Windows

Size: 9 ¾” x 12 ¼”

Windows. What could be simpler than a picture I drew while looking out from a window at Refuge Cove while visiting my friend last summer? Looking southwest the very distant mountains on the left are Vancouver Island. That is Cortez Island in the middle distance. And some islets inside Refuge Cove are in the foreground.

I used Staedler watercolour pencil crayons. They seem to have a more intense pigment than other crayons that I’ve used. After drawing the image I painted over with Golden #900 fabric painting medium and a small paintbrush. It is a very liquid medium and dries with a soft hand. I also heat set the piece after a couple of days. I’ve used a single layer of cotton batting.

Next I stitched using a combination of polyester embroidery threads and cotton threads in different colours. I used the poly where I wanted the stitches to be shiny, like on the water and the tree tops. I used cotton thread on the rocks and tree trunks. The quilting is simple and sketchy.

I’ve left a narrow border of the white fabric showing although I could have cut the piece down to 8 ½ x 11. I think it looks like a mat border and with the brown binding frames the piece nicely.

Here is a close up: