Saturday, May 30, 2020

Divide and Conquer

  It was last year when I purchased several pre-printed panels.   I made a small wall hanging as a daily reminder to me to have a grateful heart.    It resides on the pantry door and I see it often during the day.









  A couple of months later I put together another small wall hanging to use as a gift.   I used an accent color to frame the main part,  and added butterflies for an accent.
  That left a larger section to divide up or use together.  I knew I wanted to add a narrow frame around the next batch and blend with the 2'' squares of floral fabrics.








    The larger section got cut up after all.  I wanted to frame the two main portions for an added pop of color.  I had just a small bit of this purple for the 1'' border.    I love how it makes the purple in the printed sections stand out.
   I played around with  very irregular/asymmetrical blended sections.  I tried to keep the darkest to the corners so as not to detract from the center.   It worked to create the depth I was hoping for to give a more artsy feel.
  Garden of Praise is a wall hanging that is 33'' by 36''.



Today all were finished!  With the sun out  and no rain drops to spoil the photo taking process, we ventured out to the deck.    I wanted to have a photo comparison of the finished projects.

   
    Those large pre-printed panels can be intimidating.  They have inherently uneven blocks or sections, or the printing may be crooked.  You need coordinating fabrics to blend with the printed sections, and so on.   
   So this series for me became a Divide and Conquer idea.  Even though I used the same watercolor technique to enlarge each portion I cut out---the divide part--I conquered the designs by altering the type of layout.



   The two on the left are symmetrical  with the blended portion moving around the top one, and in the lower one just accented in opposing corners. 

  The two on the right are the ones just finished.  The larger one I discussed all ready.  The small one...is just that a small left over that just didn't fit into the other ones.  I couldn't let it go to waste, so using the leftover bits from the larger one, I made a small table top mat as a Blessing! 





      I still have the insanity during the pandemic quilt to quilt.  My hands and wrists need a few days to rest and recover before I tackle that.

   And one last look at the 4 in the series of divide and conquer.
  Happy stitching. 

20 comments:

---"Love" said...

I've been admiring your beautiful work for a long time. In fact, I printed the page where you first showed "Begin each day with a grateful heart.", and cut out the small picture of that panel and taped it to the lower left corner of my computer keyboard so I would see it every morning first thing. The others you've shown today are absolutely gorgeous too, and the words are so meaningful, but how you've embellished them with your beautiful flowers is just wonderful. Thanks so much for sharing your pictures. ---"Love"

Ray and Jeanne said...

I do love your Divide and Conquer series and I so admire your ability to add the florals. Garden of Praise is beautiful. Hope you are doing well. Our stay-at-home order ended yesterday - we are now in our state's third phase of five. We will take this next step with caution. 😊 ~Jeanne

Linda Swanekamp said...

Holy Cow! What a difference sunlight makes. The colors just glow in the real light. Such nuggets of calm and delight.

Mystic Quilter said...

Gosh they look beautiful outside on the deck! I'm happy you were able to finish them up, hope your hands and wrist recover soon in readiness for the next round of quilting.

Janet O. said...

You, my friend, have done an excellent job of utilizing these cool panels. I love each and every one. Kudos to you, Debbie!

Quilting Babcia said...

Each little panel creation is gorgeous and your talent with watercolor blocks just brings those individual panel pieces to perfection. I love each and every one, though the Ask, Seek, Knock panel really touches my heart. Beautiful finishes Debbie!

Vroomans' Quilts said...

Each project is just a piece of art. Beautifully set in color and design to compliment the panel. Well Done!

Mary said...

These are truly beautiful pieces of art.

sue s said...

Your watercolor backgrounds, which I really love, set these verses off very well. Nice job!

Gene Black said...

Those are so lovely. Your "divide and conquer" is a great lesson on using panels that sometimes come with a fabric bundle -OR- one that you see while shopping and 'just can't resist'

Nicki said...

This just might be one of my favorite in your series of projects. I love how you have developed that beautiful technique of the corner watercolor blending. Your work never ceases to amaze me. It's hard to pick a favorite out of this group of beauties. Thank you so much for your blog & inspiration.

Carole @ From My Carolina Home said...

Very inspirational and clever way to use those panels.

Elaine/Muddling Through said...

They are each and all absolutely beautiful! I love how you've made each one unique. You've given me lots of inspiration in this post. Thank you!

MissPat said...

Wonderful project completion. So interesting to see how you handled the panel and produced such lovely results.
Pat

Exuberantcolor/Wanda S Hanson said...

Sometimes the panels are so intimidating to use, whether to leave them whole, cut them up, etc. You really did a great job with that one with each piece being so special by itself.

Cheryl's Teapots2Quilting said...

What a great job on all four of those. I agree, panels aren't always straight, and usually come in different sizes which make them harder to work with. You did a great job on all of them.

Louise said...

Thanks for the panel inspiration, Debbie! I like the butterfly one the best, with the pretty aqua borders and little winged friends :)

Cheree @ The Morning Latte said...

These are all such creative ways to display those panels. The beauty, cheer and joy in them are so needed right now!

Elizabeth V Kelbaugh said...

Awesome job using the panels with your beautiful, creative additions for setting.

Sam said...

Extraordinary. I love them all. You did a fantastic job on these.

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