’s right, roasted in the oven like a leg of lamb (well…sort of!) I use a lot of roasted fabric and thought it gave great colour and texture for this piece. I pieced the background first then fused the pots on top. The whole piece is machine quilted. I was particularly thrilled with the quilting I did on the tree trunks to reflect what I saw in the mountains.
This piece hangs beautifully alongside my last Sculpture park piece both representing my visit to Colorado.
size 40 inches tall by 20 inches wide.
Catherine McDonald
machine pieced with fused applique, machine quilted
hand dyed and hand printed fabrics, roasted fabric
I met you at a Northern Colorado Art. Quilters critique group meeting and learned about your technique of roasting fabric. So nice to now see it So perfectly used for aspen trunks in your trees in Mary’s Place. Lovely memento of your visit.
Hi Julie
I loved meeting you and the others at the Northern Colorado Art Quilters Critique Group. It was such a special treat to be part of it and meet such an inspiring group of like minded souls! Thank you for your kind words and I hope some of you had a play with roasting!
Brings back good memories. Thank you.
Thanks Victoria – it was a lovely visit with your Mum and Dad
Woo Hoo!!! I love “Mary’s Place”!
That front garden is my solace now, a bit of peace in the madness going on here. Thank you for your memories. When we can be together again, let’s make new memories for future art.
absolutely lets make memories for future art. We can even do that from a distance when you feel you are ready!Times are strange indeed.
The combination of earthy nature and man made color is my favorite kind of garden plan. Mary’s Place is a very nurturing and creative space!
thank you