Embarcadero at Dawn

During a business trip to San Francisco last year, I stopped to admire the sunrise…and, of course, captured it on my iPhone:

Ooh. It was even more fun with a neon filter…

Having a big stack of pre-MistyFused fat quarters…brilliant shades from Windham Fabrics’ Bedrock collection –   https://windhamfabrics.com/php/fabricshop/fabricshop.php?a=sc&Category=1051…and my favorite NeonKitty box of Aurifil thread on hand, I couldn’t resist interpreting this scene in fiber.

First step, rough out the background…decide if there is a predominant base shade (in this case, not really)..then choose which shades will overlap to form a base. I layered 4 colors for the sky…created the water by cutting little fingers linking the 2 water colors…and fused a thin strip across the horizon which would become the distant hills. This sun was incredible fun; I began with yellow and worked my way toward the center, shade by shade, to the red sun. LOTS of layers of fabric… I am grateful for a machine which can stitch though anything. For the reflection of the sun, I kept it simple with 2 shades, figuring I would use multiple shades of thread. I added 2 pieces of blue for the foreground, representing the street/sidewalk and dock.

Next, fuse all pieces down to the batting sandwich (I always begin with a piece of batting which already has a backing fabric fused to it). Then a super-fun part, picking the threads 😍🎉!

The sky and sun were quilted first…lots of thread! Then, I sketched in the lines for the bridge with a bit of fabric ink…

For a dramatic effect, I used Aurifil’s 12wt in midnight blue to stitch the bridge- this thread weight is a must-have in your tool box for elements that need to stand out. (A size 100 Topstitch needle is key here…)

Then, lots more stitching. Including some work to more smoothly blend the water:

Then, some straight-line work on the foreground…before the final addition of a few palm trees and a freighter ship ;). I try to balance high-impact of a few details and enough complexity to make the piece interesting. Sometimes (eg the seagulls) the elements are completely fictional but just look right 🙂.

Now to consider the (dozens, oh so many) other images that are patiently awaiting their turn….