Cold Cave in Progress

I went to the studio fully intending to work on the Watt & Shand series, but got happily seduced and sidetracked into putting together something entirely different. While rummaging around, I came upon the print I was calling Blue Cave, and I could suddenly envision just how to use it. I've renamed it Cold Cave, which is the name of the actual cave it is based on.

Part of the serendipity was seeing it juxtaposed with a piece of fabric from Deb Lacativa.
I recently purchased some of her really unusual and unique handdyes from her site Like Hotcakes, and was intrigued by some sugar-dyed damasks she had listed. Deb graciously sent me a huge sample so that I could see if it was suitable for my purposes. She is correct that it would be difficult to piece intricately--the fabric is lush but very drapey--but I wrestled it into submission for this quilt top and I am enormously pleased with it. It has exactly the right feel for the woodsy area around the cave site. That's it on the right above, with a few smaller strips in there as well.

The pink leaves are a print from a scan I did several years ago. The pink and green panels, above, are cottons that I handpainted last summer. The print along the bottom is a fabulous rayon ikat weave I brought back from India in the 70's. The leaf print to far left in the picture above was an extra from when I was making The Cul-de-Sac.

That's a lot of disparate elements for one medium sized work, at least in theory, but in practice they all work fabulously to make a unified whole. This one practically fell together, it was an enormous pleasure to make, and it reminded me what I love so much about the creative process.

Stay tuned for further updates--it needs a lot of stitching, and quite possibly some beadwork, before its official debut.