Starry Night Over the Rhone thread painting mini quilt, measures 10" x 8" |
I was recently invited to participate in the Art with Fabric Blog Hop and only agreed because this project had been on my mind since last year when I made the Starry Night thread painting!
Here are two versions of the original Starry Night Over the Rhone painting by Vincent Van Gogh:
I used both pictures for color inspiration and placement. Here is the process I went through to create my thread painting:
I printed out a version of the painting on fabric that had been pre-treated with Bubble Jet Set (google "how to print on fabric" for numerous tutorials), and then basted it with one layer of poly batting (though any thin batting works, it's just what I had in the right size) and a layer of home dec fabric for stability:
Starry Night Over the Rhone: printed on fabric and basted. Ready to start quilting! |
Next I went through my Aurifil thread stash (I really like using the Aurifil 50wt because you can layer and blend it nicely without breaks) and picked out the colors I thought would work best:
Starry Night Over the Rhone: thread pull. |
Then I started quilting! I try to anchor the quilt down and then fill in larger areas with whatever color I'm working with at the time. I took a photo after each bobbin of thread to show the progression:
Starry Night Over the Rhone: 1 bobbin of quilting. Worked with very dark grey and navy. |
It was around this time I realized that I needed more blue and antique-greenish thread colors and put in a quick order! When they arrived I continued, starting in the puffy areas in the above area. I put down a base layer (like in the sky, water and reflections) and then add more dense quilting and layers of colors as the quilt progressed.
I like to start with the shadows/darker colors and work my way up to the highlights/lighter colors and details. Then if something in the shadows isn't quite right I can fix it or blend it with later layers to make it look correct. Also then I can make sure the bright and/or lighter details won't be overwhelmed by the darker areas.
Starry Night Over the Rhone: 4 bobbins of quilting. Filled in a lot on the ground, water, reflections and sky. |
Working on those little people (Van Gogh referred to them as lovers! but I call them the Van Gogh people) was really gratifying! Though you will notice that the man's hat changes a little on the final quilt.
Starry Night Over the Rhone: 5 bobbins of quilting. More sky and water. |
The last bobbin worth of quilting was used on filing in the last of the sky and details: stars, ship masts and lines, bridge, and other things I've already forgotten!
Starry Night Over the Rhone: 6 bobbins worth of quilting. |
I spent over 8 hours just on quilting this! I think the quilt back really shows just how dense the quilting is (the backing fabric is very blue):
Here are all of the thread colors I ended up using:
Starry Night Over the Rhone: Aurifil threads actually used! |
Let's see some of my favorites parts of the quilt!
Starry Night Over the Rhone: the lovers. |
Starry Night Over the Rhone: the boat and reflections. |
Starry Night Over the Rhone: the big dipper |
Now, definitely go check out the other Art with Fabric blog hop stops today!
Monday, May 9th, 2016
- Maartje (http://quiltinginamsterdam.blogspot.com)
- Lee Anna (http://lapaylor.blogspot.com/)
- Renee (http://www.quiltsofafeather.com/) (That's me!)
Renee!! What a fabulous piece of art! Your Starry Night thread painting was so spectacular, then Portrait of Jessica and now this! Your talent knows no bounds!! I could look at the details of this quilt all.day.long! So beautiful! I'm glad you took the time to make this for you but I also hope you share it with the masses by sending it on a tour of quilt shows :D
ReplyDeleteAmazing amount of quilting! You captured it totally. LeeAnna at not afraid of color
ReplyDeleteWow...this is just amazing!!! You did a fantastic job and I love that you shared your process. Just freaking awesome!!!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful work of art!
ReplyDeleteOh my! This is stupendous! Excellent color choices. It looks just like the painting.
ReplyDeletePerfect thread choices! This piece is magnificent. Good job!
ReplyDeleteThe thread painting is amazing!!! All those colors!! I did not know this Van Gogh, but it is beautiful!!! So is your recreation of this art piece, a real Van Gogh too. I go this week to the Van Gogh museum to find a piece to thread paint too. Thnnks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteWow! I always love seeing your thread painting.
ReplyDeleteStunning Renee. I love it.
ReplyDeleteThis piece is amazing Renee. Love it.
ReplyDeleteWow!! Your piece is just stunning!!! Thanks for all the tips and in progress pictures! I've always admired thread painting but I never thought that you could print the image to have as a reference nor you could use home decor fabric for stability... both very logical things that never occurred to me! Thanks for sharing this amazing piece and for joining the hop!
ReplyDeleteI want to learn thread painting from you! I love how you layer the threads and looking at all your stitches (especially those stars). Luckily I have my own thread painting of yours to ogle over. :) Congrats on another huge accomplishment!
ReplyDeleteThis is absolutely gorgeous! I can't wrap my brain around how you did it, I'm just in awe of the fact that this is thread, not an actual painting!
ReplyDeleteWow! This is AMAZING! I can't even begin to comprehend doing this. It's gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteI think it is amazing what you were able to create in 8 hours, Renee. I think the lovers are amazing, and I love the sky and reflections on the water, too. Do you spend a lot of time thinking about what direction you will do the quilting to have it match the art so well, or is it just a natural process for you?
ReplyDeleteWow! Just wow! Thank you for showing your process on this amazing piece of art. You must have to leave the lighter areas without thread, other wise it would be overtaken by the dark, right? I'm off to google bubble jet set, have never heard of it.thanks for the tip :-)
ReplyDeleteOne other question, do you care what kind of ink you use for printing? Since you are covering it all up anyway, I would think not but thought I would ask . Thanks Renee!
ReplyDeleteTruly awesome work! Thanks for showing the process as I've never seen how thread painting was actually done.
ReplyDeleteWow! Your thread painting is amazing! Beautiful piece!
ReplyDeleteWow! What a beautiful, impressive work of art!
ReplyDeleteTotally Awesome
ReplyDeleteYour thread painting always fascinates me. It looks incredible, Renee!!
ReplyDelete-Soma
Renee, your work is fabulous! And thanks for sharing the whole process.
ReplyDeleteThat turned out so beautifully - really enjoyed reading your post!
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness, this is just incredible. The back that looks fantastic too. This is quite the inspiration!
ReplyDeleteIt's gorgeous! Thanks for the progress pictures. I always enjoy seeing how it went from printed picture to gorgeous thread painting.
ReplyDeleteOh that's amazing. I love that painting and have been after Starry Night fabric forever. Never occurred to me to try printing it!
ReplyDeleteThis blows my mind! Well done!
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ReplyDeleteWow!! Your piece is just stunning!!! Thanks for all the tips and in progress pictures! I've always admired thread painting but I never thought that you could print the image to have as a reference nor you could use home decor fabric for stability... both very logical things that never occurred to me! Thanks for sharing this amazing piece and for joining the hop!
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ReplyDeleteWow!! Your piece is just stunning!!! Thanks for all the tips and in progress pictures! I've always admired thread painting but I never thought that you could print the image to have as a reference nor you could use home decor fabric for stability... both very logical things that never occurred to me! Thanks for sharing this amazing piece and for joining the hop!
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