Silhouettes

So my friend Jan showed me some silhouettes that she had cut from magazines (ladies in interesting poses) and used as stencils and masks in her journal.  This was a few weeks ago.  It made the page look complex with a very simple design.  Thanks Jan!!

And as I was looking for a new project - sort of dancing and humming my way around my studio - I remembered the silhouettes.  And wondered how I could use the idea with fabric instead of paint and paper.

Hmmm.  I had saved some little catalogs from Black and White because I liked the model's poses.  Maybe that would work.  I found the catalog, taped and cut out the silhouette and then realized that I could just trace the shape and didn't have to cut it out.  Silly me!

Sooooo - I found a silhouette that I liked of a model with her hands on her hips.  And the cover of the catalog had butterflies - a really huge one that looked good behind the model - and tiny little ones.

 I was set.  Found some fabric and got started.  Here is a picture of the quilt fused and sewn.

And here she is with the quilting completed.  I used a fancy stitch on my machine that reminded me of the wavy way that butterflies fly - in a large version for the radiating designs and a small version for the binding.

I like her so far.  Next step is to add beads.  That should be a lot of fun.  I will post a photo when that step is complete.

I am thinking that silhouettes might be the theme for a series of quilts.  We'll see.       barbara