Images of music are swirling through my head these days. I’ve got so many I want to piece! Keyboards, whole notes, half notes, quarter notes, eighth notes, the staff, treble clef, bass clef, guitars, sheet music, etc.
I sketched this recently and have been piecing it bit by bit — It’s tricky because the keys require “set-in seams.” I’ve had to discipline myself to learn more difficult methods to get the results I want — not easy! My inclination is to “go with the flow” and improvise when I come up against a piecing dilemma.
First I figured out the shapes which must be pieced together to make one “key” in the keyboard, and I chose the values (colors) that would give it depth and perspective. However, after looking at them laid out nicely on my cutting board, I realized I didn’t really know how to piece this thing together!!!
FORTUNATELY, I was in the middle of an online class with Lisa Call, titled “Intentional Piecing.” I SOS-ed for help and Lisa had the answer right away — I needed to learn how to piece a “Le Moyne Star.”
If you are interested in learning this technique for set-in seams yourself, you can find instructions online. Lisa sent me to this one: http://www.artquiltmaker.com/blog/2011/10/tutorial-lemoyne-star/
WORK IN PROGRESS — Here it is on my wall today in rough form. I will post the completed piece once I have it done. In my imagination, I’m seeing a series of big quilts filled with music images, from multi-colored keyboards to expressive quarter-notes moving up and down on a wavy black and white staff, and a variety of music symbols. In the process of making these, I hope to “loosen up” the piecing so it becomes more abstract. Ultimately I would like to make art that makes you think of music, without actually showing recognizable images of music symbols or instruments. This could take a while, but I’m eager to give it a go!
Sharon Casey Art Quilts 