The David Taylor Workshop

This David Taylor workshop is an intense 2-day affair that, among other things, teaches one to look at nature differently, to study it. Each attendee was to bring several photographs and then defend the one that was picked. The ubiquitous purple coneflower (echinacea) was my choice.

Before attending class, the first step is to enlarge the selected photograph. It should really be your own photo if the quilt is to be shown or sold. Enlarge the photo by printing out sections onto sheets of paper and then taping together. My quilt started out to be roughly 32x44" but will be more like 32x32" square.

Day 1
Tracing paper is taped together to cover the enlargement and then a tracing of the photo is made with pencil. As you can see, I started to trace the whole thing. In class, David Taylor said to ditch the two flowers on the right and concentrate on the big one. I also asked how to handle the seed head of the flower as my first inclination was to make big curvy sections. He started to draw ovoid shapes into the area.

"Seriously?" I asked. "Seriously." he said. "Do it like I did the pine needles in the Chickadee." And so, the seed head will have 107 pieces to applique. I think I can handle that, since he did 403 pine needles. Serious hand applique, folks, but worth it.

After the photo is traced onto the tracing paper, the pieces need to be broken up into smaller sections. It is all about the fabric, after all. The more fabric the better.

The tracing is then transferred to freezer paper and the applique templates are made. I have already given an inkling of how many pieces my flower has, but the total was 157 applique pieces, not including the background.

Day 2
The next day was spent fondling fabric. I am not at all exaggerating. I had a pile of pink fabric in front of me on the table and another pile on the floor at my feet -- messy piles, not neatly folded piles. I was looking for the best spot in the fabric for fussy cutting flower petals. By the end of the second day, I had about 10 petals halfway prepped. This is the freezer paper on the bottom, turn over the edge of the fabric and starch method of applique. Pretty standard stuff.

Once I get all my pieces prepped it is on to the actual applique. The prepping is a good in front of the teevee job and will take quite a while. Stay tuned, I'll show some tidbits along the way.

Gathering Supplies

The supplies for the David Taylor workshop on Sat and Sun are gathered into one place. There are the boxes of baggies in two different sizes and the box of freezer paper. There is the mini iron and it's holder, a very heavy coffee mug. There is the can of spray starch. There are the two towering piles of fat quarters and half yards of fabrics with their matching threads. A plastic pencil box holds the needles, pins, scissors, pencils, eraser, paint brush for the starch, business cards and other supplies.

Can you pick out the absolutely luscious fabrics that came in the mail from VickiW's Etsy shop? Here is a link to her blog, Field Trips in Fiber. There is one of Vicki's greens that is going to be absolutely PERFECT for the flower center. Woohoo! And the pinks are to dye for (pun intended). Some of my own hand-painted fabric is included but it might be a bit difficult to needle.

The ironing surface that is leaning up against the sewing machine carrier (the carrier is not going), the three rolls of paper that comprise the pattern(s) for the 32x42 inch quilt, and all the other paraphernalia will fit wonderfully into Auntie's wire cart and only one trip from the car to the classroom will have to be made. It's all about conserving energy, baby.

Do you see what is on the design wall behind the carrier? It is the infamous Firewood Quilt. More in a later post.

Aren't these colors delicious?

I have been flitting hither and yon madly shooting photos. I have taken photos of some wonderful eye candy lately in a variety of subjects that range from men, to flowers, to farm animals, to machinery. Why you ask?

I am taking a 2-day David Taylor workshop at the end of the month. This workshop, incidentally, is the same time as the quilt show I mentioned in this post. Follow the link to his website, you will be totally blown away by his work. Now realize, this is not going to be a fast project since all the applique is by hand. Yes, you read that right -- by hand. The only embellishment is the quilting.

And so, I am doing some pre-work by pulling fabrics, poking buttons for background fabrics, the color of which is not apparent in this photo, and ordering an11x14 print of the actual photograph. I figured out how to tile-print my photo so I can do that and then get my tracing -- all before workshop even begins. I am hoping that by doing enough prework I can get right down to the stitching in class.

Can you tell what the subject is of the photo?