Saturday, July 23, 2011

Portrait Quilt: Tweaking at the End: Part Eight

And I just thought I was done!  Taking a new look at my pictures, which always reveal more than seeing a quilt "in person," somehow, made me realize I was not happy with the shadows on the boys' necks.  Too, a sharp-eyed friend noticed a problem with Locke's profile.  She was so right!  He has a distinct profile, a strong chin, high cheek bones, etc.  I made his forehead come forward too much and his cheek bones recede.  How could that have happened?  Was my tracing at fault?  No, it turned out that I erred in my cutting out, as the tracing was correct.  So I did a lot of picking out of threads, taking off of tulle, recutting tulle and refusing it, etc. etc.  For Locke I made a new partial pattern and re-cut the front of his face.

Here are the results, and hopefully now I'll be content:  



The quilt as a whole

Close-up of Locke.  I reshaped his profile in rather
subtle, but to me important, ways.
Added a darker shadow under his chin.
This is pinned at this point; not yet
appliqued down.

The shadows on Dawson at left and Malcolm at
right are also subtly different.  Still
not "perfect," but better!

6 comments:

  1. Alice, you are one hard worker. So good that you keep at it until it is right for you! I do not know how you will be able to part with these.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hard Worker in capital letters! Again I say CONGRATULATIONS on your finished project which will be such a treat for Susan and her family. ss

    ReplyDelete
  3. It looks great to me. The shadows on Dawson's neck are much much better. I love this photo, as I have said before. You use a variety of color values, all different. It's a wonderful achievement. As Sherron says, "Congratulations!"

    ReplyDelete
  4. Wow! You are a wizard! I was lucky enough to see the work-in-progress last week. It is amazing--I had to struggle to get the word--in the likenesses. I add my congratulations and repeat my Wow!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Alice, thank you so much for visiting my blog! I've enjoyed looking at your blogs, and especially love this portrait quilt! I look forward to seeing more of your work here and on Material Mavens!

    ReplyDelete
  6. This turned out GREAT Alice! I just love it, and can't wait to see the beautiful quilting done by Judy. Hope you will enter it in some shows! Susan will treasure it for sure - and now, you'll have to make one for Kathy!

    ReplyDelete