13. Refracted Rays Journal Quilt

The sun was still with us today although it will probably be the last warm, sunny day for the time being. But it is rather appropriate for this week's Journal Quilt as it's called Refracted Rays.

It was inspired by the photograph seen below that was taken during our visit to Crichton Graveyard and as it was in mainly monochrome I took the liberty of selecting the colours myself. The background is green velvet which was machine quilted. I machine appliqued the rays (silk) and the two arches (velvet) and the centre half-circle and sides (painted leather). Further embellishments were added by machine stitching and hand beading. 3 sides were bordered in the velvet while at the top I've used green silk. If you want to know how I got on with this wide mix of very temperamental materials I'll just say that if ever the desire to combine them all in one piece grips me again I'll remember this piece and resist the temptation!

Having said that I do quite like the resulting richness of the piece. I added to that even more by adding Swarovski chrystals in the half circle at the btooms and sequins along the arch. The final touch was provided by the vintage text reading: those refracted rays.

Remember this is no. 13 in the series of 52 Journal Quilts I'm making for every week of 2012. You can see the previous ones by clicking on the 52 Journals label underneath this post or checking out the slideshow in the side bar. This one is A4 sized and only the second one with a landscape orientation.