Van Gogh Meets the Bloggers Quilt Festival

I made this quilt several years ago, and it's probably my favorite.

It is based off of the famous painting, Sunflowers by Vincent Van Gogh. As an art quilter I've been inspired by many impressionist painters work, but this one struck me as the perfect still life to translate into a quilt.

 (The original masterpiece)

  

I came across a sunflower print fabric in the clearance bin at JoAnn's, and new that with a little manipulation, shading, and thread painting, I could make the petals look painted on and natural. I used hand dyed fabric for the background and leaves.

I made this quilt "my own" by adding a few additional touches like the fallen leaves on the table and a more pastel hue to the background versus the yellow and orange shades Van Gogh used in his original. I also wanted my vase to be more modern and make the scene a little taller and give the naturally "tall" type of flower a sunflower is, some additional height within the frame.

The frame is made from a wood print fabric, and I simply added some shading with (of all things) a black Sharpie marker! This is the fun of making art quilts - you can use whatever is at hand that will work to enhance the quilt. And unless you tell the viewers, or confess it on your blog, none would be the wiser.

I am so pleased to link this art quilt, one of my first, up with the Bloggers Quilt Festival. Please go visit the site and check out all of the wonderful quilts on display there. And you should definitely consider adding yours to the mix!

CGM