A Bit of Sunshine

on a cloudy day. My MAQF entry returned complete with ribbon and judges' comments.

"Sunrise Serenade"

You never know what you'll get with judges' comments. These are perhaps my all time favorites - "Charming", "Permeated with light" and "Love it!"  Well that certainly brightens up the day! I couldn't attend the show myself, but was so grateful that friends Kristin LaFlamme, Michelle May, and Lisa Ellis all took photos to share with me. I've been tiptoeing through the last few weeks due to a case of the shingles so this was a nice pick-me-up.

Stay tuned - I have something fun in store later this week.

New Work - Sunrise Serenade

Somehow I finished this piece, sent it to a show, and never shared it with you all. So here it  is:

Sunrise Serenade © 2013 Diane Rusin Doran

Unsurprisingly, it's a digital collage printed on fabric. I believe I printed it in the spring of 2011. It took me a while to decide on how to quilt it, plus other deadlines loomed, so it patiently waited for my attention. All of the imagery except for perhaps one bird is from photos taken in my yard. 

The quilting was done using mostly Aurifil cotton threads, with a little bit of rayon and silk thrown in. Much of the background quilting is overlapping to echo the transparency of the various background elements. The locust leaves and maple branches/buds were outlined, and then additional quilting was added on top. I originally planned to quilt the birds quite ornately, but thought better of it and went with a simpler approach. It was fun to use so many of my favorite colors (blues and greens) and quilting motifs (leaves and ferns).

P.S. Don't forget the Blog Hop going on until January 28! Both Candy and Sarah are accepting entries now.