Monday 24 September 2007

Fractal art and quilting




I first became interested in using fractals when I saw Rose Rushbrooke's quilts. Fractals have always fascinated me, not the mathmatics behind them but natural fractals such as ferns, cauliflowers and trees. The three fractal mini quilts (wall art) above are based on the same fractal and quilted and beaded in the same manner. The only difference is the colour of the voile overlay and sashing. One has a pink overlay with lilac sashing. The second one has a green overlay with lime green sashing but the sashing is pulled backwards to give the impression of piping and the last one has a bronze/green overlay with purple edging. Not sure which recipient will get which mini quilt which are about 8" x 8" each I'll just write their name on an envelope and push one inside. I have may favourite but I'm not saying which and I can't keep it.
Rose Rushbrooke has a very good explanation of what a fractal is if you are interested, just google fractal art + quilts and it should be top of the list. Hope you enjoy them as much as I do.
DH went to work early this morning so I managed to do the housewifely thing and dug out the dustbunnies and washed floors. Now I can relax and sew without feeling too guilty for the rest of the week. Got a couple of journal pages based on colour I want to start on. Also whilst doing the black and white swap postcards I got an idea for a lap quilt using the leftovers plus beige colours.
I'm in a Notan technique swap that appeared in Quilting Arts magazine in the June/July issue. It involves dividing a square into four equal triangles and then cutting a design in these triangles. The pattern you cut has to be folded over so that you get an identical shape inside and outside the triangle. The idea is to study the positive and negative spaces the design creates. I'm still getting my head round this one and will post photos when I've come up with something.
Been to the hospital this afternoon with my mil who has alzheimers for her to see the dental surgeon. Not a pleasant experience for her as she was very uncomfortable and really had no idea why she's so uncomfortable so it frightens her. She was in pain, not because of any dental problem but because she has a prolapse and it decided to drop whilst she was at the hospital. Unfortunately nothing can be done to help her as it's not bad enough for surgery and even if it was the risks for her are very great. Alzheimers is such a nasty disease it takes all dignity from people thank goodness they are complete oblivious of their actions and most of the time quite happy in their own little world.

5 comments:

Joanna said...

Your fractals are just gorgeous!
Joanna

Candy said...

I'm not sure we are in the same Notan group but I'm in one too thru surface Design. I did mine with heavy paper instead of fabric. Not sure I'm happy with that but couldn't figure out how to do the fabric. Would love to know your ideas when you get there. Thanks
Your fractals are awesome.
Candy

Cathie said...

Your fractals are absolutely stunning! I love your work and will mark your blog on my site for future visiting!
Cathie

liz said...

I, too love fractals, but I've never been able to produce anything as stunning as your mini quits, they are really awesome.

Amanda said...

I love this . I have had a quilt like this in my head for a while . Is this pieced ?For some reason I see ribbons when I look at these. Not sure why just my weird brain. So sorry about your MIL. We lost my MIL to Alzheimer's disease and it is very hard on the whole family. My MIL was also a quilter. One funny note was the time I took my MIL a coffee table quilting book. About a minute into looking at the pictures she looked around and said " where'd that girl go who brought me this book " That started me a bit , then I smiled and said " oh she just wandered off , she wants you to have this book" She continued on admiring all the quilts. Your positive negative challenge so very intriguing.