Quilter’s Name: Judith Newman from Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
Style of Quilt: Art Quilt
Pattern Used: Original design
Featured Date: 02-16-23
Hi, I’m Judith and this is a wall piece developed from a photo that I took a couple of years ago. The subject is printed on a sheet of EQ Printables Lawn fabric, fussy cut, and then fused to an appliqué background. The piece is thread-painted using doubled rayon embroidery thread (two threads through the single eye of a 75 embroidery needle) to add detail and texture. The “framing” is an inner “matte” of raw silk, with piping, and a wide Grunge outer “frame”. The whole is completed with a hidden binding/facing on the back. Each of my wall art pieces is also signed using a signature embroidery design I created.
The story behind my quilt is a fun one. My friend Ruby came with me on the day I had to return to Parrsboro, Nova Scotia, to collect several of my quilts and wall art pieces which had been on display in the Art Labs Gallery for the month of August in 2021. Ruby likes to roam, so on our way back from collecting my stuff, we took side trips exploring back roads I’d passed many times, but had never travelled. One road took us to Five Islands Lighthouse Park overlooking the Bay of Fundy. The tide was out. I surreptitiously took a bunch of photos of Ruby enjoying the view. I thought this composition gave me the most interesting perspective.
The challenges I faced were how to represent the exposed muddy bottom of the Bay at low tide, how to give a sense of the thickness of the grasses growing on the bank, and how much/how little to embellish Ruby herself. The piece took me a couple of weeks to complete. One of my better art works!
Thank you,
Judith Newman, Textile Artist
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Beautiful!