NATURE QUILTS

Nature Quilts by Marcia Eygabroat

I am often inspired by the scenery around me and I must love flowers.  Flowers and gardens are a favorite subject of many of my art quilts.

Click on any photo to view the gallery magnified.

 

Blooming by the Weathered Fence  (sold)

This quilt recreates a very simple photograph of some flowers against an old wooden fence.

The background of the scene is done with piecing. The flower and petal details are “puzzle pieced” appliqué. I wanted a few of the blooms to be more prominent so each petal is quilted separately. The centers of the flowers are knotted pieces of yarn to give them texture. I utilized commercial cotton fabrics in this piece.

This quilt was honored to be in a PAQA South show.

 

Blue Gerbera Daisies  (for sale)

I took some photographs of some red daisies that came from our garden. I put these pictures in my photo program in my computer. The red was, to me just not exciting enough. After many attempts I finally got the image I wanted to recreate. The results are daisies that are many shades of blue.

This piece is fabricated with commercial cottons that are intricately “puzzle piece” appliqué.

 

Blooming In Terracotta  (for sale)

I must love flowers! This small detailed quilt was inspired by a potted plant on my front porch.

Although it is a little quilt, it is intricately “puzzle pieced” and heavily quilted.

It is bordered to recreate the look of a mat and frame.

 

Girasole da Magione  (commission – sold)

I was approached by prospective clients to do a very large quilt for their lake home.  We discussed the possible designs for several months.  They went on a trip to Magione, Italy and took a photograph of a field of sunflowers. After sending me the picture, we knew this was to be their quilt.

I had to enlarge my design wall to tackle this huge quilt.  It is completely puzzle pieced with commercial quilt cotton fabric.  There were 45 different color threads and 50 different fabrics!  It reached nearly to the ceiling and floor of my studio!  I was up and down the ladder. I was on and off my hands and knees.  The entire process took six months.

When the quilt was installed on THE wall, it looked magnificent with the special lighting spotlighting it.

The couple who commissioned this work is beyond thrilled!

Read more and see a video of the steps involved in making this quilt.

Gardening Dreams  (sold)

Three camellias were picked from our garden by my husband, Jon one spring. After giving them to me, I arranged them in a crystal bowl and photographed them. The blooms were beautiful as nature intended, but curiosity made me want to see how they would look with different coloration. This quilt is a result of hours of computer color manipulation. I then created “Gardening Dreams” with commercial cottons, yarns, ribbons and beads. It is “puzzle piece” appliqué and very heavily quilted.

This quilt was accepted to Quilts=Art=Quilts at Schweinfurth Memorial Art Center, Auburn, New York. It also had a feature article in American Quilter Magazine spring issue 2005.

 

Getting Ready  (sold)

After moving back to the Finger Lakes region of New York State, I became inspired by the surrounding area. One of the famous inspirations nearby are the many wineries.

This small quilt is of a bunch of grapes almost ready to be harvested for wine.

Getting Ready is as intricate as my larger pieces with “puzzle piecing” and heavy quilting.

 

Locally Grown  (for sale)

I wanted a departure from my normal subject matter.

After leafing through many art quilt publications for some inspiration, I took some vegetables from the fridge to create a still life. Finding a red pepper, some Brussels sprouts and two strange looking squash, I put them on a pretty platter. I photographed them from all angles. After finding the perfect photo, I tweaked it in the computer to make it “quilt able”.

This quilt is made from commercial cottons using my puzzle piecing method and heavily quilted.

 

My Yard Waits for Spring  (sold)

One cold December morning I looked out my bedroom window. Having lived in this house for ten years, I could not believe having never noticed the three trees just feet from me. The sunlight was highlighting these trees perfectly. The color variations of the tree bark was fantastic in this sunlight! I rushed outside and took over fifty pictures of the trees from every angle.

Thus began this quilt adventure. It is completely “puzzle piece” appliqué with commercial cotton fabrics. Each piece of “brick” fabric matches the color of bricks on the side of my house. The various shades of lilac mimic the painted siding and eaves.

 

Nature’s Inspiration  (for sale)

The trunks of these three trees have inspired me previously, in our southern winter.

Again, I was awestruck by the myriad of colors these behold! This time it was late summer and our side yard was heavy with greenery.

This quilt is a large photograph printed on specially treated cotton poplin. The three trees are completely “puzzle pieced” appliqué with commercial quilting cottons. Some of the background trees are free motion embroidery to highlight their colorful trunks. The large leaves in the foreground seem to jump out of the piece through the use of free motion quilting mimicking nature’s details.

 

Ominous  (for sale)

This is my interpretation of the sky just before a hurricane arrives.

I have been through several large hurricanes; the name of this piece says it all….”Ominous”.

Every year from June first through November thirtieth I question my reason for staying in an area that has been the bull’s-eye many times. Luckily, my home has been spared each time. The trees though have not been so lucky. That is why this mostly treeless scene was the basis for this quilt. “Ominous” is hurricane season in Southeastern North Carolina.

This quilt is “puzzle pieced” appliqué using commercial quilting cottons.
I left the outer border off kilter, to let the viewer know how it feels during our stormy season.

 

Simple Pleasures  (sold)

While walking through a quaint shopping area in upstate New York, I noticed the wall outside a flower shop. I liked the contrast of the blooms against the trellis on the worn wood siding.

I recreated this scene in a little quilt. I used the same techniques as in my larger works with very tiny “puzzle piece” appliqué and heavy quilting.

 

Planting Time II  (for sale)

A famous regional artist by the name of Ivey Hayes contacted me and requested that I recreate some of his paintings into quilted wall hangings. He had been told that I could recreate “anything”. I was up to a challenge, so I readily agreed to take on this task. He requested that they be at least 3 by 5 feet. Ivey was hoping to have a lot of women “knit” his images into quilts. He realized that not many quilters are capable to recreate paintings into exact likenesses.

The first painting I chose to recreate was Planting Time II. It represents Ivey’s father planting sweet potatoes in the spring.

The background of this quilt is pieced. The tractor and people are “puzzle piece” appliqué. It is made of commercial cottons. In this case this was quite a trick to find colors that matched the work exactly as Ivey had painted it. I spent over 150 hours creating this quilt in only 30 days. When done, I knew I could recreate just about anything!

This quilt was honored with a first place ribbon for pictorial quilts at Quilts=Art=Quilts at Schweinfurth Memorial Art Center, Auburn, New York.

 

Up Close  (for sale)

I love getting extremely close to an object for great detail. This time, I focused in on the center of a flower.

Although a small quilt, it is intricately “puzzle pieced” and heavily quilted.

It is bordered to mimic a mat and frame.