Motivated by Modigliani

NTAQ's challenge for November is "Gypsy Woman with Baby" by Amedeo Modigliani.

Gypsy Woman with Baby (1919), Modigliani

Modigliani was an Italian painter known for his elongated figures.  It's a pretty distinctive style.  This particular painting hangs in the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.

When starting one of our group challenges I first look (squint) at the picture and try to decide what elements jump out at me.  In this painting I was struck by the gypsy's elongated face and hands and by the way Modigliani outlined each field of color with a thin black line.  Almost cartoonish.

I decided when we started our monthly challenges that I would stick to the artists' color choices.  More or less.  There are two reasons for this:

1. It is one less decision to make when starting the piece.  The colors are already chosen for me.  
2. It forces me to work with colors I wouldn't normally choose.  I generally lean towards the warm side of the color wheel.  But I have found that my palette has expanded since I started "forcing" myself to work with cooler colors.  Which is a wonderful thing.

So, elongation and black lines.  In teals and rusts.  Easy peasy.  And fun!  I pulled some fabrics (including some very nice pieces from the Urban Artifacts line by Leslie Tucker Jenison) and started to piece elongated curves.  And to add a few black lines.

The result was this small piece:

Pods, 22"w x 17"h, © 2017

I have tentatively named it Pods.  I need to come up with a better title.  Any suggestions?

After quilting the Canyon quilt I felt I needed to try quilting with curvy lines again.  Although I liked the way that piece turned out, the lines of quilting on it were pretty straight despite my curvy intentions.   So I got a little wild with this one.  More curves than straight lines.

I initially quilted it entirely in curved lines.  But when I looked at it the next morning, I HATED it.  Honestly hated it.  So I went back and quilted the entire piece again with straight lines.  I didn't rip the curved lines out -- I just quilted over them.  Much better.

I think part of the problem was the density of the quilting.  I like it dense, and it wasn't.   And I like the crossing and intermingling of the straight and curvy lines.

I'm off to Houston for International Quilt Festival tomorrow.  I can't wait to see all of the exhibits and to catch up with friends I haven't seen in ages.  And to find out what award I've won!