Winter Justice; Panels 1-4

This is the first time seeing the panels hung as a group! They are being shown at two local churches this season. Wow! I even surprise myself sometimes...The details really made these pieces come alive.

The final name of this series is “Winter Justice”. I created the artwork after meeting Supreme Justice Sandra Day O’Connor. She was wearing a lovely embroidered jacket with similar blossoms. Be careful what you wear in public, it could become a work of art.

The Sandra Day O'Connor Series - Day 6

The finished panels are exciting and lively! I am inspired to create more panels and can’t wait to get more hand dyed fabric. I’m really glad my sister made me dig these out from the heap of unfinished projects this winter! I’ll post all four panels soon: their debut showing is just around the corner!

The Sandra Day O'Connor Series - Day 5

Glass beads, leaves, and some metallic paints highlight the garden elements. This is the most time consuming job for me!

The Sandra Day O'Connor Series - Day 4

Painting the large flowers gave them definition, accentuated the stitching, and made them the focal point.

The Sandra Day O'Connor Series - Day 3

To give weight to the compostion, I stitched in some details to give the piece an earthy feel. Applying paint to the stones added brightness to the understory of the garden.

The Sandra Day O'Connor Series - Day 2

I wanted to create a garden effect with my freehand quilting, so I added lots of small details such as a spider webs, random leaves and vines, thistles, and flower petals.  

The Sandra Day O'Connor Series - Day 1

Inspiration for these quilts came from a hand dyed Carol Eaton fabric with a myriad of glorious colors. I completely stitched one piece of fabric and intended on making one quilt… and then decided to cut it into four pieces of artwork! The photos tell parts of the whole story, showing the development of four lovely flower gardens!

Although I did very little sketching, I did sketch the details of the large, abstract flowers. I had first envisioned pansies but I didn't like the way they stitched out. The abstract flowers I designed captured the large areas of color in the fabric.

The rest of the garden images flowed out of my imagination as I spontaneously stitched the fabric, following its many colors. I did not mark the quilt in order to allow creative expression while following the shades and shadows of the dyed fabric.