Fractured!!

As I have mentioned before, learing a new technique can be great fun and this was GREAT FUN for sure. In October, with eighty other people, I attended a quilters retreat at the beautiful Liscomb Lodge on the eastern shore of Nova Scotia. In my group, there were probably fifteen participants and we were graced with the presence of the brilliant Deb Plestid who taught us her Fractured Landscape technique. Not for everyone. I, however, loved it and cannot wait to do another, in which I will correct the mistakes I made in this first attempt.

Choosing the photo was the first hurdle and although I knew from which collection I was going to choose, it took me some time to settle on this particular one. LB and I were driving home from Florida in March and took the Skyline Trail along the Shanendoah Valley with the expressed purpose of getting some photos from which I could choose one for the the retreat workshop. I believe it was a good choice, offering varieties of color and movement with a bit of drama thrown in for effect. I love the picture and I am quite satisfied with the art quilt.

The technique of producing a fractured landscape is slow and painstaking. Fabric selection and placement are key. Mine is flawed, to be sure, but I know more now than I did that day and I am looking forward to doing a second picture, perhaps from the same collection as this one. I will definitely change my fractures and I would love to do one in a monochromatic color choice. Maybe all reds. As long as the darks, mediums and lights are distinct, I think it would be dramatic to do one in just one color. That is a project for a winter's day...and right now, I am busy with those UFO's that must be completed for Christmas.

Foir myself, I would take any workshop lead by Deb Plestid. She is an accomplished and widely recognized fibre artist and she possesses a wonderful ability to break down the steps of a complicated project and make it doable for the interested quilter. Going on this retreat was a teriffic experience and I can't wait to do it again!!