Members of studioQ! Don't Read This Post! Spoiler Alert!

The Fort Worth fiber art group, studioQ, started a new challenge several months ago. At each meeting, a member brings a picture of a favorite piece of art, and we are asked to make a 15" x 20" quilt inspired by the chosen artwork. We compare our pieces at the next monthly meeting.

This month the challenge is to "interpret" a piece by David Bates, a contemporary artist living in Dallas. The piece is called "blue bouquet." You can find examples of Bates' art here. I couldn't find the painting we were given online, but you can get a general sense of his style of work and his prefered color palette.

One of the things I like about the piece is his use of stripes. His leaves are heavily veined with stripes, and his flowers are chunky and very boxy. Well, I can get on board with stripes. So step one was to make some "fabric." Lots of strips, freely cut (no ruler) and sewn together. Some widely spaced and some very close together.

Another thing I like about his work is his use of very broad curves. So I layered my "fabric" on the design wall and started to piece it together.

The last step involved making something like a bouquet shape.

Blue Bouquet Reimagined, currently 18" x 23"

The more I look at my little composition, the more I like it. But don't tell the members of studioQ. This piece isn't due until mid-January, when we will all reveal our interpretations.

I had quite a bit of "fabric" left over, so I made a quicky piece with the leftovers. I may play with this some more.